BOSTON – The Red Sox showed off their wheels on Sunday, stealing a franchise-record nine bases and a series from the Yankees with a 9-3 win at Fenway Park.
Boston took full advantage of Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, who ranks second-to-last in pop time to second base (2.07 seconds) and dead last in arm strength (71.3 mph) among catchers. While the Platinum Glove winner excels in numerous other ways behind the plate, the Red Sox exploited Trevino’s lacking arm on “Sunday Night Baseball,” as four of their runs followed stolen bases.
“Gotta make better throws,” said Trevino, who took full responsibility for Boston’s base-stealing. “Gotta get the ball out.
“They’re gonna run. We knew that coming in, so I just gotta put the ball on the bag.”
David Hamilton led the way for the Red Sox, swiping four bags and scoring three runs. Two of his steals came in the fifth inning, when he took second and third.
Jarren Duran had two steals, while Dominic Smith, Ceddanne Rafaela and Bobby Dalbec each added one.
“There’s certain teams that that’s their DNA, and that’s how they’re gonna play,” Aaron Boone said. “Obviously, the Red Sox have a number of fast players and that’s how they play the game right now. We’ve faced a handful of teams that you go in and it’s similar and you prepare the same kind of way. I have a lot of confidence in how we address and control running games. Today, we didn’t get it done.”
New data just came in! The Yankees (well, Highlanders) allowed 13 steals in a 1907 game vs. Washington. So there's that.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) June 17, 2024
Boone, trying to take some heat off of Trevino, said that controlling the running game is a “group effort.”
Marcus Stroman, in similar fashion, took some of the blame. While he did nab one would-be base-stealer by stepping off the mound, the righty surrendered seven hits and four walks over five innings.
“They do a good job of getting on and wreaking havoc on the bases,” said Stroman, whose timing is slightly below league average when it comes to getting the ball to the plate. “I didn’t do a good enough job. Too many walks. Putting too many free men on base and allowing them to kind of run.”
Stroman also totaled four earned runs, three strikeouts and 102 pitches in his first start at Fenway Park as a Yankee.
Boston first scored in the second inning when Ceddanne Rafaela plated two with a single. A double play led to another run in the third, while Rafael Devers brought a run in with a sac fly in the fifth.
With Luke Weaver on the mound in the seventh, Devers knocked an RBI single before Connor Wong lined a two-run triple, which Alex Verdugo took a poor route to in right field.
Two of those runs were charged to Caleb Ferguson, who recorded just one out while allowing one hit and one walk.
Hamilton added an RBI single to his impressive night in the eighth. Wong then singled him home.
As for the Yankees’ offense, Aaron Judge started the game on a high note, as his 26th home run of the season, a solo shot, cleared The Green Monster with ease in the first inning.
Trevino got a run back for the Yankees in the sixth with his own blast over Fenway’s big green wall, while Anthony Volpe scored on a wild pitch later in the inning.
Those three runs were charged to Kutter Crawford, who logged six innings, three hits, one walk, nine strikeouts and 84 pitches.
“I think we just kind of got a little in between on his pitches and expanded out of the zone,” Judge said. “He, in big spots, made some great pitches.”
The Yankees had a chance to tack on in the seventh, as they had the bases loaded with nobody out.
However, Gleyber Torres turned a 3-0 count into a strikeout. Trevino then fanned on three pitches before DJ LeMahieu lined out to center, which sparked a animated scream from Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly.
“Gleyber got ahead 3-0 there,” Boone said when asked to dissect the botched rally. “Obviously, [he’s] taking 3-0. Probably wanted to see another one, which wasn’t a bad idea, and then expanded there on 3-2. Then they got Trevi to expand a little bit there and then DJ had a really good at-bat smoking the ball to center.
“That was our chance to really put together a big inning and maybe tie the game or even take the lead. It just didn’t happen tonight.”
Just before all that, Anthony Rizzo exited the game after colliding with Boston’s Brennan Bernardino at first base. The two banged hips, but Rizzo took a tumble and appeared to land on his right wrist, as he held the joint while lying on the ground in pain.
Per a press box announcement, Rizzo officially left the game with a right lower arm injury. Boone said that an initial low-grade X-ray came back clean, but the first baseman will see team physicians and undergo more imaging in New York on Monday.
“He’s in some pain in that kind of lower arm in a number of places,” the manager continued. “So obviously he’ll get a lot of tests tomorrow and see what we’re dealing with.”
Anthony Rizzo left the game after this collision at first base. pic.twitter.com/ee4gurvVFR
— ESPN (@espn) June 17, 2024
With the season’s first Red Sox matchup out of the way, the Yankees are off on Monday. They’ll start a three-game series with another American League East rival when the Orioles visit the Bronx on Tuesday.
Albert Suárez, Cade Povich and Cole Irvin are scheduled to pitch for the O’s, who have lost more than a few starters to the injured list.
Nestor Cortes will start for the Yankees on Tuesday, while Luis Gil will get the ball on Thursday. The Yankees had not announced their Wednesday starter at the time of publication, leaving the door open for Gerrit Cole’s 2024 debut.
