How many scoring chances can two teams accumulate without actually driving in runs? The Yankees and Red Sox played a game hellbent on figuring that out. And in the end, one timely homer from Paul Goldschmidt was enough to supplement the effort from Cam Schlittler and the Yankees’ bullpen to earn a shutout win, beating Boston one to nothing.
More than either lineup, failing to get anything going in the early innings of this matchup, no one was having a worse time than the umpire, Edwin Moscoso, seeing both offenses asking for challenges every other at-bat. The Yankees and Sox combined to get five challenges right in a row before Boston lost its first in the top of the third on a Cam Schlittler curve to Willson Contreras, nicking the top of the zone—eventually punching out the first baseman.
With multiple changes in premium spots in the order against a left-handed starter, the Yankees needed those players to perform in favorable matchups, and in tonight’s game, they were one for two in that department. First came the frustration in the opening inning, seeing Heliot Ramos punched out on three pitches to strand Ben Rice at second, but a few frames later, the power of Paul Goldschmidt showed up to give the Yankees the lead. Goldy was looking hard in and ambushed a sinker right at the edge for a home run worthy of this team’s top sluggers.
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Facing Schlittler for the fourth time this season, the Red Sox came up with a plan to be patient as a team, working five walks against him. While it is arguable that those walks were as much his fault as Boston genuinely executing a patient approach at a high level, they managed to really drive up his pitch count, even if the zeroes remained on the board. By the time Schlittler completed the fourth inning, he was already well over 70 pitches and destined for a short start.
Although they had gotten players on before, the Red Sox had their biggest threat against Schlittler in the top of the fifth. A Ceddane Rafaela single—then Boston’s only second hit of the game—set up a two-on-one-out situation for the third-hole hitter. Wilyer Abreu hit a sinking liner to center that Trent Grisham caught, reading it well, certainly far better than Rafaela, who was left in no man’s land and thrown out at first for the double play to end the frame.
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The Yankees starter was one out away from grinding out six innings, but a two-out walk not only led to a hook but nearly created a blowup inning. In continuity with the self-imposed challenges of handing out free base runners, Brent Headrick faced a sequence of three pinch hitters as the Sox turned over the bottom of the order against a lefty—Headrick allowed a walk and an infield hit to load the bases before narrowly escaping the inning, inducing a lineout to Andruw Monasterio.
It’s one thing to be leading a game, but another entirely to be in control of it. And with a 1-0 run lead, the Yankees had the chance to seize that control with an opportunistic inning after escaping that bases-loaded threat in the top of the sixth, only to fall flat like the Red Sox offense in their scoring opportunities. New York loaded the bases with just one out against Sandoval, leading the Sox to bring in the righty Greg Weissert—he retired George Lombard Jr. with a lineout too short for a tag play and then bullied Jazz Chisholm Jr. into a strikeout, whiffing on nothing but heaters.
Speaking of control, with the bullpens coming into play, the momentum of this game seemed to be continuously shifting all without the actual score moving. In the seventh, Paul Blackburn came in after Headrick retired the inning’s leadoff hitter and then experienced both sides of the coin when it comes to defensive impact. First, a jam was formed courtesy of a lousy read by Heliot Ramos on a softly hit fly ball that dropped in down the right field line—that double would’ve driven in a run had it not gone over the wall and out of play. Much like the Yankees, the Sox also hit a sinking liner with a runner at third and fewer than two outs—Rafaela tried to score on Cody Bellinger, an ill-advised move, and was gunned down at the plate to preserve the 1-0 score.
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After the seventh inning, the relievers on both sides actually started working clean innings, including the case for Blackburn himself in the eighth and David Bednar in the ninth, securing his 31st save of the season with three consecutive popups. It was a nailbiter, but the Yanks left with the 1-0 triumph.
Making up for a postponed game over two months ago, the Yankees and Red Sox will play a split admission doubleheader on Saturday. While the Yankees haven’t declared which pitcher will take which game, we know that Carlos Rodón and Max Fried will take the ball for New York—the latter making his first start back after returning from an IL stint that turned out to be way shorter than expected. The first game will start at 1:05 p.m. (EST), while the second one has its first pitch at 7:05 p.m. (EST).
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