Best comeback of the win for the Red Sox this season? We vote yes.
Boston beat the New York Yankees 5-4 in 10 innings Thursday night at Fenway Park.
Things looked grim for the Red Sox, but Kiké Hernández tied things at 3-3 in in the ninth before Hunter Renfroe walked it off in the 10th for Boston’s third straight win.
Tanner Houck looked strong in his outing, and he probably would have lasted longer than 4 2/3 innings had the rain not moved in on Boston causing a near-hour delay. Houck finished the night with eight strikeouts and gave up one unearned run.
With the win, the Red Sox moved to 59-38, while the Yankees fell to 50-45.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Wild.
The Yankees handed this game to the Red Sox on a silver platter.
ON THE BUMP
— Houck dominated through his first three innings, striking out six.
The right-hander did give up a run in the fourth, however, after consecutive walks and a passed ball by Christian Vázquez led to Gardner scoring from third on a Gleyber Torres groundout. Houck did pick up another strikeout before the inning came to a close
Houck got two outs in the fifth and gave up a single, but a 55-minute rain delay prematurely ended his night.
— Josh Taylor walked the first batter he faced, but got Gardner to ground out to end the inning.
The left-hander returned for the sixth and pitched a scoreless frame with two strikeouts.
— Darwinzon Hernandez retired the side in order with two strikeouts for a clean seventh.
— The Yankees added some insurance in the eighth off Ottavino thanks to consecutive walks that led to Giancarlo Stanton hitting an RBI-single to make it a 2-1 game.
A sacrifice bunt from Rougned Odor paved the way for Torres to hit a sac fly to score the runner from third and give New York a 3-1 edge before the third out was made.
— Yacksel Rios pitched a scoreless ninth.
— Matt Barnes got the 10th, and DJ LeMahieu grounded out to advance the runner on second to third before Gardner flew out enough to make it a 4-3 game in the 10th.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The bats were silent through a bases-loaded opportunity in the third and two runners on in the sixth, but they finally got going in the seventh.
— Back-to-back one-out singles by Alex Verdugo and Bobby Dalbec put two on before Michael Chavis grounded into what looked like was going to be a double play, but Tyler Wade couldn’t handle it and the bases all of a sudden were loaded again for Kiké Hernández.
— The utility man did connect on a shallow fly ball to left-center field, but Verdugo capitalized and tagged from third to tie the game 1-1.
— More damage could have been done, but Dalbec was waved home by third base coach Carlos Febles — likely hoping Torres would throw to first — and tagged out to end the seventh.
— The Red Sox made some noise in the ninth with singles from Verdugo and Dalbec, but pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki flied out to left, and it was Hernández who tied things up with a double to make it 3-3.
— Devers began the 10th on second and moved to third after a slew of wild pitches from Brooks Kriske, who just couldn’t seem to control any of what he was throwing.
Another wild pitch scored Devers to make it 4-4.
Renfroe then stepped to the plate and hit a sac fly that was plenty deep enough to score Bogaerts, who was walked and moved to second and third on wild pitches, for the 5-4 win.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Houck is pretty good against the Yankees (and in general.)
UP NEXT
The series continues between the American League East rivals Friday night. Eduardo Rodriguez is expected to take the hill for the Red Sox, while the Yankees will counter with Gerrit Cole. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET on NESN.
