Red Sox Wrap: Boston Falls Short To Yankees In Extra-Inning Battle

The Boston Red Sox kicked off their critical four-game set against the New York Yankees with a 2-1 extra-inning defeat at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.

With the loss, the Red Sox dropped to 74-73 while the Yankees improved to 85-62 with their second straight walk-off victory.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston rolled into New York with an awfully familiar game plan that manager Alex Cora has leaned on multiple times throughout the season: Counter left-handed pitching by loading the lineup with right-handed bats. Plain and simple. The only issue was the “advantage” of having six righties against Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes, didn’t prove to be an advantage at all.

Cortes, who last weekend was “upset” after being removed from New York’s starting rotation and assigned to pitch out of the bullpen instead, stiff-armed Boston’s lineup by tossing five one-run innings. Cortes allowed three hits and three walks while striking out nine hitters. Boston’s premier threat came when Tyler O’Neill and Connor Wong drew back-to-back one-out walks, but quickly reached its end when Trevor Story grounded into a 5-3 double play to bail Cortes out.

Granted, the Red Sox were forced to make a last-second lineup tweak and remove right-handed-hitting outfielder Rob Refsnyer — who’s hit .304 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs — as the 33-year-old is dealing with right wrist discomfort. However, whether the Yankees pitched a righty or lefty, Boston couldn’t put together any offensive momentum which opened the door wide open for either team to take control of the contest.

Both bullpens underwent a tug-of-war battle, keeping Boston and New York within striking distance of a game-deciding swing of the bat or rally. Cam Booser, Justin Slaten, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen combined to keep the Yankees scoreless across 3 2/3 innings, sending the first of four in The Bronx into extra innings.

New York’s Juan Soto got the best of Josh Winckowski to end the 10th inning with a walk-off single to center field, inching Boston closer to the .500 mark and once again, guaranteeing the Red Sox won’t record a series sweep — Boston hasn’t done so since returning to action from the MLB All-Star break.

The Red Sox now sit 4 1/2 games back in the tight American League wild card race, now left with 15 games to muster up some last-minute magic before the postseason.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Soto connected on the game-decider in extra innings, the four-time All-Star’s only base knock of the night. Soto went 1-for-4, coming through at the best possible time.

— Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen prevented Cortes from recording a scoreless outing on the mound by launching his ninth home run of the season in the fifth inning. Jansen evened up the score to keep Boston competitive before finishing 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk and picking off Yankees speedster Jazz Chisholm Jr. at first base.

— Boston starter Cooper Criswell delivered a solid performance, pitching 5 1/3 innings while allowing one run (in the first inning) off four hits and a walk along with four strikeouts before the bullpen took over.

ON DECK
The Red Sox and Yankees will continue their division-rival clash on Friday night. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, and the game will be aired on Apple TV.