Red Sox 9, Yankees 5: Can this weekend last forever?

On Friday, it was the Mookie Betts show at Fenway as the 2018 MVP led the way in emphatic fashion for a second straight easy win for the Red Sox over the Yankees. On Saturday, he was the only Boston starter without a hit in the game. Despite the rough game from their star, the rest of the lineup was able to pick up the slack and then some en route to yet another big win. It was a well-rounded effort this time around with big games coming from J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers and Sam Travis, among others. This weekend has been just about perfect for the Red Sox, and they are one game away from a shocking sweep of the Yankees.

After the Red Sox jumped out to big leads and took all of the momentum right away in the first two games, the third contest of this four-game set between Boston and New York had a very different feel. This was a much more competitive game at Fenway, with the two sides going back and forth for most of the afternoon.

Eduardo Rodriguez got the ball for the Red Sox, who have somewhat quietly been getting some very solid performances from their starting pitchers of late. Rodriguez has been the most consistent of all over the last month or so, and he was looking to keep that up here. The southpaw didn’t have the best command we’ve seen from him and was a little inefficient at times, but he didn’t allow the backbreaker.

The first ended up causing a bit of a headache for him despite the fact that he got the first two batters of the frame out. Edwin Encarnación extended the inning with a walk, though, and Luke Voit followed that up with a base hit. Suddenly, there were two runners on for Didi Gregorius, but Rodriguez got a big line out to end the inning.

After the Red Sox went down in order in the bottom half of the inning against CC Sabathia — a start difference from the first two games of the series — Rodriguez gave the Yankees their first lead of the weekend in the second. It was Gio Urshela getting it done for New York after he sat in the first two games. Rodriguez got squeezed a bit on a 2-1 changeup, and with the 3-1 count he left a fastball right over the heart of the plate. Urshela was all over it, driving it out to center field for a solo homer to put New York up 1-0.

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Fortunately, the Red Sox weren’t going to wait too long to make sure the Yankees didn’t stay ahead. While Urshela went out to the deepest part of the park, Andrew Benintendi decided to do things a little differently. The outfielder came up with two outs in the inning, and hit what looked like a lazy pop up down the right field line. Except, since this is Fenway Park, it was much more than that. Originally called a double, replay showed Benintendi’s pop up to just barely clear the wall just beyond the foul pole for a solo home run. Just like that, one a 310-foot pop up, the Red Sox had the game all tied up.

Both sides went down quietly in the third, but then the Yankees got back to work in the fourth. It was Voit starting this rally with a leadoff double out to left field. Rodriguez came back strong after that with two quick outs and it appeared he was ready to get out of the inning. Instead, Urshela hit a bloop out to center field to get the run home and put New York back on top by a run.

Once again, though, the Red Sox were not going to let the Yankees hold the lead too long. Rafael Devers got things started in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff base hit. That brought J.D. Martinez to the plate with a runner on base a couple batters later, and he did the thing. Sabathia threw a first-pitch cutter that stayed middle-in and Martinez launched a laser in to the back row of the Monster Seats. Just like that, the Red Sox were out in front with a 3-2 lead. Boston would add another run when Sam Travis knocked one in on an RBI double.

In the fifth, Rodriguez was looking for a shutdown inning but didn’t help himself when he issued a four-pitch walk to Aaron Hicks with one out. He followed that up with a huge strikeout of Aaron Judge, though, putting himself one out away from keeping the lead at one. Instead, Encarnación scraped the Monster with a fly ball to left field, bringing Hicks home and bringing New York back to within one. Rodriguez did escape the inning after that, though.

After the Sox added yet another, this one on a Xander Bogaerts RBI double, Rodriguez was back out for the sixth despite approaching 100 pitches before the inning even began. He got himself into some trouble here, issuing a one-out walk to Gleyber Torres before Urshela got his third hit of the game on a bloop to right field.

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Following a big second out from the southpaw, his day was over as Matt Barnes came on with two on and two out in a two-run game. The righty got the job done, striking out Kyle Higashioka to end the inning and keep the Sox up 5-3.

The Red Sox would add three more in a big sixth inning, bringing Barnes back out to the mound with a five-run lead. He’d allow a two-out single in the inning but struck out the other three batters he faced to give him four strikeouts in five batters on the afternoon.

Travis added another RBI to his line in the seventh, pushing the lead up to six with Nathan Eovaldi coming in for the eighth. He struggled once again, giving up back-to-back hits with one out. That put a pair of runners in scoring position, and after a big strikeout of Mike Tauchman, Higashioka put up a great at bat. Finally, on the twelfth pitch he ripped a double through the left side to put two more runs on the board for the Yankees. That was all they got as Eovaldi ended the inning with a strikeout, but it was now 9-5.

For the ninth, it was Brandon Workman. If you’re looking for a negative in this weekend, it’s that Workman had to work twice in games that should have been blowouts. He came through with a perfect inning including a pair of strikeouts to end this one.

The Red Sox will go for the sweep on Sunday, a result not many of us saw coming. To do it, they’ll have Chris Sale on the mound to take on Domingo Germán. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET.

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