Red Sox Wrap: Pitching Staff Shows Yankees Houdini Act In Win

BOSTON — The Red Sox evened their series with the New York Yankees on Saturday, earning a 8-4 win in the middle game of their trio at Fenway Park.

Boston improved to 36-35 with the win, while New York fell to 50-23.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox played with biblical amounts of fire Saturday but somehow didn’t get burnt.

Cooper Criswell was fine to start, but his inability to stretch beyond four innings got the ball rolling on Boston’s uneasy night on the mound against New York. It forced Alex Cora into a tough spot, as he didn’t have much of a choice but to ask Justin Slaten to go more than two innings against a dangerous Yankees lineup.

Slaten didn’t necessarily look sharp, but he fought his way through 2 2/3 innings and was bailed out in the seventh by Brennan Bernardino. Greg Weissert didn’t do much better in helping ease the panic, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a bloop single before being lifted for the big gun — Kenley Jansen.

Jansen? He knows a thing or two about shutting down offenses and did so by stranding the eighth and ninth runners of the night. He had a much easier job in the ninth, sending (some of) the Fenway Faithful home happy.

It’s not often you allow the Yankees multiple opportunities to stay in a game and still come away with a victory, but the Red Sox had the right formula Saturday night.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Jansen was the only pitcher on the night to retire each of the batters he faced, earning a four-out save by sitting Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo.

— Enmanuel Valdez didn’t get the start, but he finished things off with an RBI single off the bench in the seventh inning. He added a stolen base, too, just for funsies.

— Jarren Duran was 2-for-5 with an RBI, but the story of his night came on the bases. He scored two runs, the second of which came off an error he forced by being aggressive at third base.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox will wrap their trio against the Yankees on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on ESPN — after which they will return to NESN for a matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.