The Boston Red Sox know if they finish tied with the New York Yankees in the standings, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Now they would like to increase their lead over their rivals in the American League wild-card race.
With ace Garrett Crochet on the mound, the Red Sox will attempt to earn an eighth straight win over the Yankees on Saturday afternoon when the clubs continue a four-game series in New York.
The Red Sox are on their first seven-game winning streak over the Yankees since June 11-Aug. 20, 2023, having opened the current series with a 6-3 win on Thursday before prevailing 1-0 victory on Friday.
Brayan Bello allowed three hits in seven stellar innings and Connor Wong hit an RBI double in the seventh inning of Boston’s first 1-0 road win over the Yankees since July 28, 1994.
“It’s still August, so there’s a lot of baseball in front of us,” said Nathaniel Lowe, who had a pinch-hit double ahead of Wong’s hit in his fourth game since joining the Red Sox. “We got to win every chance that we have, and we did a good job of that tonight.”
Boston’s Alex Bregman had his second consecutive three-hit game and is batting .356 (31-for-87) over his past 24 games. His latest big outing occurred on a night when the Red Sox went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
The Red Sox are 4-for-30 with runners in scoring position in the series and 7-for-58 in their past five games but enter Saturday with a half-game lead over the Yankees for the top AL wild card.
“It’s two good teams playing for a spot in the playoffs, and that was fun, that was great,” Boston manager Alex Cora said following his team’s Friday win.
Since starting the season series with a 9-6 home win on June 6, the Yankees have been outscored 36-21 by Boston. On Friday, the Yankees mustered only singles by Ben Rice, Trent Grisham and Austin Wells and did not have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
“It’s been tough,” Rice said after the Yankees were held to three hits or fewer for the ninth time this season. “They’ve had our number so far. Now we have to focus on these next two games and try to split the series.”
New York is 30-36 since its lone win over the Red Sox. The latest two losses came on the heels of a five-game winning streak and a run of eight wins in 10 games.
Crochet (13-5, 2.43 ERA) is 9-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his past 13 starts, allowing two runs or fewer in 10 of those outings. He had won nine straight decisions before allowing five runs in four innings at Houston on Aug. 11. He followed up the rough outing by permitting one run in seven innings against the Marlins on Sunday, through Miami rallied in the ninth to win.
On June 13 in Boston, Crochet gave up one run on four hits in 8 1/3 innings against the Yankees. Six days earlier, he allowed five runs on six hits in six innings but struck out Aaron Judge three times in Boston’s 10-7 win at New York.
The right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in five career appearances (two starts) against the Red Sox.
Will Warren (7-5, 4.25 ERA), who is 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA in his past eight starts, will take the mound for the Yankees on Saturday. Warren last pitched on Sunday in St. Louis, where he allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, marking the seventh time in his past eight starts he allowed two earned runs or fewer.
Warren’s only previous start against the Red Sox occurred June 6 in New York when he allowed four runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings and survived allowing four walks to earn the win.
–Field Level Media
