*Photo from the Boston Globe*
The Boston Red Sox entered Friday night's matchup with the New York Yankees with all the stars aligned for a win. They had swept them at Yankee stadium earlier in the year, Red Sox legends were in the house, and Fenway Park was sold out at 100 percent capacity for the first time since 2019. All that was left was for them to execute. Xander Bogaerts drove in two runs, Hunter Renfroe drove in two runs, and the Red Sox defeated the Yankees 5-3 on Friday night.
The Red Sox were honoring longtime Red Sox legend Dustin Pedroia on Friday night, after he retired prior to the start of the 2021 season. Several of his teammates, such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell, current Boston manager Alex Cora, and more were in attendance, as well as many people in the community that Pedroia has helped out in his playing years. That set up the atmosphere for a great win.
Renfroe said of the atmosphere at Fenway that "Yeah, it was incredible. Obviously, this is the thing you live for. These are the games you live for. Obviously, it wasn’t a playoff game, but it was a playoff-like atmosphere. The guys felt it from the fans, and the fans were there the whole game."
Bogaerts got the Red Sox on the board with a two run double in the first inning, and Renfroe hit an RBI double of his own, giving Boston a 3-0 lead early on, with just one inning done. In the 3rd, after the Yankees had tied the game, Renfroe hit a sac fly, scoring JD Martinez and giving Boston a 4-3 lead. It stayed that way until the 8th inning, when Christian Vazquez hit an RBI single to make it 5-3 Red Sox, which held.
Former Yankees prospect Garrett Whitlock got the win for the Red Sox, throwing two shutout innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two hitters. Former Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino also pitched, and threw a shutout 8th inning while striking out two hitters. Matt Barnes then came in and got the save for Boston.
Cora said of winning on the night celebrating Pedroia that "It was meant to be. The whole thing was amazing, it was cool. Pedroia was amazing. I know he enjoyed every moment of it. There were a few surprises. I didn’t know Pedro Martinez was in town. He came out and that was cool, as always. The big man David Ortiz with a great message. And Pedey, he nailed it."
The Yankees got all their runs in the second inning. First, Giancarlo Stanton scored on a bases loaded walk from Clint Frazier, which made it 3-1 Red Sox. DJ Lemahieu then hit a two run single to right field, which tied the game 3-3, but that was all the Yankees could get.
Yankees IF/OF Miguel Andujar said of the loss that "Unfortunately, things have not worked out the way we wanted. But at the same time, we understand we have more games. There’s always another game tomorrow. We’ve got to come back."
The Red Sox and Yankees continue their series again tonight, with Nathan Eovaldi starting for the Red Sox, and Jordan Montgomery going for New York.
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