Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Clutch homer carries Boston past Yanks
RED SOX 6, YANKEES 1
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox pieced together a victory by going to the bullpen six times.
The problem is they’ll need to pile up wins and very likely need some help to make the postseason.
Mitch Moreland hit a three-run homer and seven pitchers combined on a three-hitter to lead the Red Sox to a 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees.
“It’s definitely going to be difficult,” Moreland said. “We’re not in the best of spots, but everybody in here is continuing to fight and try to help the team win.”
Xander Bogaerts added a two-run double and Moreland two singles for the Red Sox, who won for the 13th time in 19 games but the defending World Series champions remained 6 1 /2 games out of the AL’s second wild-card spot with 21 games to play.
“It’s an uncomfortable game for hitters. You see four different pitchers,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’re just in a position right now that we know that we have to do this.”
Brett Gardner homered for AL East-leading New York, which lost for just the third time in 11 games. The Yankees lead atop the East dropped to 81/2 games over Tampa Bay, a 5-0 winner at home against Toronto.
“We just didn’t mount a whole lot offensively tonight,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “Certainly, part of that is them being able to match up, but part of it we just had a down night.”
New York starter Domingo Germán (17-4) gave up five runs in 41/3 innings, allowing three hits with four walks and five strikeouts in his bid to become the majors’ first 18-game winner. He had given up two or fewer runs in three of his last four starts.
Marcus Walden (9-2), Boston’s third pitcher, threw a scoreless inning for the vic- tory.
New York’s hitters looked baffled in a handful of atbats, facing different types of pitchers.
“It’s a little different but it’s September baseball, unfortu- nately. We’ve got three more weeks of that,” Gardner said.