The Boston Red Sox started a crucial three-game series against the New York Yankees with a comeback 5-3 win on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
With the victory, Boston improves to 48-39 while New York falls to 54-36.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
This is what the rivalry brings out of these ballclubs.
Boston and New York entered the game going in different directions. In the series opener, weather attempted to impact the playing field.
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In the third inning, the Red Sox and Yankees sat through a 38-minute rain delay. When play resumed, Houck allowed traffic but a double play ball kept the game scoreless in the third inning. That traffic continued to the fourth inning. This time, the Yankees took advantage of a Boston mistake.
Houck rolled a ground ball off the bat of Austin Wells with the bases loaded and one out, but Enmanuel Valdez whipped the throw to second base past shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela, allowing the game's first run to score for New York. Houck's control just wasn't the same, walking three batters with one base on balls forcing home a run.
Offensively, the Red Sox failed to capitalize on their best scoring chance with two runners on and nobody out in the eighth inning. The Yankees were a strike away from closing out the win.
Then, in classic Red Sox-Yankees fashion, one team flipped the script.
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On a 3-2 pitch, Masataka Yoshida lifted Clay Holmes' sinker into the right field stands to knot the game at three.
With the game in extra innings, Boston flexed its muscles again when Ceddanne Rafaela lifted a two-run homer of his own to put the Red Sox in front for the first time on the night.
Kenley Jansen stood tall with two runners on base to close out the save in the bottom of the tenth inning in an energizing victory for the Red Sox.
"The win of the year!" NESN play-by-play broadcaster Dave O'Brien said Dom Smith recorded the final out.
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STARS OF THE GAME
-- Romy Gonzalez hit his first home run with the Red Sox.
-- Yoshida tied the game on a two-run homer with the Red Sox down to their final strike.
-- Rafaela smashed his second homer in July to put the Red Sox in front in extra innings.
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UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees continue the series on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
Featured image via Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports Images
