The Red Sox avoided an opening-series sweep of the New York Yankees as Boston took the third game of the set by a 4-3 verdict at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night.
Boston improved to 1-2 on the young season while New York fell to 2-1.
You can view the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox bullpen earned its first signature moment of the season Sunday night under the bright lights in New York.
Boston's arms that came in after starter Tanner Houck (3 1/3 innings, six hits, three runs) combine to not give up an earned run over the final five-plus innings and did not give up a hit in the final three. It's almost even more impressive considering the Yankees had the leadoff man aboard in six of the first eight innings. Nevertheless, Kutter Crawford (four hits in two innings), Matt Strahm (hitless seventh inning), Hansel Robles (hitless eighth inning) and Jake Diekman (hitless ninth while facing Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo) shut it down for Boston.
STARS OF THE GAME
-- Bobby Dalbec gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead on his first home run of the season. Dalbec's solo shot in the sixth inning measured 391 feet to right field.
-- Crawford (2.0 innings, four hits, three strikeouts) entered the game in a big spot and helped eat up the fifth and sixth innings while throwing 40 pitches (25 strikes). Crawford took the rubber with the game tied after Ryan Brasier allowed a game-tying, two-run single to Anthony Rizzo in the fourth, which was credited to Houck. Crawford would earn the win with Dalbec's home run in the top half of sixth.
-- Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton ripped another three hits (3-for-5, RBI) against the Red Sox. Stanton now has five hits and three RBIs in his first three games of the season.
WAGER WATCH
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery came up just shy of eclipsing his strikeout prop, which previously was set at over/under 4.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Montgomery, who allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings, was pulled having tallied four strikeouts.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will travel to face the Tigers in Detroit with Monday's contest serving as the first of three games in the series. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. ET following an hour of pregame coverage, and you can watch it all on NESN.
