NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto hit a game-winning single in the top of the 10th to lead the New York Yankees to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox, while Aaron Judge’s home run streak extended to 16 games, the longest of his career.
With pinch runner Jon Berti on second base as an automatic runner, Soto reached for a sinker on the outside corner and hit a single grounder to Josh Winckowski (4-2) that went right past shortstop Trevor Story, who attempted a diving backhand grab.
Center fielder Sedan Raffaella’s one-hop throw up the third base line allowed Berti to slide headfirst into the net before catcher Connor Wong’s lunging tag attempt, giving the Yankees back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time since May 8-9, 2021, against Washington.
Surrounded by a large crowd on the infield, Soto said he’ll never forget his first walk-off hit with the Yankees.
“The crowd, my teammates, everybody, I mean, they were coming at me like crazy,” he said. “I didn’t know where to go.”
Judge, who leads the major leagues with 51 home runs and 126 RBIs, is batting .207 (12-for-58) with 21 strikeouts and 1 hit in four at-bats since Aug. 26. In 2017, he went 1-for-4 without a home run in 15 games from Aug. 17 through Sept. 2.
He had a hit in the first inning that William Abreu caught in front of the right field fence, and in the fifth inning, third baseman Rafael Devers made a spinning stop to catch a 104.7 mph grounder that turned into an inning-ending double play.
“Even with a guy like him, home runs happen in a row, and there are times like that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think it’s amazing that he didn’t give up any home runs, but that’s just a testament to how good a hitter he is and how much power he has. But he had a good at-bat tonight and I thought he came very close to hitting one.”
Gleyber Torres homered in the top of the first inning off Cooper Criswell, and Danny Jansen homered in the top of the fifth off Nestor Cortes. Jansen, acquired from Toronto in late July, hit his third home run with Boston and his first since Aug. 10.
New York (85-62) won for the fifth time in seven games and moved two games back of second-place Baltimore (83-64) in the American League East, the Yankees’ largest lead since before the game on Aug. 27. The Yankees have won seven straight series openers.
Boston (74-73) lost by 4 1/2 games to Minnesota (78-68) in the final American League wild-card game.
“We’ve got to stay positive,” Devers told reporters. “If we win tomorrow and win the next two games, we’ll get back in the fire. Just keep playing and stay positive.”
Clay Holmes (3-5), who was demoted from the closer role after missing 12 saves in 41 save opportunities, struck out the final two batters in the 10th inning as Nestor Cortes and four relief pitchers were limited to just four hits.
Anthony Volpe loaded the bases with inning-ending flyouts in the fourth and sixth innings.
Cortes pitched 4 1/3 hitless innings in a win over the Chicago Cubs in his first relief appearance in three years, but gave up three hits and three walks over five innings while striking out nine. Cortes has allowed 24 home runs this year, eight more than his previous career high.
“There’s always pressure on my shoulders in terms of being here and being in the major leagues, and I never want to lose that edge,” he said. “That’s what drives me.”
Cortes had accepted a bullpen role, but expressed frustration after a Sept. 7 game in Chicago: “Obviously, I was upset. I thought I was the go-to pitcher here, out of all the starting pitchers. (Gerrit) Cole got hurt, so they made me the opener. Not necessarily the No. 1 pitcher, but the opener. So I had to change my routine. … Now this is how they do it.”
“Maybe I seemed like I was asking for too much last week, but I got my point across,” he said after the Red Sox game. “At the end of the day, I’m going to do whatever the team needs me to do to help them win, whether that’s throwing 40 pitches as a relief pitcher, throwing 70 pitches or playing the full game.”
Criswell pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and three walks.
Raffaella’s leadoff hit in the eighth inning was a 102.3 mph liner that hit relief pitcher Tim Hill’s glove, and Hill picked the ball up with his left hand and threw it to first base for the out.
Giancarlo Stanton, 1-for-26 at-bats, slid in with a single to right field in the fourth inning. Rizzo was hit by a pitch for the 220th time.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred met separately with both teams before the game.
The gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team of Tianna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Rose Lovell, Emily Sonnett and Lynn Williams were honored on the field before the playing of the national anthem.
Trainer Room
Red Sox: Right fielder Rob Refsnyder was out with a sore right wrist and was replaced by Romy Gonzalez, who entered as a pinch runner in the 10th inning.
next time
Boston All-Star right-hander Tanner Hoke (8-10, 3.24 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday after eight days of rest after his start was postponed because of a muscle strain. Right-hander Clarke Schmidt (5-3, 2.23 ERA) will make his second start for the Yankees since recovering from a right latissimus dorsi strain.
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