DON’T STOP ’EM NOW
Yanks KO Sox to storm into All-Star break
BOSTON – The feelings of satisfaction that a lot of Yankees talked about as they packed for the All-Star break following Sunday’s 8-6 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway were laced with something else – the idea that so much more remains to be done.
“Good, but incomplete,” is how closer Andrew Miller described the firsthalf following the finale. “Certainly happy with the way we’ve played and I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of, but there’s a long way to go.”
The Yankees enter the break with a 3.5-game lead in the American League East despite a streaky few months. To wit: The Yanks are in first place but have won only two of 11 road series since early May.
Still, they are formidable and flashed why at various moments Sunday in winning their fifth straight series at Fenway. They got big contributions from Alex Rodriguez, whose sixth-inning double gave them the lead for good, parts of their elite bullpen, resurgent catcher Brian McCann and Rob Refsnyder, the much-hyped second baseman who was called up for a cameo but may be giving the Yanks much more to consider.
Refsnyder got his first big-league hit in the seventh inning and then blasted his first homer two innings later, a shot over the Green Monster that appeared cosmetic at first but became important after the bottom of the inning got hairy.
“It ended up being the game-winning homer for us,” Brett Gardner said.
That’s because Miller had a difficult ninth. McCann and Refsnyder both made errors and the Red Sox scored twice. With the tying run at the plate, Miller got Shane Victorino to pop up to end the game.
“I don’t like making it interesting,” Miller said. “I don’t like having guys on base. I don’t like going through all that. It’s going to happen sometimes. We survived.”
Miller contributed to Refsnyder’s miscue when there was some confusion over who was covering second base on a potential game-ending double-play comebacker to the mound. Miller’s throw glanced off Refsnyder’s glove and the second baseman was given the error.
While Miller said, “I’ll wear that, it’s a bad throw,” Refsnyder said he got to the bag late. “That’s my fault,” the rookie said. “It’s my mistake, obviously.”
McCann hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Yankees the lead, the first home run by a left-handed hitter Boston starter Wade Miley has allowed all season. It was the first career homer at Fenway for McCann, who took 75 at-bats to get one.
Nathan Eovaldi (9-2) gave up three consecutive RBI singles to lose the lead in the third, but finished strong by retiring the final eight batters he faced. He allowed three runs in five innings and left with the score knotted at 3 thanks to a Miley balk that scored a Yankee run.
With Eovaldi done, Joe Girardi deployed multiple bullpen pieces with the break looming. Dellin Betances and Justin Wilson provided 1.1 scoreless innings apiece, though Miller and Adam Warren (one run, two hits in one-third of an inning) struggled.
Rodriguez, whose comeback has been one of the major themes of the Yanks’ first half, doubled in a run in the sixth, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Chris Young and Chase Headley added RBI doubles in the same frame.
Three innings later, Refsnyder homered. “That’s about all I got – I don’t have much power,” Refsnyder said. “It felt good off the bat. It was a ball out over the plate with two strikes, so I was fortunate enough to run into it, and a pretty cool venue to do it.”
After the game, Rodriguez sought out the rookie “and gave me a hug,” Refsnyder said. “Which means a lot, coming from one of the veterans on the team and one of the leaders.”
Everyone felt good in the clubhouse afterward. “I’m really happy about it, the way we finished,” said Gardner, who along with Betances and Mark Teixeira is headed to the All-Star Game. “Huge game, being able to win the series. I think we’re in a good position.”
But, as Girardi stressed, nothing’s settled yet. “It’s big today, but obviously there’s a lot of baseball to be played,” the manager said.