The Red Sox and Yankees take a break from each other before playing four in Fenway Park. The Rays try to use the Orioles to catch up to the Red Sox in the standings and the Jays try to keep their spot in third place for now. Let’s see what happened this week in the MLB American League East.
BOSTON RED SOX
Alex Cora decided to shake up the lineup a bit after losing two of three to the Triple-A Yankees over the weekend. He looked like a genius against the Blue Jays right off the bat in game one. Jarren Duran hit his first MLB career home run in the first inning. Hunter Renfroe hit his 14th. Enrique Hernandez hit his 12th and 13th home runs while going 3-for-4. Rafael Devers hit his 23rd home run and Danny Santana hit his 4th. J.D. Martinez went 4-for-4 with a walk while batting 5th in the lineup. The offense scored 13 runs and Nick Pivetta gave up four runs in 6.2 innings.
"That's what [the stats] say? DANG, I didn't know that" J.D. Martinez calls Alex Cora a "genius" for tonight's line-up and is shocked to find out he's never had a 5-hit night 😂@JDMartinez28 | @RedSox | @WebsterOnTV pic.twitter.com/4oN5lssJdK — NESN (@NESN) July 20, 2021
The second game was postponed due to rain and will be made up in a doubleheader in Toronto during their next series in August.
The lineup pretty much stood the same on Wednesday. Garrett Richards pitched 5.2 innings and gave up four runs in the series finale. Hernandez hit his 14th home run of the season, Renfroe hit his 15th, and Michael Chavis hit his 2nd of the season. Devers hit his 24th of the season and Martinez hit his 20th of the season. It was a lot of home runs in the two wins for the Sox. MLB American League East
FOUR AGAINST THE YANKEES
Tanner Houcke pitched 4.2 innings and gave up one run before the rain delay. Adam Ottavino gave up two runs against his former team. Matt Barnes got the win but not before he gave up the go-ahead run in the 10th. Hernandez brought in the tying run against Chad Green in the 9th inning. After four wild pitches by Brooks Kriske, Renfroe brought in the winning run on a sac fly.
Step inside the celebration. pic.twitter.com/VLZgk1xNNn — Red Sox (@RedSox) July 23, 2021
The Red Sox continue the series against the Yankees. Eduardo Rodriguez will be on the mound for the Sox tonight. Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez follow to close out the series.
TAMPA BAY RAYS
Ryan Yarbrough pitched 5.2 innings and gave up the six runs the Orioles needed to win. Randy Arozarena went 2-for-4 and brought in the only run the Rays scored.
Shane McClanahan pitched five innings and gave up one run during the second game. Arozarena hit his 11th home run of the season and went 2-for-4. Francisco Mejia hit his 4th and also went 2-for-4. The Rays won 9-3.
Michael Wacha pitched five innings and gave up three runs in the series finale. Arozarena hit his 12th and 13th home run and went 3-for-5. Austin Meadows went 2-for-5. The offense ended up winning the game in the bottom of the 9th after the O’s took the lead in the 6th.
The Rays kept their streak going against the Indians. Luis Patino pitched 5.1 innings and gave up four runs. Brandon Lowe went 2-for-4. Yandy Diaz went 4-for-5 with a home run. Wander Franco went 2-for-5. The offense tied it in the 9th inning and then won it in the 10th. Diego Castillo got his 14th save of the season.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
The Jays only played two against the Red Sox due to rain. Ross Stripling only lasted for one out in the first and gave up six runs. Anthony Kay, Trevor Richards, and Tayler Saucedo gave up the remaining seven runs. Cavan Biggio hit his 7th home run of the season. George Springer went 3-for-4.
Wednesday night wasn’t great for the Jays either.