MLB

Red Sox beat the Yankees in 11-inning thriller, Julio Rodriguez blasts grand slam for Mariners

By Sports Desk July 15, 2022

The Boston Red Sox needed 11 innings to defeat the New York Yankees 5-4 as newly minted two-time All-Star Rafael Devers went deep.

Boston had lost eight of their previous 10 games entering Friday's contest, but Devers got the Red Sox off to a perfect start with a two-run home run in the first inning.

The Yankees responded in the third frame when D.J. LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo both got on base, setting up Giancarlo Stanton for a three-run blast over the right-field wall to jump ahead 3-2.

Christian Vasquez tied things up an inning later with his own 390-foot solo home run to left-field, before teammate Bobby Dalbec gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead when he repeated the act in the seventh frame, sending his homer 391 feet to the same spot.

That lead would hold until the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Yankees looked like they would steal it after Red Sox closer Tanner Houck allowed an infield single and a hit-by-pitch to put Gleyber Torres and Matt Carpenter on-base with no outs.

Houck then committed a fielding error, handing the Yankees a run and tying things at 4-4 with still no outs.

The Red Sox opted to intentionally walk the next batter, loading the bases, before they got a crucial ground-ball, throwing out the winning run at home as part of a double-play to keep the game alive. 

In extra innings, after the Red Sox were unable to score, the Yankees again loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but again fell victim to a ground-ball double-play to extend the game for another frame.

It was not pretty, but Xander Bogaerts was able to hustle across to third base on a fly-ball, before taking a chance and breaking for home after a wild pitch bounced off Jose Trevino's facemask behind the plate to score what would turn out to be the game-winning run.

Ryan Brasier finished it off by coming in and collecting three quick outs for the save and the victory.

J-Rod shows why he is the only rookie All-Star

Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez made it clear why he is viewed as one of the game's next big stars as he crushed a grand slam in his side's 8-3 win against the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez, who earned his first All-Star selection this season at 21 years old, finished the game with five RBIs. 

He drove in his first run with a base hit in the fourth inning, before coming through with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning to stick the dagger into the Rangers fans.

The home run was Rodriguez's 16th of the season – the most of any rookie – while he also leads all rookies in stolen bases (21) and hits (91). The win was also the Mariners' 12th in a row, their longest winning-streak since 2001.

Alcantara takes loss despite another quality start

National League Cy Young Award favourite Sandy Alcantara delivered another terrific pitching performance in his side's 2-1 loss at home against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Alcantara pitched eight full innings, striking out 12 batters, while giving up two runs from four hits and two walks. It was the 13th consecutive start he has pitched at least seven innings, and his ERA is now 1.76, trailing only Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan.

The Phillies were finally able to do some damage off the Marlins star in the seventh inning, with Darick Hall delivering an RBI double, before he was driven in by J.T. Realmuto's RBI double.

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