The Boston Red Sox fought through extra innings against the New York Yankees to avoid suffering a fifth consecutive loss against an American League East opponent.
Boston entered Friday's game following four consecutive losses to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Despite finishing 2-for-5 at the plate without an RBI, Xander Bogaerts delivered the game-deciding play on a night where clutch performances filled Boston's highlight-reel. Bogaerts stood at third base at the top of the 11th inning with two outs. Yankees pitcher Michael King threw a wild pitch to which Boagerts instinctively acted on, proceeding to cross the plate safely with a head-first slide and scoring the game-winning run in a 5-4 victory for Boston.
Manager Alex Cora made sure to give Bogaerts some much-deserved praise during his postgame press conference.
"He's a complete package," Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "He has great baseball instincts. For him to take a chance there, obviously... there's a lot of stuff that has to go, primary lead, secondary lead, and read the pitch, and he was aggressive and we got the win."
Cora added: "We had to score there. Let's put it that way. Understanding who was on the mound and the count. I bet that's why he was more aggressive with his primary lead... as soon as the ball bounced he took off and you got to give him credit."
Red Sox shortstop and ballgame hero Xander Bogaerts also spoke of his mindset at the moment when speaking to reporters.
"I just had in my head that I had to be ready. Just in case he bounced one cause it's not easy if we have Bobby on two strikes at that point also," Bogaerts said. "As soon as I saw it bounce... I just took a chance and went."
Here are a few more notes from Friday's Red Sox-Yankees game:
-- Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock entered a crucial relief appearance after missing 33 games due to right hip inflammation. Whitlock contributed back-to-back scoreless innings while retiring all six Yankees batters he faced.
-- Six of Bobby Dalbec's seven home runs this season have resulted in the Red Sox taking a lead. Dalbec blasted a solo homer off Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 deadlock at the time.
-- Rafael Devers' first inning blast placed him in a three-way tie with former players Trot Nixon and Kevin Youkilis on the all-time Red Sox home run list, according Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long.
-- The Red Sox have won their last three games against the Yankees
-- The Red Sox will look to build momentum off the victory on Saturday against the Yankees. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET.
