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The Yankees offense was mostly silent, but Juan Soto came through when it counted with a walk-off single in the 10th to lead the 2-1 win over the Red Sox on Thursday night.
The Yankees (85-62) are now 2.0 games ahead of the idle Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East.
Here are the takeaways…
-The Yankees offense continued to struggle. Gleyber Torres led off the game with a solo shot but there weren’t many opportunities after. Entering the 10th inning, the Yankees offense had just six hits scattered among Torres, Aaron Judge, Austin Wells, Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Dominguez.
However, Soto came through when it mattered. Leading off the 10th, Soto lined an opposite-field single to score Jon Berti –– pinch running as the ghost runner — to give the Yankees the win. It’s Soto’s first walk-off hit as a Yankee.
The Yankees did have a golden opportunity in the sixth, when the Yankees had men on first and second with one out but Wednesday’s hero Chisholm Jr. was picked off of first base by Jansen after the Yankees third baseman took off for second but Wells, who was on second, did not take off. Dominguez and Anthony Rizzo walked to load the bases for Anthony Volpe, but the shortstop lined out to left field to end the threat.
-Nestor Cortes was pretty good for most of Thursday’s game but did have to wriggle out of trouble a few times.
The first came in the second with men on the corners with two outs but he got Wilyer Abreu to strike out swinging. The second was in the fourth when he walked back-to-back batters with one out, but got Trevor Story to hit into a double play.
In the fifth, after allowing a game-tying solo shot to Danny Jansen, the Red Sox had a runner on third base with two outs but Cortes got Rafael Devers to strike out swinging.
Cortes’ inefficiency cost him a potential win as he only went five innings on 92 pitches (58 strikes) allowing one run on three hits, and three walks while striking out nine batters — including getting Devers three times.
-The Yankees bullpen in relief of Cortes were nails. Ian Hamilton struck out three in 1.2 perfect innings. Tim Hill pitched 1.1 perfect innings while Tommy Kahnle worked out of trouble to keep it 1-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
After Kahnle retired the first batter in the 10th, Clay Holmes was called upon and was welcomed by boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd. But Holmes retired his two batters to give his team a chance to win it in the bottom of the 10th.
– Judge finished 1-for-3 but went without a home run for a career-high 16th straight game. He’s now gone 72 plate appearances without a home run, the longest stretch of his career.
Game MVP: Yankees bullpen
Soto’s walk-off hit is great but the bullpen was spectacular, allowing just one hit in five scoreless innings.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees and Red Sox continue their four-game set on Friday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Clarke Schmidt (5-3, 2.34 ERA) is on the mound while Boston hasn’t announced a starter for Friday’s game.
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