Red Sox Notes: Justin Turner Fueled By Yankees’ Costly Decision

Justin Turner understood why the New York Yankees would opt to bypass Rafael Devers with first base open and two outs in the top of the seventh inning. Devers had reached base in each of his first three plate appearances to that point, including a first-inning home run, and after Sunday is hitting .520 at Yankee Stadium this season.

But Turner nevertheless used it as fuel when he walked to the plate in a 2-all tie game. He made the most of the opportunity, too, belting a three-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Yankees right-hander Michael King.

“Yeah, I mean, I was joking around and I said, ‘I would have walked him to,'” Turner told reporters after Boston’s thrilling 6-5 win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “But anytime someone gets intentionally walked in front of you, obviously it feels a little bit better when you make a big swing right after that. So, that one felt good.”

Devers was just as happy to watch the events unfold in that order, as well.

“It was a great, great feeling. Because, to be honest, nobody who is on deck and walked the guy in front of him to face him, nobody likes that,” Devers told reporters through a translator, as seen on NESN. “And when you see the guy on deck coming through for your team, it’s something that’s really special and I’m happy that today happened that way.”

Turner and Devers combined to lift the Red Sox to a series-sweeping victory over the Yankees. Turner recorded four RBIs in his final two at-bats, including a game-winning RBI double in the ninth inning. Devers reached base four times with his first-inning home run marking his second in as many days against New York.

Here are more notes from Red Sox-Yankees:

— The Red Sox have now won eight of the nine games they’ve played against the Yankees this season. New York has lost eight consecutive games.

— Jarren Duran was replaced by Rob Refsnyder in the bottom of the eighth inning. It initially looked as if Duran came up limping after an inning-ending groundout, but manager Alex Cora said Duran was injured while playing left field in the sixth inning.

“I didn’t see it, but I guess on the homer by Gleyber (Torres), he climbed the wall and he felt it there,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “So we’ll see where he’s at tomorrow.”

— Cora was ejected in the sixth inning after a rough performance from home-plate umpire Junior Valentine. It marked the third time this season Cora went sent to the clubhouse early.

Cora, who proceeded to watch from the cafeteria, was not shy in addressing the situation after the game.

“We didn’t agree with the strike zone,” Cora said.

Then, when asked about the overturned call in the eighth inning, which ultimately took a run away from the Yankees, Cora added: “From the get-go I thought (Isaiah Kiner-Falefa) he was out. I was wondering why Junior was waiting. Like, he waited, waited, waited to look at the baseball. And then he calls him safe. I was like, ‘What is he doing?’ There was a lot of stuff I didn’t agree with Junior today, besides the strike zone. That play — why wait? Either he’s safe from the get-go or if you’re waiting to see if he (Red Sox catcher Connor Wong) still has the baseball, then he’s out. We knew he was out from the get-go.”

On that play Cora referenced, Refsnyder hit cutoff man Trevor Story, who threw to Connor Wong at the plate. After the Yankees issued a challenge of their own, it was confirmed Wong did not block the baseline and thus Isaiah Kiner-Falefa was out.

— Devers has hit .520 with four home runs, six RBIs and nine runs scored in six games at Yankee Stadium this season, per the NESN broadcast.

— Red Sox reliever John Schreiber might want to thank Turner for not costing Boston too dearly. Schreiber, who replaced Nick Pivetta in the bottom of the seventh just after Turner gave the Red Sox a 5-2 lead, gave up three runs on two hits in 2/3 innings. Fortunately for him, his teammates made up for it.

John Schreiber

Walks 3 in a game for the first time in his 123-game MLB career https://t.co/S6ZowCY9gT

— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) August 20, 2023

— Pivetta was effective yet again as he allowed two runs on three hits while eating up five innings after Josh Winckowski opened.

— The Red Sox will travel to Houston and begin a pivotal four-game series against the Astros on Monday. First pitch from Minute Maid Park is set for 8:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.