Most Sunday night matchups between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees provide some sort of excitement. This particular game lived up to the expectations of the age old rivalry.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts started off the game with a two-run home run in the first inning which was only the beginning of the trouble James Paxton faced from the Boston lineup.
Slugger Aaron Judge decided to answer with a three-run bomb of his own to the second deck in left field in the second inning.
FIVE straight games with a homer.
Aaron Judge is on FIRE. pic.twitter.com/le8JhFl0Ox
— MLB (@MLB) August 3, 2020
Not to be outdone, the Red Sox rallied quickly with three RBI singles in the third inning by Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez.
Paxton would leave the game after the third inning and was replaced by Michael King, who gave the Yankees 3.2 innings of work and only allowed two runs.
The Red Sox used an opener on Sunday and were able to limit their bullpen usage to only five pitchers, but after Austin Brice left the game, things went downhill very quickly with Matt Hill and Matt Barnes giving up a combined eight runs in three innings.
Bogaerts and Devers added to their productive evenings in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively, with a solo home run each. The Devers home run gave Boston a 7-6 lead, but that did not last very long.
In the bottom of the eight inning, DJ LeMahieu drove in the tying run on an RBI single. It was then when Aaron Judge decided to impose his will on Matt Barnes and drive a two-run shot 468 feet to center field.
AARON. JUDGE. CRUSHED. AGAIN. pic.twitter.com/6jNWGUYvOf
— ESPN (@espn) August 3, 2020
Zach Britton came in to close out the game with a perfect ninth inning that sent the Yankees home victorious 9-7 over the Red Sox.
Gerrit Cole will return to the mound again for the Yankees on Monday as they will look to ride Judge’s hot streak to another victory over Jake Arrieta and the Phillies.
The Red Sox will travel to Tampa Bay where Nathan Eovaldi will do his best to get Boston back on track.
