Red Sox score five in ninth inning, stun first-place Blue Jays
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It happened again. The Boston Red Sox did the rival New York Yankees a big favor by knocking off the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays haven’t done a lot of losing over the past few weeks, but the Red Sox have now beat them three out of five in September. Those three wins may be all that’s keeping the Yankees alive in the division race, as they currently sit at three games back.
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Saturday’s game didn’t look like it was going the way Boston or New York wanted it heading to the ninth inning. Trailing 4-2, the Red Sox erupted for five runs. Jackie Bradley Jr. delivered the big hit, tying the game up with a two-run homer. Boston would then load the bases, adding three additional runs on a David Ortiz single, an Aaron Sanchez wild pitch, and a Rusney Castillo single.
In total, 10 batters would come to the plate. Five would score, which proved vital as the Blue Jays countered with two of their own on Jose Bautista’s home run in the bottom half. Edwin Encarancion also homered for Toronto earlier in the game, but it wasn’t enough. The Blue Jays magic number remains at 12.
YANKEES BOUNCE BACK IN SUBWAY SERIES
In Friday’s Subway Series opener, the Mets used three home runs and a Steven Matz gem to get the win.
In Saturday’s rematch, it was the Yankees turn to ride the long ball and a strong pitching performance to a 5-0 victory.
It didn’t take the Yankees long at all to get rolling against Noah Syndergaard. Outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner started the game with back-to-back singles, and then went along for the ride on Carlos Beltran’s three-run homer. The home run was Beltran’s 16th of the season, but only his third since Aug. 18. The Yankees could really use a late power surge from him.
From there, Syndergaard would retire 12 straight batters and record four scoreless innings. However, Brian McCann ended that run with a two-run homer to cap the Yankees scoring. McCann now has 28 dingers on the season.
On the hill, Michael Pineda did the heavy lifting, tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings. From there, the Yankees bullpen took over. Six different relievers combined to record the final 11 outs, eight of which came by strikeout.
ANGELS GET PAIR OF WINS OVER TWINS
Mother Nature was pretty bad to the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. The Los Angeles Angels were way worse on Saturday, sweeping a critical day-night doubleheader at Target Field.
The Angels took the opener 4-3 in 12 innings. Rookie left-hander Andrew Heaney was excellent, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but Minnesota was able to even things up the moment he departed in the seventh. Miguel Sano greeted reliever Trevor Gotts with a two-run homer.
In the 12th, Los Angeles took the lead again after a Brian Dozier error set up Kole Calhoun’s RBI groundout. Huston Street pitched the botton half to earn his 37th save. Worth noting, all four of the Angels runs scored on plays where outs were recorded. That’s what they mean by productive outs.
In the nightcap, the Angels had a little easier time, securing a 5-2 win. Albert Pujols broke a six-game hitless streak with two hits and two RBIs. Mike Trout smacked his 39th home run, while Chris Iannetta added his 10th.
With those two wins, the Angels have leapfrogged the Twins in the wild card standings. They’re just one game back of the scuffling Astros for the second spot.
PIRATES HOLD STEADY, DEFEAT CLAYTON KERSHAW
With the Chicago Cubs breathing down their neck and a matchup with Clayton Kershaw scheduled for Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates seemed destined to lose their grip on the top wild card spot.
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Instead, they played one of their most complete games of the season behind Francisco Liriano and pulled out a 3-2 win, reminding us once again why they currently hold the second best record in baseball.
The Pirates are a darn good team, and one of the main reasons why is perennial MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen. The centerpiece center fielder was right in the middle of both Pirates rallies, first delivering a huge two-run double off Kershaw in the third. That gave Pittsburgh its first lead. In the eighth, McCutchen was intentionally walked to set up Aramis Ramirez. The veteran third baseman came through, ripping his own double to score the winner and beat Kershaw.
Liriano got the win for the Pirates, pitching seven innings of two-run ball. He struck out nine as the Pirates maintained their one-game edge for the NL’s top wild card spot.
Want to see more from Saturday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
