Yankees - 000 001 202 - 5 13 0 Red Sox - 302 202 10x - 10 14 1
Mookie Betts hit three long home runs in his first three times at bat because Yankees starter James Paxton figured that at some point, Betts had to stop pounding every meatball he threw down the middle of the plate about 400 feet.
Sadly [sic], Paxton went bye-bye after four innings (4-9-7-0-9, 99), so he could not test his theory in the latter half of the game. Betts added a run-scoring double in the sixth, and ended the night with four extra-base hits, four runs scored, five RBI, and 14 total bases.
Betts is the fourth Red Sox player to hit three homers in a game against the Yankees, joining Mo Vaughn (May 30, 1997), Kevin Millar (July 23, 2004), and Steve Pearce (August 2, 2018).
Betts is the first Red Sox player to collect as many as 14 total bases against the Yankees (Vaughn had 13 in 1997). Betts also now has the second-most total bases against the Yankees in history. Cleveland's Pat Seerey had 15 total bases (3 homers, 1 triple) on July 13, 1945 and Carl Reynolds of the White Sox had 14 total bases (3 homers, 2 singles) in the second game of a July 2, 1930 doubleheader. Both Seerey and Reynolds drove in eight runs.
Betts is the second Red Sox player ever to have four extra-base hits in a game against the Yankees. Jason Varitek hit two doubles and two home runs on July 4, 2003.
New York's starting pitcher was dog shit for the sixth consecutive game (21.2 innings, 43 earned runs, 17.86 ERA) and the Red Sox mopped the floor with the Yankees for the second straight night. Oddly, Paxton's first seven outs were via strikeout. He's the second pitcher ever to allow seven or more earned runs in four or fewer innings while striking out at least nine batters without a walk. (Got all that?) The other was the Mets' Noah Syndergaard, who struck out 10 Padres over four innings and allowed seven runs on June 6, 2015.
Paxton has allowed seven runs in consecutive starts for the first time in his career. Outside of his "mistakes" the Red Sox crushed (a not-insignificant number of pitches), Paxton said, "I thought I threw the ball pretty well." .. Manager Aaron Boone: "Stuff-wise, I thought he was electric. ... The cutter was really good tonight in a lot of spots. The fastball was really good in a lot of spots."
Boston has outscored their rivals 29-8 over the last two nights. The Red Sox have also set a franchise record by scoring eight or more runs against the Yankees for the fifth consecutive game. The Red Sox have scored 58 runs in their last five games against the Yankees (8, 13, 8, 19, 10), the most in any five-game span in franchise history.
Betts kicked off the bottom of the first with an eight-pitch at-bat, capped by his 16th home run of the year (362 feet). Rafael Devers followed with a single and J.D. Martinez's 21st dong gave Boston a 3-0 lead.
Betts led off the third inning with a solo shot to left (390 feet). One out later, Xander Bogaerts doubled into the left field corner and Martinez tripled into the right field corner, his long fly ball clanking off Aaron Judge's glove.
With two outs in the fourth, Jackie Bradley singled to right (the hit was initially (and correctly) called an E4). Betts got ahead in the count 3-1 and as NESN's Dennis Eckersley and Jerry Remy cackled that there was NO WAY Paxton would be dumb enough to challenge Mookie with another fastball ... Paxton proved he was just dumb enough. And Mookie crushed that pitch over everything in left (376 feet). 7-0, Red Sox.
It was Mookie's fifth game with three home runs, a feat only eight players in history have accomplished.
The night's other big story - or maybe the biggest story, since we already know Betts is super-awesome - was Andrew Cashner (6.2-10-3-1-6, 98). (NESN's Dave O'Brien kept referring to him as "Catch-ner". Someone should clue him in that pronunciation is incorrect.) Cashner allowed only four hits and no runs through 5.2 innings before running out of steam. He gave up three straight singles and a run with two outs in the sixth and a walk, a single, two doubles, and two runs before finally being pulled in the seventh. Cashner was given a standing ovation as he walked off the field.
Michael Chavis singled with one out in the sixth and went to second base on a groundout. Back-to-back doubles from Betts and Devers brought in two more runs. Boston's final run scored on two more doubles (also back-to-back) from Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis in the following inning. Benintendi's double was actually a foul ball that landed wide of the foul line near the left field corner. No chalk was raised and there was a clear mark in the dirt, completely in foul territory. Third base umpire D.J. Reyburn blew the initial call and when the Yankees challenged it, the umpires in the Replay Center blew the call a second time! Benintendi stood on second base, smiling like he couldn't believe it.
Some NESN Nonsense: After Bogaerts's doubled in the third, Eckersley said (about Paxton hitting 98-99): "It doesn't matter how hard you throw" because big leaguers will crush hittable pitches. Eck was absolutely right. Then, on the very next pitch, Remy gushed about Paxton hitting 97 with ball 1 to Martinez. In the next half inning, O'Brien marveled at Nathan Eovaldi "getting it up to 101 last night". There's no helping some people.
In the seventh, Remy started talking about daytime soap operas, which he has watched for 40+ years. Eckersley jumped right in, saying he watched them in his playing days. Both men were completely serious; Remy expressed real annoyance at Friday cliffhangers that don't get resolved until the next Tuesday. O'Brien kept acting like a sanctimonious prick (he's a natural!), trying to interject some snark about bad acting. To their credit, neither Remy nor Eck paid him any attention.
Note to OB from the Department of The Bleeding Obvious: You've got Eck and Remy talking about Days Of Our Lives and General Hospital. Exercise a modicum of common sense and realize that even if you think soaps are beneath contempt, this discussion can't not be entertaining, so shut your friggin pie hole for a few minutes.
AL East: Rays 3, Blue Jays 1. ... MFY –, TBR 8.5, BOS 9.0.
Betts, RFOn April 16, Paxton pitched eight shutout innings against the Red Sox, allowing two hits and striking out 12. He will not do so well tonight.
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Vázquez, C
Benintendi, LF
Travis, 1B
Chavis, 2B
Bradley, CF
Andrew Cashner needs to pitch much better than he has in his first two Boston starts: 11 innings, 14 hits, 10 runs, four walks, nine strikeouts, 4 home runs allowed, 2 HBP. 7.36 ERA and an opponents' OPS of 1.083 (.326/.408/.674). ... Cashner faced the Yankees three times this season with the Orioles: March 28 (Opening Day) (4-6-6-4-3, 75), May 15 (6-4-2-2-7, 92) and May 20 (6-5-3-2-3, 92). Baltimore lost all three games.
Last night: The Red Sox set season highs in runs scored (19), hits (23), doubles (10), and extra-base hits (14) in Friday's 19-3 win over the Yankees. The game also marked their most runs, doubles, and extra-base hits ever recorded against the Yankees. The Red Sox have scored eight or more runs in each of their last four games against the Yankees, tied for their longest streak ever (also May-June 1903 and June 1912).
1903
May 9 vs NYY: Red Sox 12, Yankees 5 June 1 at NYY: Red Sox 8, Yankees 2 June 2 at NYY: Red Sox 9, Yankees 0 June 3 at NYY: Red Sox 9, Yankees 3
1912
June 20 at NYY: Red Sox 15, Yankees 8 June 21 at NYY: Red Sox 11, Yankees 3 June 22 at NYY: Red Sox 13, Yankees 2 (G1) June 22 at NYY: Red Sox 10, Yankees 3 (G2)The series was a five-game sweep, as the Red Sox won 5-2 on June 19.
2019
June 2 at NYY: Red Sox 8, Yankees 5 June 29 vs NYY: Yankees 17, Red Sox 13 (London) June 30 vs NYY: Yankees 12, Red Sox 8 (London) July 25 vs NYY: Red Sox 19, Yankees 3AL East: Rays/Blue Jays, 7 PM. ... MFY –, TBR 9.5, BOS 10.0.
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