The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 8-5 Sunday night completing a three-game sweep of the Red Sox in Boston for the first time since August of 2006.
Top WPA Play: Despite the close final score and the Red Sox making it interesting against Andrew Miller in the ninth, the top WPA play of the game happened in the very first inning of the game when Mark Teixeira hit a hanging slider over the green monster to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead (+.191). Red Sox starter didn’t fare nearly as well as he did in last outing against the Yankees as he failed to complete five innings and allowed nine hits and five earned runs.
Bottom WPA Play: Even though the Yankees held onto a lead throughout the game, it almost felt like they should’ve been leading by more and the Red Sox were able to get back in the game after falling behind 8-0 as they scored five runs in the sixth inning. Three of those runs came on Mike Napoli’s home run off Esmil Rogers.
But, that’s not our bottom WPA play, obviously. That would be David Ortiz flying out to center with the bases loaded to end the game (-.093).
Key Moment: With the Yankees ahead 2-0 already and men on first and second with two outs in the third inning, Kelly needed to get out of the inning. He was one strike away. Instead, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran hit back-to-back two-out doubles to extend the lead to 5-0.
Another big moment in the game was when Joe Girardi brought in David Carpenter to face Napoli with a man on first and one out in the eighth inning. Carpenter ended up throwing just one pitch as Napoli hit into a double play to end the inning.
Trend to Watch: It’s not so much a trend, but certainly something to keep an eye on. Adam Warren hit Hanley Ramirez in the sixth inning and Ramirez wasn’t happy about it in the least. Later in the game Red Sox pitching hit both Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Hopefully, this situation has defused and we won’t have to look back at what happened in this game as the start of a war, but you just never know.
Up Next: The Yankees head to Toronto for a three-game series before coming back to the Bronx to face the Orioles on Thursday. Chase Whitely (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will make his second start of the season tonight against knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey (0-3, 5.23 ERA) Monday.
Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA Today Sports