Yankees are hoping to keep their clutch hits rolling against Red Sox
The New York Yankees have not relied on an explosive offense lately and are instead making enough of an effort to grind out wins and extend their advantage over the American League East.
The New York Yankees have not relied on a prolific offense of late, but rather are doing just enough to eke out wins and widen their lead in the American League East.
After the game-ending hit by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Juan Soto, the Yankees are hoping to win their third straight game in their game against their rivals the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
The Yankees (85-62) are 5-1 in their last seven games, after losing six of their last nine games against their opponents the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals. Four of the wins were with three or less runs while they have scored less than four runs in each of those games. Yankees are able to score more than 4 runs just once in those games.
Chisholm scored the game-winning hit in the 11th inning of Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals and Soto scored the Yankees an 2-1 victory against their opponents the Red Sox with a single in the 10th inning on Thursday. They Yankees have two games clear of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East and have their biggest lead since regaining their division lead on Aug. 21.
“Guys are playing really well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We haven’t seen a lot of offensive within us the past couple of nights, but (we’re) getting enough. I think we’ve got some good bats tonight.
The Yankees won their last two wins despite only going 2-for-9 when a runner was in scoring position and also stranding 17. After Soto’s game-winning strike, New York left the bases unloaded in the sixth and fourth.
New York is getting these victories in spite of Aaron Judge being stuck on 51 homers. Since hitting two homers in a game against Colorado’s Colorado Rockies on Aug. 25, Judge is homerless in an unprecedented 16 consecutive games, and has hit .207 (12-for-58).
Boston (74-73) is down three consecutive games at New York and is 4 1/2 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the third and final AL wild card.
Danny Jansen hit a tying homer in the fifth, but in the fifth, the Red Sox were held to four hits and struck out 14 times. They Red Sox have stuck out 50 times over the last four games and more than 10-times in their 14-game series from Aug. 18.
Rafael Devers was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Thursday. He’s not homer-free for 14 consecutive games. In the 14 games since his previous homer in August. 25 Devers currently is 9-for 54 (.167)
“I’m not going through my best moments right now but that’s part of baseball,” Devers spoke via an interpreter. “There are some times when you’re going to go through this stretch and that’s what’s happening to me right now. I’m not perfect and that’s just baseball.”
The New York Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt (5-3, 2.34 ERA) will take his second pitch since his return from a long injured list time. Schmidt was unable to play in more than 86 games due to an injured right lat. He was able to pitch 4 1/3 innings of four-hit baseball in Saturday’s 2-0 win against the hosts Chicago Cubs, marking his third game in which he has not scored.
Schmidt is 0-1 and has an 4.23 ERA in eight career appearances (four starts) against the Red Sox. Schmidt last played them on in September. 14 last year He allowed 4 scores (three earned) on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings of non-decision against Boston.
Tanner Houck (8-10, 3.24) He was scratched from his scheduled start because of an injury to his shoulder this past Sunday. He will throw in his first start since giving up five hits and four runs in a 8-3 loss September. 4 against the host New York Mets.
Houck is 0-4, with an 4.78 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break, after allowing two hits in 6 innings of work against Oakland Athletics on July 11 in his final outing before the break.
Houck is 3-0 with an 2.38 ERA in 14 career appearances (nine starts) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
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