BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox lost every one of their first eight series against AL East opponents this season. In the ninth, a four-game set against the first-place Yankees, they opened with back-to-back losses and trailed by two runs in the 10th inning of Game 3.
That’s when things turned around.
One night after rallying to win in extra innings, Boston scored nine unanswered runs on Sunday to come back from a four-run deficit and beat New York 11-6. The split improved the Red Sox to 0-8-1 in series against AL East teams — not great, but a boost as they head into the All-Star break with series against the Rays and Yankees..
“I don’t think anyone would have bet that we would have split it after the first two. You’re definitely lying if you say that,” said shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who was added to the AL roster for the All-Star Game earlier Sunday.
“Especially how the first two games went,” he said, alluding to the 12-5 loss on Friday in which outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. pitched the ninth. “It’s nice to give the fans something to come back to the ballpark and look forward to.”
Jeter Downs’ bases-loaded blooper against Aroldis Chapman dropped in off DJ LeMahieu’s glove to break a sixth-inning tie, and the Red Sox rallied from a 6-2 deficit to win on Sunday night. Boston scored one in the third, three in the fifth to tie it, one in the sixth to take the lead and four insurance runs in the seventh.
It was the second straight comeback sparked by Downs, a 23-year-old rookie named after former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter who was supposed to start in Triple-A on Saturday but was scratched so he could head to Fenway Park.
“We play in a tough division, and we’ve been getting beat in the division and we know that,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “But we feel like we…
Leave a Reply