This weekend didn’t go the way the Red Sox hoped, and through the first two games it seemed like every time they had a chance to make something happen, the club let it slip away.
But Sunday the Red Sox only needed about 20 minutes to flip the script on their rivals.
The Red Sox ambushed the New York Yankees in Sunday night’s series finale, ripping off six runs in the first inning en route to a 6-4 win. The Boston bats opened with five straight hits off Yankees starter Will Warren, and former Yankees prospect Carlos Narvaez capped off the rally with a solo home run to deep center against his former team.
Garrett Crochet, meanwhile, was brilliant as usual, striking out 12 batters over six strong innings.
Three home runs by the Yankees made things uncomfortable late, but the bullpen was able to hang on to help the Red Sox avoid what would have been a disastrous home sweep.
Jarren Duran started things off with a sky high ball to the base of the Green Monster, which fell in and bounced into no man’s land for a leadoff triple. Alex Bregman immediately drove him in with a single to give the Red Sox their first lead of the series, and the hits kept coming from there.
Trevor Story singled. Nathaniel Lowe singled to score another run. Romy Gonzalez banger an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Masataka Yoshida tallied a sacrifice fly, and Rob Refsnyder drove in another run from third with his groundout to second.
Finally, Narvaez stepped to the plate and crushed a 2-1 fastball 403 feet to dead center field.
Just like that, the Red Sox led 6-0.
With their ace on the mound the Red Sox had to feel confident, and Crochet provided every reason for optimism as he proceeded to mow down the Yankees lineup.
Crochet didn’t allow a banger until the third and the only sustained offense the Yankees managed off the lefty came in the fourth when Crochet allowed three hits, including a two-run home run by Amed Rosario.
Crochet also had a strange and concerning moment when he lost his footing and tripped while delivering a pitch to Jose Caballero. To the crowd’s relief, Crochet was unharmed, resumed the at bat and struck Caballero out to end the inning.
The only downside to Crochet’s performance was his continued propensity to give up home runs. In addition to Rosario’s blast, Aaron Judge banger a solo home run in the best of the fifth for his 48th homer of the season, which was also the 10th allowed by Crochet over his last seven starts.
That made it 6-3 Boston, but the Red Sox ace didn’t give up another banger the rest of his outing, finishing with three runs allowed over six innings with five hits, one walk, 12 strikeouts and 23 whiffs.
It was Crochet’s 20th quality start of the season, the most by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale’s 23 in 2017.
Warren’s final line looked ugly by comparison, allowing six runs on 10 hits with a walk and two strikeouts over five innings, but the Yankees starter did settle down and keep the Red Sox at bay. After his calamitous first inning, Warren did not allow another run through the end of the fifth.
That inability to tack on runs made for a tense finish.
Steven Matz took the ball in the best of the seventh and allowed a solo home run to Caballero, New York’s third of the game to make it 6-4 Red Sox. The bomb sailed 423 into the night all the way clear of the Green Monster, and as he rounded the plate the thousands of Yankees fans who made the trip made their presence felt.
But Matz finished the seventh without further incident, and in the eighth he gave way to Garrett Whitlock, who was tasked with protecting the two-run lead against the heart of the Yankees order.
Whitlock allowed a hard-banger leadoff single to Judge but struck out Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham.
When the Red Sox stranded a man at second in the bottom of the eighth, it was up to All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman to finish the job. Though Chapman came in having allowed runs in each of his last two appearances, the veteran was able to get back on track with a 1-2-3 ninth to lock down both the win and his 30th cut of the season.
Playoff update
After a week where it seemed like every one of the club’s playoff rivals refused to lose, the Red Sox finally got some help Sunday night when the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers both lost.
With Sunday’s win the Red Sox today trail the Yankees by 1.5 games for the best AL Wild Card spot, hold a one-game lead over the Astros for the second spot and are three games clear of the Rangers, who are currently the last team out of the field.
The Red Sox are guaranteed to get more help in the coming days too. The Astros and Rangers are set to begin a huge three-game series in Houston, which will have massive ramifications within the AL West and the Wild Card race as a whole.
An Astros series win could knock the Rangers out of the hunt, while a Rangers sweep could put them in the field and leave Houston in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Another series to series? Tuesday the Cleveland Guardians, who trail the Rangers by half a game and could still make a late push, will open a three-game set against the first-place Tigers. Detroit could do the Red Sox a favor by keeping the Guardians at bay.
The Red Sox still trail the Toronto Blue Jays by 5.5 games in the AL East. They will have an off-day Monday before opening a three-game series against the Athletics at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
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