Last night after a devastating 10 inning loss, the New York Yankees faced the Boston Red Sox in game two of the four-game weekend set. Ace Gerrit Cole faced the Boston Red Sox ace, Eduardo Rodriguez, in a near must-win situation for the New York Yankees if they wished to advance in the AL East against their first-place rival. However, Cole fell short in the end, and the Yankees lost the game 6-2.
DJ LeMahieu faced Rodgriguez in the first inning and lined out to left field. Giancarlo Stanton struck out on an outside change. Rougie Odor ground out, and the Yankees went down in order. In the bottom, Enrique Hernandez led off against Gerrit Cole and ground out to second. Jerran Duran went down on strikes. Xander Bogaerts singled to right. Rafael Devers went down looking for the final out of the scoreless inning.
In the second, Gary Sanchez led off by walking. Gleyber Torres got a single off the diving Bogaerts in left, moving Sanchez to second base. Brett Gardner got an RBI double with two on and no outs, scoring Sanchez and Torres moving to third. Chris Gittens faced new pitcher Phillips Valdez after E-Rod left the game with some type of injury. Gittens with a run in, two on, and no outs went down on strikes. Ryan LaMarre was plunked in the shoulder to load the bases. Greg Allen, with the bases loaded and one out he went down on strikes. DJ LeMahieu, with the bases still loaded with Yankees, struck out, leaving the bases loaded, but the Yankees took the lead in the game. New York 1 Boston 0.
At the bottom of the second, JT Martinez went down on strikes from Cole. Alex Verdugo went down swinging. Hunter Renfroe fighting off pitches singled to short. Christian Vazquez flew out to LaMarre in left-center. New York Yankees 1 Boston Red Sox 0.
The third inning was scoreless, as was the fourth inning. Then, finally, the fifth inning saw the Boston Red Sox score three runs, including a homer by Rafael Devers off Gerrit Cole to take the lead for the Red Sox. Bogaerts and Devers combined for the other two runs. Boston Red Sox 3 New York Yankees 1.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nestor Cortes Jr., fresh off the Covid list, pitched a clean sixth inning, striking out one and not allowing a hit. Gerrit Cole went only five innings giving up the three Boston runs in an unusually short outing while striking out eight and walking two. The Sox wore down Cole, who used 100 pitches to get through the fifth inning.
At the top of the seventh, Gerret Whitlock took over the pitching for the Boston Red Sox. Estevan Florial went down swinging. Greg Allen was hit in the shin and took first base. LeMahieu singled. Stanton, with a chance to tie up the game, ground out to third. With two on and two outs, Odor flew out to right-center to end the threat from the Yankees. At the bottom, Dalbec against Cortes Jr. went down swinging. Hernandez singled to right. Duran also singled to right for two on and one out. Bogaerts struck out. Devers got another home run just over the left-center wall to make it 6-1 Red Sox. It was announced that Sanchez left the game with back spasms.
In the eighth inning, with the Yankees behind five runs, Brantly, who took over for Sanchez, lined out to first. Torres advanced on a hit by pitch. Gardner went down on strikes. Gittens, who got a hit earlier, walked. Florial, who pinch-hit for LaMarre in the seventh and with two on and two outs, made the final out of the half, leaving two Yankees stranded. At the bottom, Verdugo, against the new Yankee pitcher Justin Wilson flew out to Gardner. Renfroe went down looking. Vazquez walked, but Dalbec ground out to end the inning. Red Sox 6 the Yankees 1.
With last licks on the line for the Yankees at the top of the ninth inning against Brandon, Workman flew out to center. LeMahieu tapped right back to Workman. Giancarlo Stanton, who walked twice on the night, got an infield hit. Rougie Odor doubled to far left field right in front of the green monster. Stanton scored. Rob Brantley flew out to foul territory at first to end the game.
The final score was the Boston Red Sox 6 and the New York Yankees 2. The winning pitcher was Yacksel Rios, and the loser was Gerrit Cole.