BOSTON — The Yankees lost to the Red Sox by one run on Saturday night at Fenway Park, coming down with their final strike in the top of the ninth inning.
If Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen had thrown one more strike or been hit for the out, the Yankees would have added another loss to their summer losing streak.
A base-running error by Juan Soto in the eighth inning further underwhelmed the Yankees’ pitching staff, which ended the game in a blemish and somewhat overshadowed the trade of Jazz Chisholm Jr., acquired from the Marlins earlier in the day.
Not only did the Yankees tie the game in the ninth inning, they dramatically extended their lead in the tenth, en route to a long-awaited victory in a thrilling 11-8 game.
Center fielder Trent Grisham hit a tying double off Green Monster left fielder Jansen with two outs and the score tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings, then catcher Austin Wells gave the Yankees the lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th, and second baseman Gleyber Torres added a valuable two-run double to left-center field to add another run.
Closer Clay Holmes gave the Yankees the win, recording six outs and holding Boston scoreless in the ninth and 10th innings after a game-busting relief outing on Friday night.
Soto’s baserunning faux pas came in the eighth inning. It didn’t hurt the Yankees, but it was a huge mistake in the moment. Yankees third-base coach Luis Rojas signaled Soto to stop, giving the superstar outfielder enough time to apply the brakes as he tried to score from first on Aaron Judge’s double over the left-field fence. But Soto smashed through the fence and ran.
The Yankees were down by two at the time, but with Alex Verdugo running in from second base, Soto hit the tying single. It would have been the talk of the night if the Yankees’ offense hadn’t stepped up over the next few innings to put the game away.
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Restoration of Glory
Saturday’s game was a classic Yankees-Red Sox showdown on the national stage through the first few frames, lasted nearly four hours and had everything going for it, including some wild and wacky twists all the way through to extra innings.
The Yankees got up to a three-run lead in the top of the first on back-to-back homers by Soto and Judge, but starter Marcus Stroman quickly lost the lead. Boston rallied behind a solo homer by Will Abreu and a two-run double by big-time Tyler O’Neill.
Both clubs followed the same plan in the second leg.
The Yankees took the lead on a solo home run by Oswaldo Cabrera, who slumped into the right field stands and nearly stole home, but the ball flew out of his glove as it disappeared over the short fence. The Red Sox then scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning on an error by Anthony Volpe.
Stroman ended up taking the loss after giving up just nine hits, five runs (three earned) and zero strikeouts in just 3 1/3 innings, throwing just 60 pitches. It was a night where the offense showed some early energy, but their struggling starting rotation once again put them in a tough spot.
The Yankees added a few more runs in the middle innings. Judge, who had four hits and reached base six times (a career high), singled Verdugo to score in the fifth inning, and first baseman Ben Rice tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
However, the Yankees’ bullpen remained a weakness.
Jake Cousins gave up a powerful solo home run to O’Neill in the fifth inning, who followed that up with another home run two innings later off Michael Tonkin, and a few batters later, No. 8 hitter David Hamilton doubled to left field off Tonkin to give Boston a two-run lead.
The Yankees scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning thanks to the efforts of Wells and Torres, which decided the game and ended the Yankees’ three-game losing streak.
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Max Goodman can be contacted at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com
