Yankees 4, Red Sox 2: Another come from behind victory against the Red Sox

The Yankees had so much fun mounting a comeback against the Red Sox yesterday that they decided to do it again tonight. In a near carbon copy of last night’s game, the Yankees struggled against the starting pitcher before capitalizing on a shaky relief staff. They also picked up the series win in the process. It was a good time, as the Yankees topped the Red Sox by a score of 4-2.

Michael Pineda pitched a solid game, but his struggles with two outs continued on Thursday night. David Ortiz, in the lineup after fouling a ball off of his shin yesterday, ripped a two-out double in the first inning. Hanley Ramirez followed with a single to center field to score Ortiz. Jacoby Ellsbury attempted to make a play at the plate but his throw was far up the first base line. It was comically off target. Pineda rebounded to strike out Jackie Bradley Jr., but just like that the Red Sox had a 1 - 0 advantage.

The two out monster returned in the fifth inning. Ramirez struck again, this time driving a double to score Xander Bogaerts. That reclaimed the lead for the Red Sox, making it a 2 - 1 ballgame. Pineda then issued a walk to Bradley Jr., and looked poised for a full-scale meltdown. Luckily he escaped further trouble by getting Travis Shaw to fly out to left. Pineda’s final line of two runs over six innings is a lot better than what we’re used to from the right-hander. He had his two out hiccups, but overall, he pitched a quality game.

As for the Red Sox starter, Eduardo Rodriguez owned a 5.93 ERA (5.29 FIP) coming into Thursday night. It’s been a dreadful season for the Red Sox staff in general and for Rodriguez in particular. So naturally he retired the first seven batters he faced. The only trouble he ran into came in the third inning, when Austin Romine launched a one out solo home run over the Green Monster to tie the game. It cleared the stadium, too!

Aaron Hicks followed that up with a single but was promptly erased in a double play off of the bat of Brett Gardner. This one was a head scratcher. Gardner hit the ball to Dustin Pedroia who caught Hicks straying too far off of first. The Yankees are giving Hicks every chance to prove himself but he’s not taking advantage of the opportunity. You have to wonder how long Joe Girardi can keep running him out there.

Aside from Romine’s home run, Rodriguez was masterful. He retired the final seven batters, holding the Yankees to just one run over seven innings. Thankfully the Yankees didn’t have to face him again in the eighth, as John Farrell turned to submariner Brad Ziegler and things got weird. Gary Sanchez leadoff with an infield single, but collided with Ramirez at first base. Ramirez appeared to have lost his balance and fell right into Sanchez’s base path. It didn’t look good at all. Ramirez was on the ground for a while before returning to first base.

Ziegler struck out Mark Teixeira, who was pinch hitting for Romine, before allowing singles to Hicks and Gardner to load the bases. Ellsbury then lined a rocket over the head of Andrew Benintendi in left field to score two runs. Ziegler proceeded to intentionally walk Chase Headley, bringing Alex Rodriguez to the plate with the bases loaded. This was the moment fans had been waiting for, and A-Rod responded with a soft ground ball hit right in front of the plate. Rodriguez was thrown out at first, but he drove in another run to make it 4-2, Yankees. The Red Sox have a struggling relief corps and the Yankees have made them pay the last two games.

Some leftovers on the night: A-Rod went 0-for-4 with an RBI in his penultimate game. He’s saving the four home run effort for tomorrow. Dellin Betances made things hairy in the ninth inning. He had no command for his breaking ball. He picked up his third save of the season despite allowing two base runners. Luis Cessa earned the win after being called up from Triple-A. He threw two hitless innings and looked very sharp on the mound. Sanchez showed off his cannon-like arm, this time throwing Bradley Jr. out at second in the fourth inning. And lastly, the Yankees are now 3.5 game out of the second Wild Card spot. This team has gotten a lot more interesting since the trade deadline, let me tell you.

With a series victory over Boston, the Yankees return home to face Chris Archer and the Rays. This will also be A-Rod’s final game. You can catch it either on YES locally or FOX nationally. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35pm, with the Rodriguez festivities beginning earlier.

Box Score