The Yankees bounced back from an embarrassing loss Tuesday night with a victory on Wednesday, as the rivalry has officially been renewed.
- New York Yankees: 10 (6-6)
- Boston Red Sox: 7 (9-2)
- American League, FINAL
- Fenway Park, Boston, MA
RIVALRY RENEWED!
Much like the Yankees bats, the rivalry has finally come back to life.
It had the feel of an old-school Yankees/Sox game. High Scoring, long game that features a bench-clearing brawl. Just like old times.
After being utterly embarrassed Monday night in a 14-1 loss, the Yankees came out firing on all cylinders. The Yankees had been waiting for Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez to come alive and they could not have picked a better time
Stanton got the party going in the top half of the first with a two-run triple that landed almost perfectly in the triangle out in dead center at Fenway Park. Sanchez finally broke out of his 2-35 slump with a two-run homer over the Green Monster to give the Yankees an early 4-0 lead.
David Price, who started the game for the Red Sox, only lasted one inning as he was removed from the game after having a tingling sensation in his left hand.
With Mashiro Tanaka in cruising through the Red Sox line up, the Yankees tacked on a run in the third on a Tyler Austin single and then three more in the fourth on a Didi Gregorius sac fly followed by another two-run home run from Sanchez, who had a huge night, to extend the Yankees lead to 8-1
Sanchez surpassed his entire production all season tonight with three hits and four runs batted in.
Tanaka entered the fifth having retired 10 batters in a row, but would then run into a world of trouble. Mookie Betts continued to torture the Yankees with an RBI double cutting the lead to 8-2 and after a two-out walk to Hanley Ramirez loaded the bases, JD Martinez blasted a grand slam 436 FT to dead center field to cut the lead to 8-6 and wake up the Fenway crowd.
Cue rivalry renewal. Earlier in the game Austin slid into second on a force play and spiked Red Sox shortstop Brock Holt in the back of his leg.
Holt took exception to the slide and had a few words with Austin. Benches cleared, but nothing would come of it, until the top of the seventh when Joe Kelly drilled Austin with a 98 MPH fastball. Austin furiously slammed his bat into the ground and charged the mound as benches cleared out.
Can't wait for this game to be a Yankees classic in a few years… pic.twitter.com/3pM6PsSzbo
— Patrick Hennessy (@TrueHennessy) April 12, 2018
Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton almost single-handedly diffused the situation getting in the middle of the pile and pushing the entire Red Sox roster back into their dugout.
When all was said and done, Kelly, Austin, and Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin were ejected from the game.
The Yankees pen would come in and shut down the Red Sox for the remainder of the game to end the Sox 9 game winning streak and even up the series at two games apiece.
What’s Next
The Yankees and Sox will finish up their first series of the season tomorrow.
Sonny Gray takes the hill for the Yankees as Rick Porcello will take the ball for the Sox.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET on YES Network and the FoxSportsGo app or can be heard on the radio at WFAN 660/101.9FM.