Yankees @ Red Sox Game Thread/ 14th- 16th June 2024

Fun evening. Not a fan of Kelly, but that was a huge outing. No sure things, but Duran always had some pop, so he always had a chance. But Hamilton came out of nowhere. Probably the fastest guy in BB, but that doesn't count unless you can get on. I liked the trade, but more on the Kavadas side, and I thought might a close miss. Amazing job so far. Big outing by Weissert, just in case anyone forgets the other side of the Verdugo trade.

But the entire weekend came down to Jansen. A senior citizen like him calling in to go into the game in the 8th is hero ball. That was a very losable game at that point. If we do anything this year, I am going to remember Jansen stepping up.

Boston steal party! Sox run over Yanks in historic fashion
1:09 AM ADT
Ian Browne

Ian Browne
@ianmbrowne



BOSTON -- The running Red Sox? That’s something you’ve heard well … almost never. Playing their home games at the bandbox known as Fenway Park, the Red Sox have thrived on wall-banging thumpers for much of their existence.

But on Father’s Day, it became clear these aren’t your father’s Red Sox. Or your grandfather’s Red Sox.

The 2024 edition is built on youth and athleticism, and manager Alex Cora is encouraging his players to lean into that identity. And so they did on Sunday Night Baseball, setting a franchise record of nine stolen bases in a game and upending the AL East-leading Yankees, 9-3.

“Expect that from us,” Cora said after witnessing his team run a track meet in front of an electric crowd. “We’re gonna push the envelope.”

And perhaps nobody pushes it faster than rookie David Hamilton, who stole four of those nine bases. Hamilton joined Jacoby Ellsbury (who holds the franchise record with his five-steal effort on May 30, 2013) and the late Jerry Remy as the only players in club history to steal four or more bases in a game.

Jarren Duran (two steals), Ceddanne Rafaela, Dominic Smith and Bobby Dalbec accounted for the other thefts for a team that leads the American League with 69 steals.

“There's certain teams, that's their DNA and that's how they're going to play,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “Obviously, the Red Sox have a number of fast players, and that's how they play the game right now.”

At least initially, the Yankees looked poised to withstand Boston’s fast-break offense. In fact, Boone’s squad looked like they were going to come up with one of those momentum surges that the game’s most storied rivalry has been known for.

But thanks to underrated righty reliever Zack Kelly, who came on with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh and his team clinging to a one-run lead, there would be no comeback for the Yankees.

Kelly (1.88 ERA) had no margin for error and he didn’t give an inch, not even after falling behind to Gleyber Torres – the first batter he faced – 3-0. In a stirring sequence, Kelly came back with a four-seamer and a cutter for called strikes, and got Torres to swing and miss at a sweeper in the dirt.

He followed that clutch out by striking out catcher Jose Trevino (the victim of all nine Boston steals) on three pitches and getting DJ LeMahieu on a flyout to center as the Fenway crowd roared through the seventh-inning stretch.

Can you say adrenaline rush?

“As high as it’s probably ever been, honestly,” Kelly said of his adrenaline during that sequence. “But those are the situations you dream about. Those are the ones you want to come into. Bases loaded, you kind of show what you’re made of. Fortunately it went my way.”

If the fans were screaming at maximum decibel levels, Duran might have matched them while cheering on Kelly.

“I almost lost my voice in left field,” Duran said.

After Kelly’s Houdini act, the Sox put on their track shoes again, stealing three more bases to go into the club’s history book. The previous record of eight took place on Sept 29, 1940, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics.

“I had no idea,” Duran said. “I didn't know about the record until they put it up on the big screen. I was like, ‘Oh wow, we set a record.’ But records are meant to be broken. So I'm sure ours will be broken eventually. So it doesn't really mean much, but we're gonna keep doing our thing.”

Six of the nine steals came in the first five innings, as Boston broke out to a 4-1 lead.

“I was telling [hitting coach] Pete [Fatse] when Trevino goes deep that there’s nothing better than a home run in this game,” Cora said. “We did all that stuff [on the bases] and it was a 4-2 game. Their big boys are coming. [Alex] Verdugo puts the ball in play. [Giancarlo] Stanton does the same thing. We don’t make a play and it’s bases loaded [next inning] with no outs, and Zack was amazing.”

On Sunday, that thing, as Duran put it, was electrifying to watch.

“That was fun,” Hamilton said. “Probably the loudest baseball atmosphere I've been a part of, and it was a good experience.”

Not to mention a historic one.

With the buzz created by Red Sox and Yankees at Fenway this weekend, consider the rivalry renewed
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated June 17, 2024, 12:18 a.m.

The best rivalry in sports turned stale for a few years after the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game in 2021.

The Yankees were the far better team in ‘22 and they both missed the postseason by wide margins last season as the Orioles became the trendy team in the American League East.

Hatred was replaced by cooperation when the sides made their first major trade in years in December, the Sox sending tardy-but-talented Alex Verdugo to the Bronx for three pitching prospects.

Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman praised each other for striking a deal that helped both teams.

It was nauseating.

The buzz finally came back this weekend at Fenway Park as the Sox took two of three from the Yankees, taking the series with a 9-3 victory on Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 36,718.


It was the largest crowd of the season. And a vocal one.


The Sox embarrassed the Yankees by stealing a franchise-record nine bases, four by David Hamilton. The old record of eight had last happened in 1940 against Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics.

“Yankees suck,” the masses chanted on several occasions as the Sox ran wild. Finally, fans of the visiting team were drowned out at Fenway.

“Early on, it felt like Father’s Day,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “People went to brunch and had their mimosas and they were just watching. But when we started going, it was great.”

It was so much like the old times that all three games took more than three hours.

More of this, please. If the Celtics finish their championship run on Monday, it’ll be nearly three months before the Patriots open their season. The Sox can make it an interesting summer.

This last week raised hopes. At 37-35, the Sox are two games over .500 for the first time since May 22 and have won five of seven. They were 4-2 in a homestand against the Phillies and Yankees.

“The best team in the NL and the best team in the AL. The young guys can feed off this,” said Rob Refsnyder, whose leadership has kept the clubhouse together. “They’re playing so well. It’s been fun watching this team grow.


“It’s such a different dynamic with our offense when Jarren [Duran] and Hamilton are on base. We’ll hit for more power when [Triston] Casas comes back. But with speed you can always find ways to score.”

Sox starter Kutter Crawford gave up a skyscraping home run by Aaron Judge in the first inning then struck him out twice swinging. Crawford retired 12 of 13 at one point before the Yankees scored twice in the sixth.

By then, his teammates had built a lead that the bullpen was able to hold.

“Not sure I’ve heard Fenway like that before,” Crawford said. “Being in the dugout and experiencing that, it was a good feeling. This was a good week for us. It’s something we can build on and get the fans excited about.”

After an 8-1 loss on Friday, the Sox scored 17 runs in the next two games. They used power on Saturday, connecting for six doubles. Then it was their speed on Sunday with the nine steals, 13 singles, and a triple.

With Ceddanne Rafaela batting ninth, Duran first, and Hamilton second, the Sox have three burners in a row. They combined for seven steals as Yankees catcher Jose Trevino looked helpless.

“We’re going to push the envelope. We have a bunch of athletes,” Cora said.

When is the last time you heard a Red Sox manager say that?

Cora was part of the Sox-Yankees rivalry as a player. He knows what it’s like to play on “Sunday Night Baseball,” leave Fenway after midnight, and fly to another city to start a road trip.

That’s the challenge the Sox face on Monday against the Blue Jays, who beat the Guardians in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

For Cora, Monday could be even more telling than the weekend.

“You’ve got to keep the energy,” he said. “The next day is important. We cannot just show up in Toronto and expect to win a ballgame. We did a good job against the Phillies; we did a good job against the Yankees and now we have Toronto.”

Asking for more? That’s how a manager who likes his team talks.

I agree on Judge and Soto.  As a Red Sox fan, I can't stand them on the field.  As a baseball fan and a fan of humanity, I have to give them both a tip of the cap.