The Boston Red Sox are not only feeling really good about themselves for having the best record in baseball, but also for having the number of their rival, the New York Yankees. They kept that going on Friday night, as Rick Porcello pitched a complete game in a 4-1 victory on Friday night at Fenway Park. Porcello allowed just a solo home run in a one-hitter for his 14th win of the season.
The right-hander struck out nine batters, and only gave up a long ball to Miguel Andjuar in the third inning. After that, he would retire the final 21 batters he faced, needing 86 pitches to go nine innings while facing just one batter over the minimum. He did not walk a batter on the night, but did hit Brett Gardner with a pitch in the first inning. That maximum effort made this game last just two hours, 15 minutes, which was the fastest nine-inning Red Sox-Yankees game since May 6th, 1994.
Porcello tied a season-high for strikeouts on this night, as he recorded his first complete game since July 23rd of last season.
Steve Pearce supported Porcello with his fourth home run in the past two nights, following a three-home run effort in Thursdays blowout win. Boston won for the sixth time in seven games, extending their AL East lead to 7.5 games over the Yankees. At 77-43, they are now 43 games over .500 for the first time since 1946.
Things did get testy early on, as Luis Severino came up and in on the first pitch to Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first. This seemed to be retaliation to Gardner getting hit to start the game, and that led to both dugouts being warned early on. That move from home plate umpire Adam Hamari upset Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who came charging out of his dugout to argue, which led to his early ejection. Cora was adamant that Severino's throw was retaliation, which the Yankees' starter denied after the game.
Boston has now taken the first two games of the series with ease, but there are still two more games to be played this weekend, including Saturday afternoon on FOX Sports 1.
The right-hander struck out nine batters, and only gave up a long ball to Miguel Andjuar in the third inning. After that, he would retire the final 21 batters he faced, needing 86 pitches to go nine innings while facing just one batter over the minimum. He did not walk a batter on the night, but did hit Brett Gardner with a pitch in the first inning. That maximum effort made this game last just two hours, 15 minutes, which was the fastest nine-inning Red Sox-Yankees game since May 6th, 1994.
Porcello tied a season-high for strikeouts on this night, as he recorded his first complete game since July 23rd of last season.
Steve Pearce supported Porcello with his fourth home run in the past two nights, following a three-home run effort in Thursdays blowout win. Boston won for the sixth time in seven games, extending their AL East lead to 7.5 games over the Yankees. At 77-43, they are now 43 games over .500 for the first time since 1946.
Things did get testy early on, as Luis Severino came up and in on the first pitch to Mookie Betts in the bottom of the first. This seemed to be retaliation to Gardner getting hit to start the game, and that led to both dugouts being warned early on. That move from home plate umpire Adam Hamari upset Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who came charging out of his dugout to argue, which led to his early ejection. Cora was adamant that Severino's throw was retaliation, which the Yankees' starter denied after the game.
Boston has now taken the first two games of the series with ease, but there are still two more games to be played this weekend, including Saturday afternoon on FOX Sports 1.
