Alex Rodriguez presumably played at Fenway Park for the last time on Thursday night and while his performance was probably not up to his standards, he did contribute offensively to the Yankees’ 4-2 victory.
Michael Pineda made his 23rd start of the season and had his usual issues with two out hits. It started right away when he surrendered a run in the bottom of the first; David Ortiz hit a double with two outs and Hanley Ramirez followed with a single to put the Sox up 1-0. Pineda also gave up a two-out double to Sandy Leon in the bottom of the second, but got rookie Andrew Benintendi to strike out swinging and the Red Sox didn’t score.
Pineda, once again, found himself in a bit of trouble in the fifth inning with two outs. He surrendered a double to Ramirez which scored Xander Bogaerts, but that would be all Boston could get in the inning and for the rest of the game.
Luis Cessa pitched two scoreless innings and Dellin Betances closed the door in the ninth to pick up his third save of 2016.
The Yankees’ first run came from an Austin Romine home run that went over the Green Monster in the third, after Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez had retired the first seven Yankees he faced. Their big inning came against reliever Brad Ziegler in the eighth, scoring three runs on a Jacoby Ellsbury liner that was misplayed by Benintendi in left, and an A-Rod RBI groundout.
Alex Rodriguez, again presumably, finished his career at Fenway with an 0-4 night. He had one strikeout and two pop ups to go along with the groundout.
The play: The Benintendi has some trouble in left and two runs score (WPA +.347)
It looks like the Red Sox rookie lost this ball in the lights and his miscue turned the game around for the Yankees.
Top performers
Yankees – Cessa 2.0 IP, no hits, no walks and two strike outs.
Red Sox – Leon 3-4 with two doubles.
Notes
—Gary Sanchez threw out another runner on the bases. This time, it was Jackie Bradley Jr. who tried to swipe second in the bottom of the fourth. Runners are 0-4 when attempting to steal on the 23 year-old.
—The Yankees are now 3 1/2 games out of the second wild card.
Highlight: A-Rod’s RBI ground out
Yes, it was a dribbler that went about 10 feet, but it knocked in an insurance run for the Yankees and it also gave A-Rod 90 career RBIs at Fenway. That’s a nice round number to finish with, don’t you agree?
Up next
On Friday night, Alex Rodriguez will play his last game as a New York Yankee. They will be facing the Tampa Bay Rays and Chris Archer. The Yankees will counter with CC Sabathia. The pregame ceremony for A-Rod is scheduled to begin at 6:50 p.m. and the game will start at 7:35 p.m.
Photo Credit: Mark L. Baer / USA TODAY Sports