Analysis of the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees series
By Daniel Fox
Game Three Recap: Red Sox 4, Yankees 3
Desperately needing a win to avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of their archrivals, the Red Sox got off to another hot start on Sunday night. Devers and Bogaerts reached on back-to-back infield singles, and Martinez jumped on a hanging changeup to drive in Devers. After Bobby Dalbec was hit by a pitch, Christian Arroyo drove a deep fly to right field to give the Red Sox their third straight 2-0 lead.
Like the first two games, this lead would not hang up. Tanner Houck was all over the place, allowing six hits and three walks in just 3.1 innings. He was able to escape a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second when Aaron Hicks bounced into a double-play, but was not so lucky in the third. A double to Isiah-Kiner Falefa and a single to Luis Trevino chased Houck, and reliever Ryan Brasier’s poorly located fastball to Anthony Rizzo was sent into the left-center gap to drive in both runners and tie the score at three.
The Red Sox offense, once again, slowed down considerably after a red-hot start. Clarke Schmidt relieved starter Jordan Montgomery and retired the first five hitters rather easily. The sixth hitter, however, was the one that made the difference. Dalbec led off the sixth with his first home run of the year, giving the Red Sox a 4-3 lead headed into the bottom of the sixth.
Surprisingly, the Red Sox bullpen would not relinquish the lead. Each of the five relievers Alex Cora brought in were fantastic. After Brasier escaped the fourth without further damage, Crawford bounced back from Friday’s walk-off loss with two scoreless innings. Matt Strahm followed with a perfect seventh, and Robles bounced back from a leadoff walk to pitch a scoreless eight.
The true star of the game, however, was Jake Diekman. Facing the heart of the Yankees order, Diekman won a ten-pitch battle against Judge, overmatched Stanton, and made Gallo look silly to strike out side and close out a 4-3 Red Sox win.