Yankees offense explodes in 9-2 win to sweep Red Sox

The Yankees crushed the Red Sox's hopes and dreams with a dominant 9-2 win to complete the sweep. Max Fried got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against former Yankee Sonny Gray. 

“Just team at-bats,” Ben Rice said. “Team at-bats up and down the lineup from everybody willing to pass the baton to the next guy. Just a solid team approach all around. That's what you got to do in the postseason.”

Fried worked a scoreless top half of the first inning and recorded his first two strikeouts of the night. 

Rice, Cody Bellinger and Luis Garcia Jr. went three up, three down in the bottom of the first inning. 

Fried worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 top half of the second inning on just seven pitches. With two outs in the bottom of the second Jazz Chisholm Jr. legged out an infield single, but Trent Grisham popped out to end the inning. 

Fried allowed a one-out hustle double in the top of the third inning due to a piss poor effort from Grisham in center field. But no harm, no foul, as Fried picked up his third strikeout and induced a groundout to end the inning. 

Fried navigated around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth inning and recorded his fourth strikeout of the night to work a scoreless frame. 

Luis Garcia Jr. led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo shot into the right-field seats to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 

Fried retired the Red Sox in order in the top of the fifth and notched a pair of strikeouts to put together a shutdown inning. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Grisham led things off with a single lined into right field. With two outs, Rice sent a single into right field to put runners at the corners and end Gray's night. Belli cam through with an RBI single to extend the Yankees' lead to 2-0. Garcia then lined a single into left field, but a terrible send from third-base coach Luis Rojas caused Rice to get thrown out at the plate. 

Fried quickly picked up the first two outs in the top of the sixth inning, then allowed a solo shot to Willson Contreras to cut the Yankees' lead to 2-1. 

It looked like the Red Sox picked up the first out in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Spencer Jones hustled down the line on a drop third strike to reach base safely. Jones stole second, then was able to advance to third on a throw into center field. George Lombard Jr. followed with an RBI single to extend the Yankees' lead to 3-1. 

“I mean, it's a great thing to be able to get on the bases, I guess, any way possible, but I was always told if you run hard, good things are going to happen, and it turned out to be the case,” Jones said. 

Then Grisham laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. Austin Wells tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly, then Ryan McMahon came through with an RBI groundout to make it 5-1.  Rice was intentionally walked to put two aboard for Belli. And Belli delivered the knockout punch with a three-run bomb into the short porch to extend the Yankees' lead to 8-1. 

“That was a cool moment. I felt like I was able to enjoy that one,” Belli said of his homer. “Just a home game in Yankee Stadium, it's a really fun atmosphere... hopefully we get many, many more this month.”

Will Warren got the call for the top of the seventh inning and quickly picked up the first two outs, then allowed a solo shot to Nick Sogard to cut the Yankees' lead to six runs. 

Final line for Fried: Six innings pitched, three hits allowed, one earned run, walked one, and struck out six on 98 pitches. He threw his sweeper 26% of the time, the cutter 23%, the fastball 23%, the curveball 11%, the changeup 10%, and the sinker 6%. Fried topped out at 97.9 mph, sitting at 95.5 mph on his fastball, and had nine whiffs. 

“Max is incredible, did exactly what he needed to, kept the momentum going from yesterday, a bunch of zeros throughout the whole game, it was incredible,” Wells said of Fried. 

With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jazz worked a walk, then stole second base. Grisham followed with a walk, then they pulled off a double steal. Wells sent an RBI single right back up the middle to extend the Yankees' lead to 9-2. 

Warren came back out for the top of the eighth and picked up the first two outs of the inning. Brent Headrick replaced Warren and quickly picked up the final out. 

The Yankees closer, David Bednar, got the call for the top of the ninth inning and worked a scoreless frame to help the Yankees complete the sweep of the Red Sox. 

The Yankees will now have a couple of days off before starting the ALDS against the Rays in Tampa on Saturday. Drew Rasmussen will get the start for the Rays; the Yankees starter is still TBD. I assume it will be Gerrit Cole, but the Rays do struggle against lefties, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's Carlos Rodon. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on TBS. 

My thoughts on the game: What a win and a series for the Yankees, as they complete the sweep and outscore the Red Sox 18-2. Fried did his job with six brilliant innings; hopefully he can keep that going in the ALDS. Warren picked up five outs; I have really liked how he has looked out of the bullpen. Headrick and Bednar both got some work in and combined for four outs to close out the game. The Yankees offense was on fire tonight with 14 hits and nine runs as the Red Sox pitching staff never stood a chance. Belli had a pair of hits and four RBIs, thanks to a three-run bomb that blew things open and helped the Yankees outscore the Red Sox in the series with one swing. Garcia also went deep and had three hits tonight. Jones had just one hit tonight, but he sparked a huge rally in the seventh inning, using his elite speed to reach on a dropped third strike. Jazz and Grisham each had a pair of hits; just an unbelievable night from the Yankees offense all around. But the job is far from done. After seeing the Rays celebrate an AL East title in the Bronx last week, I would love nothing more than to see the Rays' season come to an end in the Bronx. And hopefully Aaron Judge will be on the ALDS roster. On to Saturday: the Yankees have to find a way to win at least one game in Tampa, and then I could see them finishing it off in the Bronx. 

“I mean, the at-bats have been incredible,” Wells said. “I feel like it's been a whole new level from regular season to these last two days. Taking close pitches, moving guys over. I mean, I don't think the box score really even says how good the at-bats are. So guys are doing incredible work in the box and turning the lineup over and producing.”