Red Sox
Boston clinched the season series versus New York (7-1) in the shutout victory.
Red Sox star pitchers Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, Aroldis Chapman, and No. 9 hitter Connor Wong banded together to clinch the season series against the New York Yankees with a thrilling 1-0 win Friday night.
A spectacular start by Bello set the tone for Boston by tossing seven scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and one walk, striking out five batters along the way.
Bello, 26, earned his 10th win of the season. 12 of his last 14 outings have been quality starts.
“Felt pretty good today,” Bello said through a translator postgame. “Felt like I was commanding my pitches pretty good today. So yeah, pretty good outing for me today.”
Through 10 career starts versus the Yankees, he owns a 1.95 ERA through 60 innings pitched. It’s an eye-popping statistic for a young pitcher who has been prone to letting the moment get to him in previous seasons.
Manager Alex Cora almost made that number 61 innings, admitting after the game that he almost sent Bello back out to pitch the eighth inning.
“He threw strikes, was efficient, got ahead, stayed ahead. I even thought about him going out in the eighth, but then I hesitated,” Cora told reporters after the game. “Our two guys (Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman) are really good at what they do. He did more than enough. Every pitch counted tonight, and I’m glad that he had a great one.”
A “great one” indeed by Bello, which helped the Red Sox earn their 70th win of the season (70-59).
Cora compared Bello’s performance this season to that of Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet’s.
“Now, every five days, he feels like Crochet,” Cora said. “Like, it’s Brayan’s night and we’re gonna be OK.”
Bello’s Crochet-esque run of dominant pitching helped the Red Sox out immensely standings-wise. The Red Sox improved to 7-1 against the Yankees on the season. Clinching the season series against New York means that if the clubs finish the regular season with the same record, Boston would be awarded the playoff-seeding tiebreaker.
In the present, the win handed the Red Sox the American League’s top wild card spot.
However, Boston doesn’t win that game without Wong’s bat.
Wong recorded a RBI double down the line in the top of the seventh inning to plate new teammate Nathaniel Lowe. Wong has a .189 batting average on the year, but he’s batting .286 in his last seven games with six hits. That’s a major improvement for a player with 25 hits through 132 at-bats and just six RBI.
The win also doesn’t happen without shutdown appearances by Whitlock in the eighth and Chapman in the ninth, as well. Both pitchers recorded two strikeouts apiece in facing three batters each to keep the Yankees at bay. All Whitlock needed was 14 pitches (11 strikes) and Chapman 10 (nine strikes).
The Red Sox will look to win the four-game series versus the Yankees on Saturday. Garrett Crochet will take the mound for Boston against New York’s Will Warren at 1:05 P.M. Eastern Time.
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