G121: Red Sox 9, Yankees 6

Yankees - 000 002 400 - 6 12  1
Red Sox - 020 010 42x - 9 10  0

Drew Pomeranz (3.1-4-0-1-4, 56) had to leave in the fourth inning with back spasms. Matt Barnes and Joe Kelly made everyone extremely angry and the Yankees held a 6-3 lead at the stretch. The Red Sox immediately rallied, batting around against three relievers in the seventh. Then, having regained the lead, they humiliated Aroldis Chapman in the eighth with two hits, one walk, a double steal, and two runs in the space of three batters. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth - and Boston increased its lead in the AL East to five games.

Mitch Moreland came off the bench to whack a two-out, two-run single off Tommy Kahnle that put the Red Sox on top 7-6. And in the next inning, after Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez executed a double steal without drawing a throw to either second or third, Jackie Bradley singled them both home.

Devers got the Red Sox on the board in the second when he hit an opposite-field home run into the Monster seats. Xander Bogaerts had doubled with two outs and trotted in on the blast. Vazquez crushed his third homer of the year over everything in left to make it 3-0 in the fifth.

The Yankees had baserunners in every inning, except the ninth. They left 14 men on base, including leaving the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh innings (112 213 310). Both Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez left seven runners on.

Barnes recorded the first out in the sixth, but Chase Headley singled and Todd Frazier homered, cutting the Boston lead to 3-2. Barnes struck out Ronald Torreyes, but could not get the final out, giving up singles to Austin Romine and Brett Gardner. Joe Kelly came in and hit Aaron Hicks to load the bases, but after battling Judge for eight pitches, Kelly got a groundout to shortstop.

Kelly was back on the hill for the seventh, and Sanchez hit his first pitch for a game-tying home run. Didi Gregorius walked and Headley singled. Heath Hembree took over and walked Frazier, loading the bases. Torreyes singled to left and two runs scored. (There was still no one out.) Romine fanned and Robby Scott relieved Hembree. Scott did no good, walking Gardner and hitting Hicks.  Again, the bases were loaded for Judge. Addison Reed fell behind 3-1, but came back to strike Judge out. (The Mighty One has now struck out at least once in 35 consecutive games.) Sanchez lined to first to end the inning.

New York lead 6-3. Chad Green, who had pitched the fifth, began the sixth getting Devers to pop to short. Vazquez singled and Bradley walked on four pitches. Kahnle was called in and he gave up a single to Eduardo Nunez. Mookie Betts brought Vaz home with a sac fly to center. And Andrew Benintendi's single to right scored JBJ. Hanley Ramirez worked a seven-pitch walk, loading the bases. Moreland pinch-hit for Chris Young. Kahnle threw Moreland three changeups: swing and miss, swing and miss, single to right-center! Nunez and Benintendi scored, and Boston had a 7-6 lead.

In the eighth, the bottom of the order produced two insurance runs that were not needed, thanks to the awesome firepower of Kimbrel. Romine swung and missed a 98 mph fastball up in the zone, Gardner waved at a 99 heater away, and Hicks looked silly hacking at an elevated fastball at 98.

Jordan Montgomery / Drew Pomeranz

Nunez, 2B
Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Ramirez, 1B
Young, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

The Red Sox have won 12 of their last 14 games and have a four-game lead over the second-place Yankees in the AL East. (Boston is 5-7 against New York this season.)

            W    L    PCT     GB
Red Sox    69   51   .575    ---
Yankees    65   55   .542    4.0
Rays       60   63   .488   10.5
Blue Jays  59   62   .488   10.5
Orioles    59   62   .488   10.5

This Daily News headline - Yankees Series In Boston Is One Of The Last Chances To Catch Red Sox In Standings - is not actually true, but it's still nice to see. After the Yankees swept a four-game series from the Mets, they believe they can still win the division. (They are wrong. Fangraphs says the Red Sox have an 89% chance of winning the East.)

Hall of Fame 2017 inductee* Aaron Judge is 8-for-46 against the Red Sox in his career (.174). At Fenway, the Mighty One is batting only .083 (2-for-24).

Judge has struck out at least once in 34 consecutive games. He's one game away from tying the major league single-season record of 35, set by pitcher Bill Stoneman in 1971, so the Red Sox could assist Judge in establishing a new record this weekend. (Please see comments.)

(*: He was inducted during the All-Star break, right?)