Game 107 / 61-46 / 1st / +4.5G In what was hands-down CC Sabathia‘s best start of the season, the Yankees got some timely hitting from Jacoby Ellsbury and Alex Rodriguez. A pumped-up CC pitched out of a huge jam in the 5th, striking out David Ortiz with the bases loaded. Ellsbury entered the game in a 3-23 funk, but blasted a solo shot in the 7th giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Justin Wilson struck out 3 batters in the 7th, while Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller took care of business in the 8th and 9th respectively.
Here’s the box score, full recap, and video highlights.
Yankees 2, Red Sox 1
The Big Man Delivers
Ells Buries It!
“He looked really, really good. Right from the get-go, he was hitting with all his pitches, he was pounding the zone. We obviously didn’t score a lot of runs for him, and get him the win, but we’re happy to win the series, and excited about the way he pitched, happy about that going forward” ‐ Brett Gardner on CC Sabathia (h/t: Bryan Hoch and Ian Browne / MLB.com)
MEMORY LANE : On today’s date in 1981, after a seven-week strike, major league baseball players approved a split-season format. The New York Yankees, Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers were declared the first-half champions and automatically qualified for the divisional series …
(h/t: Baseball-Reference.com, Today in Baseball History)
FOOTNOTES : A Happy 61st Birthday to Ken Phelps, a member of the 1988-89 Yankee teams…