Jazz and Grisham power the Yankees past the Red Sox to snap losing streak

New York—The Yankees salvaged the final game of this four-game series, winning 7-2 against the Red Sox, to get back to 10 games above .500 at 70-60. Carlos Rodon got the start for the Yankees and faced off against Dustin May. 

In the top half of the first inning, Rodon worked around a single and a hit by pitch and picked up his first strikeout of the night to work out of trouble. 

Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge worked back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the first inning. However, Ben Rice bounced into a double play and Cody Bellinger lined out to end he threat.

Giancroalo Stanton led off the bottom of the second inning with a single up the middle. Jazz Chislom Jr. followed that up with a two-run home run, his 23rd of the year and the 100th of his career, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Jazz was emotional in the dugout following his home run, as he posted on Instagram last night, he lost his best friend. 

"I mean, it felt kind of surreal, you know, I lost my best friend yesterday, so, yeah, today felt like a different type of day, especially with the 100th home run coming today and everything," Jazz said. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Grisham crushed a no-doubt solo home run into the second deck in right field, his 24th of the year, to make it a 3-0 game. 

Stanton led off the bottom of the fourth with a rocket double, 117.8 mph off the bat, just out of the reach of the Red Sox center fielder, Nate Eaton. Jazz then picked up a productive groundout to move Stanton over to third base. The next batter, Ryan McMahon, was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners with one out. José Caballero drove in Stanton via a sacrifice fly to make it a 4-0 game. 

Rodon worked around a leadoff walk with the help of a 5-4-3 around-the-horn double play from the Yankees' infield. 

Grisham led off the bottom of the fifth inning with his second bomb of the night and 25th of the year to make it a 5-0 ballgame. 

Rodon walked three batters to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, two of which he was ahead 1-2, and the other he was ahead 0-2. Luke Weaver replaced Rodon on the mound and served up a two-run bloop single to the pinch-hitting Nathaniel Lowe to make it a 5-2 game. Weaver picked up a huge strikeout to limit the damage. 

Carlos Rodon's final line: 5.2 innings pitched, one hit allowed, two earned runs, five walks, seven swings and misses, and three strikeouts on 103 pitches. Rodon threw his fastball 39% of the time, the slider 26%, the changeup 17%, the sinker 15%, and the curveball 4% of the time. Rodon was cruising through five innings tonight, then decided to nibble with two strikes all inning long in the sixth, plus the Red Sox were fouling everything off, leading to three walks and 37 pitches to get just two outs. 

"Yeah, you know, it was good, you know, obviously want to get through the sixth there," Rodon said. "But they turned in some good at-bats. So you know, laid off some pitches. I thought they were close, but you know, going back looking at them on the ump made the right call." 

Weaver remained in the game for the top half of the seventh inning and worked around a one-out single, picking up a pair of strikeouts in the process. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Grisham worked a one-out walk. But Judge and Rice both went down on strikes, stranding Grisham at first base. 

Devin Williams took over for Weaver on the bump in the top of the eighth inning and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning with a couple of punchouts. 

Paul Goldschmidt, who came in for defense, lined a single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth. The next batter, Jazz, launched a two-run home run into the short porch in right, his second of the night and 24th of the year to make it a 7-2 game. 

Camilo Doval was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth inning and served up a leadoff single and a one-out double. But Doval buckled down and picked up a strikeout and a groundout to end this 7-2 and help the Yankees avoid getting swept. 

"We'll see, definitely not the weekend we wanted to have, especially coming off a really good road trip, but a good win, nonetheless," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "A lot of really good things. I thought Carlos was really good. The defense behind him, with a few double plays, obviously continuing to add on a little bit. Not the weekend that we wanted, certainly, but excellent to get a win and try and keep it going." 

The Yankees will now welcome the Washington Nationals to the Bronx for a three-game set. Cam Schlittler will get the starting nod for the Yankees, facing off against Brad Lord. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: The Yankees finally beat the Red Sox, snapping their eight-game losing streak against Boston. Rodon was solid tonight, but the walks were definitely a little frustrating. He has 24 walks since the All-Star break, which are the most in baseball in that span. Grisham and Jazz each had two home runs tonight, leading the charge for the Yankees' offense. Plus Weaver, Williams, and Doval combined for 3.1 innings of shutout baseball to close this one out. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees have to find a way to win at least two out of three games against the Nationals.