Red Sox Hold Off Yankees 5-4, Move Within 1 Game of 1st Place in AL East

Wednesday, June 07, 2017

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Craig Kimbrel

Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the 9th inning, including Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and the Red Sox held on for a 5-4 over New York on Tuesday night in the Bronx.

Kimbrel struck out five in 1 1/3 innings pitched to pick up his American League-leading 17th save of the season.

The Red Sox improve to 32-25 on the season and are now one game back of the Yankees for first place in the AL East.

Red Sox Hold on for Win

The Red Sox took a commanding lead in the fourth inning when Mitch Moreland blasted a two-run home run to right-center field to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead.

On Boston’s very next at bat, Hanley Ramirez hit a line drive home run to left field to the Red Sox ahead 4-1.

The Yankees began their comeback in the fifth inning on a home run by Chris Carter to make it 5-2 Red Sox.

The Yankees would scratch across another run in the sixth when Starlin Castro scored on a RBI groundout by Didi Gregorius to get within two.

Matt Holiday would score on a wild pitch in the 8th inning to get the Yankees within one, 5-4, before Kimbrel would come on to close the game out.

New York pitcher Masahiro Tanaka takes the loss, it was his fifth straight.

Series Continues

The Red Sox and Yankees continue their series on Wednesday, June 7 at 7 p.m.

The pitching matchup is Boston’s Rick Porcello against New York’s CC Sabathia.

Related Slideshow: The History of Baseball in Central Massachusetts

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