Red Sox rally over visiting Yankees, 9-6

Moreland delivers 2-run single as Boston wins for 13th time in 15 games

BOSTON — Nineteen batters. Six pitchers. One hour, five minutes. Eight runs. Two lead changes. And when the seventh inning was over on Friday night, the Boston Red Sox were back in front and on their way to a 9-6 win over New York and a five-game lead over the rival Yankees in the AL East.

“We sent a number of guys to the mound; they put a number of balls in play — hit batters, walks in there,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “But then Addison Reed came on in the seventh to shut it down.”

Reed and fellow Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly retired presumptive AL rookie of the year Aaron Judge with the bases loaded in back-toback innings, and pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland delivered a two-run single to rally Boston to its 13th victory in 15 games.

The Yankees snapped a four-game winning streak, blowing a 6-3 lead after rallying from a 3-0 deficit.

“Our guys fought really hard to get in front of the lead. Really good at-bats from a lot of different people,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s frustrating, but we’ll be back.”

Reed (1-1) got five outs, striking out three. He was the seventh Boston pitcher, after starter Drew Pomeranz left mid-batter with back spasms in the fourth. Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his 29th save.

The Red Sox opened a 3-0 lead on homers from Christian Vazquez and Rafael Devers, who hit his fourth in five games and his seventh in his 19-game major league career. But Todd Frazier hit a two-run homer in the sixth, then New York scored four in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead.

WINNING RALLY

Boston loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh against Tommy Kahnle (2-4), scored one run on Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly and another on Andrew Benintendi’s single. Hanley Ramirez walked to load the bases again before Moreland lined an 0-2 pitch to centre to make it 7-6.

Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-run single in the eighth off Aroldis Chapman to make it 9-6.

UP NEXT

Yankees’ CC Sabathia (9-5) is trying to snap a two-game losing streak, facing Boston’s Chris Sale (14-4).