BOSTON – There were no fans in the stands and the Red Sox are in the middle of a brutal season, but Aaron Boone thought the Yankees’ 6-5, 12-inning victory at Fenway Park felt like the start of a postseason.
“It felt like the start of a playoff baseball,” Boone said after the Yankees were knocked out of their ninth straight win in a game that lasted nearly five hours. “It was cold, the wind blew and the conditions were very bad.”
The Yankees beat the Red Sox by a large margin as they overcame a four-run deficit.
DJ Lemahio’s RBI doubles at the top of the 12th and puts the Yankees ahead for good, after Gary Sanchez kept them alive with a two-game homer at the top of the ninth.
Jonathan Loisiga bowled two innings – including the 12th – to close the gap on the Yankees, including a two-run stand by Sanchez and then a homer from Matt Barnes in the final. It’s over.
“We were in a hole today and we were confident we would find a way back into the game,” Limahiu said. “A few weeks ago, 4-0 felt like 20-0. Tonight, 4-0 felt within reach. “
It was – thanks in large part to Sanchez.
“Maybe it wasn’t the year he wanted, but he had some big homers,” Lemahio said. “He made a lot of hits for us tonight. He looked like himself last week. ”
The Yankees took the first lead of the night over 11th Luke Voight’s RBI singles.
But Loisiga returned the run to the bottom of the Christian Arroyo singles innings before exiting the game to extend the innings.
In the 12th, Red Sox free runner Christian Vazquez was third and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a fly ball at center, but a powerful throw from Aaron Hick put Vazquez third.
“He was the great Aaron Hicks thrower we’ve always known,” Boone said of Hicks, who underwent surgery during Tommy John’s office season. “A key arm and a whole bullet for the house plate. It was good to see [and] The respect of the arm is there [the Red Sox] It was not challenged. ”
Loisiga then fielded Michael Chavez to end it, as the Yankees beat Boston for the 11th straight time.
They were on the ropes several times, including the 10th, when Arldis chapman Jedi Martins escaped trouble by knocking out Bradley and Chavis to third.
With Giacolo Stanton and Aaron Judge meeting in the lineup for the first time in a month, the Yankees couldn’t find anything against left-hander Martin Perez to open a seven-game road trip.
After scoring 43 runs in his last three matches, Yankee could not score against Perez who scored six runs.
But the Yankees’ troubles went beyond Perez.
He also had some sluggish fielding at the start, a mistake by Jordan Montgomery and a mistake from Geo Ursella in the first and Gleber Torres threw a ball that should have been a double play in the third.
The Red Sox met Montgomery in the fourth when Auro hit a three-run homer, before the Yankees got a two-run double from Sanchez in the seventh and then tied it twice.
“It was a good win, especially from where we started,” said Boone. “A lot of guys are doing great things when it’s important.”
