BOSTON – For a while, the story was Sonny Gray’s near no-hitter, which ended with one out in the eighth. Then, the focus shifted to Aroldis Chapman blowing his second save in a week and Wilyer Abreu having some rare defensive breakdowns in right field.
But in the end, it was all about a walk-off pile – just the second this season for the Red Sox, who capped off a rare four-game sweep of the rival Yankees in dramatic fashion, winning, 5-4, in 10 innings.
Down by two entering the bottom of the 10th, Boston rallied for three, capped by a game-winning single by the heavily slumping Jarren Duran, who started the game on the bench.
Anthony Seigler opened the rally with an RBI single. Masataka Yoshida tied it on a pinch-hit double.
Duran’s smash to right had no chance to be caught with the Yankees forced to bring an outfielder in for a five-man infield.
All of this late-inning drama was hard to imagine considering how dominant Gray was, allowing just the one hit and no runs over 7 1/3 brilliant innings.
Chapman didn’t have his command. Abreu made an errant throw that allowed the Yankees to tie it, and missed a catch that allowed New York to take the lead in the 10th.
But the Red Sox, who have struggled to catch momentum this season, finally grabbed it at a most opportune time.