The New York Yankees, greedy as ever, entered tonight’s game at Fenway Park looking to sweep the rival Red Sox as they looked for the home-field advantage in the wild-card race. The age-old rivalry was in full force as they looked to shame their rivals with a sweep this late in the season and knock them out of the number one spot in the wild card. In that effort, they sent Jordan Montgomery to the mound at Fenway to face the supposed ace, Eduardo Rodriguez.
In a highly entertaining and three-hour and 42 minutes long game, the Yankees came away with the 6-3 win and the sweep of the Red Sox.
In the first inning, Rodriguez faced DJ LeMahieu, who singled up the middle. Anthony Rizzo ground out into a double play for the most in the American League this season. Aaron Judge struck out for a 1-2-3 inning for Rodriguez. At the bottom, Kiki Rodriguez led off against Montgomery and singles to center. Hunter Renfroe flew out to Judge in right field. Rafael Devers flew out to Gallo in left. Xander Bogaerts struck out to end the scoreless inning.
The second inning was led off by the hot Giancarlo Stanton, who struck out. Joey Gallo popped out to second. Gleyber Torres popped out to the infield. At the bottom of the second, JD Martinez struck out. Bobby Dalbec went down on strikes. Christian Arroyo tapped back to Montgomery, who could not make the out. Alex Verdugo flew out to Judge in right to end the scoreless inning.
The third inning was led off by Gary Sanchez, who struck out looking. Brett Gardner was called out on strikes. Gio Urshela singles to left field. LeMahieu struck out on a bad call to end the Yankee’s half. At the bottom, Christian Vazquez flew out to left. Hernandez ground out to Gio Urshela at short. Renfroe ground out to third to end another scoreless inning.
Anthony Rizzo led off the fourth inning and ground out to first. Judge waved at one for the second out of the half. Stanton singled past second. Gallo struck out to end the Yankees fourth. In the bottom of the inning, the Red Sox got on the board, scoring a run. Red Sox 1 Yankees 0.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Yankees took the lead, scoring two runs. With the bases loaded, the Yankees hit into a double play, but Torres scored from third. Then, LeMahieu singled, scoring Gary Sanchez, and it was the New York Yankees 2 and the Red Sox 1.
The Yankees were scoreless in the top of the sixth. At the bottom of the inning, Yankee reliever Clay Holmes came in in relief of Montgomery and struck out the Red Sox side using only eleven pitches. In the top of the seventh, the Yankees were again scoreless.
In the bottom of the seventh, With Joely Rodriguez pitching the Red Sox took the lead in the game a wild pitch and on a bizarre play when LeMahieu drops a ball in left. Chad Green came in to pitch and the Red Sox scored when the second dropped ball by the Yankees let the Sox score, this one by Gallo in left field. Boston Red Sox 3 New York Yankees 2
At the top of the eight, Urshela walked, leading off. Tyler Wade was brought in to pinch-run for Urshela. Wade tried to steal second and was called out. The third Yankee mental error in just fifteen minutes. LeMahieu walked. Anthony Rizzo doubled for the Yankees extra-base hit, with LeMahieu moving to third. Aaron Judge faced the New Red Sox pitcher Adam Ottavino with two on and one out and doubled, scoring two runs for the Yankees, taking the lead once again. Judge appeared to injury his hand on the slide into second, delaying the game as he was checked out. Yankees 4 Red Sox 3.
Stanton followed with a home run over the green monster. Joey Gallo was hit by a pitch and advanced to first as the Yankee medical staff took to the field for the second time in the half. Torres faced new Red Sox pitcher Ryan Brasier and may have injured himself as the medical staff was called in again to check him out. However, he continued his at-bat, flying out to right. Sanchez chopped out to second base to end the go-ahead inning for the Yankees. New York Yankees 6 Red Sox 3.
The bottom of the eighth inning finally started after a half-hour beginning of the inning with Rafael Devers leading off against Chad Green and got a ground-rule double that bounced into the stands in right. Bogaerts flew out to Judge in right. Martinez singled, moving Devers to third base. Dalbec struck out. Jose Iglesias ground out to Torres to end the inning New York Yankees 6 Boston Red Sox 3.
The top of the ninth inning saw Brett Gardner leading off and grounding out into the shift. Tyler Wade was called out stealing for the second time in as many innings. LeMahieu ground out to end the half. At the bottom, with last licks on the line for the Red Sox Verdugo against Yankee, closer Aroldis Chapman and popped out to Wade at short. Hernandez grounded out to second. Hernandez walked and took second on indifference, ash he did third. Kyle Schwarber pinch-hitting struck out looking to end the game as the Yankees took the outright lead in the wild-card race and the sweep of the Rox Sox.
The final score was the New York Yankees 6 and the Boston Red Sox 3. The winning pitcher was Chad Green, and the loser was Garrett Richards. The save went to Aroldis Chapman for his 30th of the season.