Have a night, Mookie Betts!
Jim Monaghan
Content Coordinator
Mookie Betts started doing damage in the bottom of the first inning and didn't stop until he had slammed three home runs, added a single, scored four runs and drove in five as the Red Sox scorched the Yankees 10-5 at Fenway Park on Friday night.
Betts (pictured) led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run off Yankees starter James Paxton, and then homered in his next two at bats as well.
Remember when we were worried about Betts earlier in the season? How maybe, we thought, the thought of impending free agency was on his mind?
Here's what Betts has done in the month of July so far - a .395 batting average with five homers, 17 RBIs and a 1.175 OPS
Betts' performance was part of a 14-hit attack in which every starter except Christian Vazquez had at least one hit.
Rafael Devers had three hits and J.D. Martinez homered and tripled while driving in three runs.
The most pleasant surprise of the evening was the pitching of Boston starter Andrew Cashner who kept New York off the scoreboard until the top of the sixth inning by which time Boston had a 7-0 lead. Cashner went 6.2 innings ultimately charged with three runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out six.
The win was the seventh in the last 10 games for the Red Sox who still trail the Yankees in the loss column by 10 games in the American League Eastern Division. But with Oakland losing for the third straight game, Boston is now just a half game out of a second wild card playoff spot.
Eduardo Rodriguez, winner of his last four starts, will take the mound Saturday afternoon against C.C. Sabathia.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow him on twitter - @Monaghan21.
Content Coordinator
Mookie Betts started doing damage in the bottom of the first inning and didn't stop until he had slammed three home runs, added a single, scored four runs and drove in five as the Red Sox scorched the Yankees 10-5 at Fenway Park on Friday night.
Photo courtesy of USA Today |
Remember when we were worried about Betts earlier in the season? How maybe, we thought, the thought of impending free agency was on his mind?
Here's what Betts has done in the month of July so far - a .395 batting average with five homers, 17 RBIs and a 1.175 OPS
Betts' performance was part of a 14-hit attack in which every starter except Christian Vazquez had at least one hit.
Rafael Devers had three hits and J.D. Martinez homered and tripled while driving in three runs.
The most pleasant surprise of the evening was the pitching of Boston starter Andrew Cashner who kept New York off the scoreboard until the top of the sixth inning by which time Boston had a 7-0 lead. Cashner went 6.2 innings ultimately charged with three runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out six.
The win was the seventh in the last 10 games for the Red Sox who still trail the Yankees in the loss column by 10 games in the American League Eastern Division. But with Oakland losing for the third straight game, Boston is now just a half game out of a second wild card playoff spot.
Eduardo Rodriguez, winner of his last four starts, will take the mound Saturday afternoon against C.C. Sabathia.
Click here to find more by Jim Monaghan on Red Sox Life. Follow him on twitter - @Monaghan21.