After a collapse both in communication and on the mound sunk a game Saturday, the Yankees steadied themselves Sunday.
Carlos Rodon pitched to Rafael Devers (and the rest of the Red Sox) effectively. Aaron Judge asserted himself as the slugger in the series worth pitching around. The rest of the club’s offense did enough on another strong day from the bullpen.
The Yankees rebounded from one of their strangest days of the season with one of their better-played games of the season, a 5-2 win over the Red Sox in front of 45,552 sun-drenched fans in The Bronx.
The Yankees (87-63) took three of four in a tense series, moved back to three games clear of the Orioles in the AL East and finished a 5-2 homestand. Six games on the West Coast, in Seattle and Oakland, await beginning Tuesday.
They will not miss seeing Boston in the opposing dugout. Saturday threatened to mar what had been a strong homestand, Cole spiraling after deciding to intentionally walk Devers — a decision that did not have his manager’s backing, though Cole said pitching coach Matt Blake supported it — on a day Cole characterized as “rough.”
Rodon enjoyed a happier afternoon Sunday, pitching 5 ¹/₃ strong innings in which he allowed two runs on six hits and two walks. He and the five relievers who followed limited Boston hitters to 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, which allowed the Yankees to take a lead in the second inning and never let it go.
Rodon only was touched in the fourth inning, when Devers singled and Tyler O’Neill ended a nine-pitch battle with a missile to left to cut the Yankees’ edge to 4-2.
Boston would get no closer. Rodon was pulled with Connor Wong on third base and one out in the sixth. Aaron Boone turned to Ian Hamilton, who left Wong stranded by striking out Trevor Story and Danny Jansen.
Hamilton allowed a single to Cedanne Rafael in the seventh, but Tim Hill entered and got a double-play ball from Jarren Duran.
Clay Holmes got the final two outs of the eighth before Jake Cousins put two on in the ninth. Tommy Kahnle entered and needed four pitches to get Duran to ground into a double play.
Kahnle’s first save of the season ended a game in which the bullpen tossed 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings to ensure an early Yankees edge held up.
With a faster, if less powerful, lineup — Jasson Dominguez playing instead of Alex Verdugo and Oswaldo Cabrera over Anthony Rizzo — the Yankees stole three bases and ran their way to a lead.
In the second inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. attempted to steal second and watched Giancarlo Stanton hammer a double down the third-base line, Chisholm scoring all the way from first.
They used muscle to pad their edge in the third inning. Gleyber Torres visited the short porch for a solo shot before Judge destroyed his 53rd homer of the season and second in three days. With Juan Soto on second, Judge demolished a Kutter Crawford fastball into the netting hanging above Monument Park in center, an estimated 445 feet away.
Stanton added a sacrifice fly in the seventh as a dramatic series ended without much drama.
With bad blood brewing from Saturday, everyone appeared on their best behavior. Devers, whom Cole would not pitch to, finished 1-for-3 with a walk.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]