The Yankees got you a present: it's a win!
Except for one big inning, the Yankees weren't great. Shane Greene got chased from the game early. The offense had a few RIPS fails. Yet, they won, mostly on the strength of a four-run third inning. That put them in the lead for good and allowed the Yankees to pick up a 6-4 win over the Red Sox.
The Red Sox struck first in the bottom of the second. Yoenis Cespedes, making his debut for the Red Sox, led off the inning with a single. Mike Napoli then hit a monster home run off Greene, making it 2-0. Greene then walked Nava, leading to a mound visit. Greene came back and got the next two outs, the second of which came on a nice play by Stephen Drew. However, Christian Vazquez would punch through a single, scoring Nava. Greene allowed another single, but eventually got out of it with the score at 3-0.
In the top of the third, the Yankees came back and took the lead themselves. Martin Prado, Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner led off the inning with three-straight walks. Derek Jeter then doubled on a ball that just dunked into no-man's land past first base. That scored two runs. Jacoby Ellsbury then looked to follow that up with a hit, but Dustin Pedroia made a nice diving stop to get the out. However, Jeter went to third and Gardner scored, making it 3-3. After Mark Teixeira grounded out, which failed to score Jeter, Carlos Beltran hit a single that did score Jeter, making it 4-3 Yankees. After Chase Headley and Drew both picked up walks, Red Sox' starter Allan Webster was taken out.
A few innings later, the Yankees added to their lead. Teixeria led off the fifth inning by crushing a home run over the Monster to make it 5-3.
After getting to two outs with two on in the bottom of the fifth, Greene was taken out. He settled down a bit after that second inning, but the number of pitches he threw in the first three innings took a toll on him and shortened his outing. He went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five. Shawn Kelley came in and struck out Napoli to get out of the inning. Kelley would also pitch a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, the Yankees picked up an insurance run. Beltran led off the inning with a double. After Headley lined out, Drew ripped a double to right field. Beltran scored from second and made it 6-3.
Adam Warren came in to pitch the seventh. After getting the first out, he walked Brock Holt and allowed a single to Pedroia that moved Holt to third. That caused the Yankee to go back to the bullpen and bring in Dellin Betances. Dellin got David Ortiz to fly out to left field. It was deep enough to score a run as Gardner's throw took a hop over Cervelli. Betances then got Cespedes to pop one up to end the inning. Betances would remain in in the game and pitch a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth.
The Yankees threatened to add a couple more in the top of the ninth, but they came up empty. That meant it was time for David Robertson to come in and try and finish off a win. Robertson got the first two outs, but Holt managed to keep the game alive with a single. That brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Pedroia. Robertson got Pedroia to ground one to third, where Headley made a nice play to pick it and fire to first for the last out. The Yankees closed out a 6-4 win over the Red Sox.
The Yankees and Red Sox will finish up their series tomorrow at 8 eastern. The starting pitchers will be David Phelps and Clay Buchholz.