The Boston Red Sox are making the rivalry look easy these days. Saturday night at Fenway Park, they kept the streak alive with a statement win.
Garrett Crochet struck out 11 over seven innings, Trevor Story homered and doubled, and Boston crushed the New York Yankees 12-1 to extend its dominance to eight straight head-to-head victories.
For Crochet, it was more than just another strong outing-it was the kind of performance that defines a season. The left-hander leaned on his mid-90s fastball and biting slider to silence New York’s lineup, giving up only five hits and one mistake: a Giancarlo Stanton solo shot in the second. Crochet now leads the majors in both innings (166 1/3) and strikeouts (207).
A Rivalry That Feels One-Sided
Boston’s run over New York has turned a once-tense matchup into a lopsided series. The Red Sox, who now sit 1 games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, have flipped the script after dropping the first meeting back in June. Since then, it’s been all Boston.
Story did the heavy lifting at the plate, knocking in two runs with a third-inning double and then blasting his 20th homer in the fifth. With the milestone, the 32-year-old became the oldest Red Sox player to record a 20-20 season in homers and steals, another sign of his return to form after last year’s injuries.
The Yankees had a chance to claw back in the eighth, trailing 5-1 with two runners on. Aaron Judge, who has struggled since returning from the injured list, doubled earlier in the game but struck out twice. Greg Weissert shut the door with back-to-back punchouts, ending New York’s last threat.
Things unraveled in the ninth. Boston exploded for seven runs, helped by Anthony Volpe’s 17th error of the season and capped by Carlos Narváez’s homer. By the end, Fenway felt less like a rivalry game and more like a Red Sox celebration.
Sunday night’s finale offers New York a chance to stop the bleeding. Dustin May takes the ball for Boston against Carlos Rodón, as the Red Sox eye a sweep that would only widen the gap between the two rivals.
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