The Yankees have won back-to-back games.
For most teams that isn’t something newsworthy enough to lead off an article. For the Yankees? It’s just the fourth time this season that they’ve managed the feat. After stealing a tense showdown with the Red Sox on Friday night, the Yanks won in much more comfortable fashion Saturday, beating their rivals by a score of 8-2.
With Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances designated unavailable by Joe Girardi prior to the game, the Yankees would need one of two things to find success on Saturday: a deep outing by their starter, or a plethora of runs. Neither of the two have proven particularly attainable for the Yankees this year. On this day, they got both.
Nathan Eovaldi gave the Yankees more than they could have asked for, throwing eight innings and allowing just two runs on six hits. Boston manufactured a run early on, when Hanley Ramirez reached on a HBP and came around to score on a Brock Holt single in the second inning. Eovaldi was fantastic from then on, with the only blip coming on a Jackie Bradley Jr. solo shot in the fifth. Eovaldi was dialing up 98-mph as late as the eighth inning, striking out six and walking none.
Six days after touching up David Price on Sunday Night Baseball for a half-dozen runs, the Yankees punished Boston’s lefty ace yet again, this time with help from some unusual faces. With Jacoby Ellsbury nursing an injury and Brian McCann taking the day off, the bottom third of the order came alive, racking up seven hits in 11 at-bats and driving in five of the Yankees’ eight runs. Austin Romine picked up three hits filling in for McCann, including a pair of run-scoring doubles, while the struggling Chase Headley made his return to the lineup and went 2 for 4. The big blow came off the bat of Didi Gregorius though, when he emptied the bases in the fourth to give the Yankees some breathing room.
The Play: Didi’s bases-clearing double in the fourth (+.274 WPA)
Starlin Castro and Mark Teixeira led off the bottom of the fourth with a pair of hard groundball singles. After a Carlos Beltran strikeout, Price walked Dustin Ackley to load the bases. The collective air was let out of the stadium when Chase Headley flew out to right, the second out of the inning. Then Didi happened. He shot this David Price pitch into the right field corner to clear the bases and give the Yankees a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Top Performers
Yankees: Austin Romine (3 for 4, 2 2B, 2 RBI)
Red Sox: Jackie Bradley Jr. (1 for 3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI)
Notes
-Eovaldi’s start marks the fifth straight Quality Start for the Yankees. The last time the team had as many consecutive QS was in August of 2013.
-Austin Romine also caught Nathan Eovaldi’s other great 2016 start on April 25th, where he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
-After scoring seven or more runs three times in the season’s opening week, the Yankees failed to do so again at all until this week, where they once again did it three times.
The Quote
“It was amazing just seeing him pitch. It was lights out, man. He was still throwing 98 in the eighth inning, and we gave the bullpen a rest so it’s even better.” -Didi Gregorius on Eovaldi’s performance
The Highlight: Beltran provides the insurance
With the bullpen compromised and uncertainty over how long Eovaldi might last, it was important for the Yankees to rack up some insurance runs. Beltran happily obliged, lining this double down the line in left to make it 6-2 and chasing Price from the game.
Up Next
The Yankees will attempt to win three games in a row for the first time this season when they go for the sweep on Sunday Night Baseball. They’ll also try to keep the string of strong pitching performances going when they send Luis Severino to the mound. The 22-year-old has had a rocky start to his sophomore season, striking out just 16 in 25 and 2/3 innings with an ERA over six. Opposing him will be the knuckleballer Steven Wright, who has held an ERA under two through his first 32 and 1/3 innings in 2016. Game time is 8:05 pm and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Lead photo: Noah K. Murray / USA Today Sports