Swinging Sox Stay Hot, Take Series From 1st Place Yankees on Father's Day
Boston set a new franchise record with NINE stolen bases
14 hits paved the way for one of the most satisfying Red Sox wins this season. I really wasn’t expecting much heading into this series, mostly because the Yankees are just that good. Instead, the Sox ended up winning the series and making perhaps their biggest statement this season. 5 different Red Sox had multi-hit games, and starter Kutter Crawford was fantastic in his own right against one of the league’s best offenses. Zack Kelly’s bases-loaded escape act in the 7th was immensely impressive, and relentless late-inning scoring put the game on ice shortly after. Oh yeah — and the Sox stole NINE BAGS off of Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, setting a brand new franchise record. They have been playing some entertaining ball against strong opponents, and there’s no reason they can’t keep it up as they head to Toronto for their next matchup against the Blue Jays.
Despite giving up a pair of homers, Crawford navigated the New York lineup very well overall. He struck out 9 in 6 innings of work, allowing 3 runs before ending his night. Crawford’s home run problem continues to be a very real thing, but if he can limit the damage with solo shots then I’m not going to complain too much. Brennan Bernardino proceeded to load the bases with Boston up just 4-3, the Yankees having 0 outs at this point. Alex Cora made the call to yank Bernardino for Zack Kelly, and the latter soon repaid Cora’s faith with a clean frame. Kelly struck out Gleyber Torres and Jose Trevino before getting DJ LeMahieu to line out to end the inning. Kelly’s ERA now sits at 1.88 on the season, and he’s established himself as one of the league’s better relievers.
The Red Sox bats were once again the stars of the show, although this time their noise on the base paths was perhaps the biggest storyline. A franchise record 9 stolen bases was absurd, with 6 of them coming from young speedsters David Hamilton and Jarren Duran. Clearly they caught wind of Trevino’s weak arm, as Cora was having them run at almost every chance. 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position brought them home for Boston, and the offense (although streaky) is feeling the best it has all season. Every win puts pressure on Craig Breslow to get them reinforcements, so why not go kick the doors of an underperforming Blue Jays team in their own stadium?