G108: Red Sox 2, Yankees 1

Red Sox - 010 100 000 - 2  4  0
Yankees - 000 000 100 - 1  5  1

Steven Wright (8-4-1-2-9, 108) pitched the finest game of his major league life and Koji Uehara stranded the potential tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth. David Ortiz hit the 487th home run of his storied career.

Wright did not allow a hit until the fifth inning - in fact, New York did not hit a fair ball until his 42nd pitch (he either walked or struck out the first seven batters) - and his only blemish was a solo shot by Carlos Beltran leading off the seventh. Wright got the next three outs quickly, on eight pitches.

Luis Severino (5-2-2-0-7, 94) pitched well in his much-anticipated debut, but gave up an unearned run in the second and a loooong home run to right-center by David Ortiz in the fourth (measured at 441 feet). With two outs in the second, Mike Napoli reached on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Chase Headley. Alejandro de Aza then doubled off the wall in right-center and Boston had a 1-0 lead. Ortiz's 21st home run of the season made it 2-0.

The Yankees had two singles in the fifth, but Jacoby Ellsbury struck out to end the threat (Ellsbury ended up striking out three times against Wright). Whether feeling confidence in Wright or terrified of going to his bullpen, manager John Farrell sent the knuckleballer out for the eighth, at 99 pitches. John Ryan Murphy singled to left as Hanley Ramirez (annoyingly) pulled up short on the sinking liner. Ellsbury lined a 1-1 pitch off Wright's leg or foot, and the ball caromed directly to shortstop Xander Bogaerts who grabbed it, stepped on second, and threw to first for a double play.

In the ninth, Mark Teixerira singled to right with one out, on a liner that Rusney Castillo dove and trapped. Chris Young pinch-ran and went to second on a wild pitch. Carlos Beltran flied to center for the second out. Uehara walked Headley on five pitches. Brian McCann pinch-hit for Didi Gregorius - and he saw nothing but strikes: called, swinging, foul, foul, lazy fly ball to center. Jackie Bradley jogged over and stashed it in his back pocket for the final out.

Pablo Sandoval doubled twice, the second one a ground rule double with two outs in the top of the ninth, when Boston was looking for some insurance. Yankees reliever Chasen Shreve threw two balls to Napoli before walking him intentionally. Then he walked pinch-hitter Rusney Castillo to load the bases. Shreve fell behind Swihart 2-0 before getting back to a full count, and getting the Red Sox catcher on a called third strike fly to left on his 30th pitch of the inning. Then he actually had the balls to pump his fist.

Steven Wright / Luis Severino

Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Sandoval, 3B
Napoli, 1B
De Aza, RF
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF

One day after Boston's Henry Owens made his major league debut, the Yankees' top pitching prospect - Luis Severino, 21 years old, from the Dominican Republic - gets his first opportunity on a big league mound.

New York Times:

Severino, 6 feet and 195 pounds, is on the smaller side for a power pitcher, but his smooth, rhythmic delivery produces late life on his fastball, which is consistently in the 96- to 98-mile-per-hour range, along with a slider and an excellent changeup.

His 7-0 record and 1.91 E.R.A. (with a .184 batting average against) in 11 starts at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre suggested that he was ready to fill a need for the Yankees after Michael Pineda went on the 15-day disabled list last week with a strained right forearm.

Severino will be the youngest pitcher to make a start in the majors this season, at 21 years 166 days.