The Red Sox were in control heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Aaron Judge had other plans.
Zack Kelly had a rough start to the inning when he walked the first two batters he faced. Gleyber Torres hit an RBI single, and Boston manager inserted Cam Booser to the mound. The left-hander walked Juan Soto to set up Judge with the bases loaded. The American League MVP favorite headed into Friday without a home run in 16 games, the longest drout of his career, so it felt inevitable he’d break that streak. He did that with a grand slam to put the New York Yankees up 5-4.
“I think the team did everything they needed to do,” Booser told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “I think this is solely on me.”
The loss wasn’t solely on Booser, but the reliever’s comments reflected how Boston knew it had to win Friday night at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox missed a chance to climb up the AL wild-card standings and suffered their seventh straight road loss.
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“I put (Booser) in that situation,” Kelly told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “Tough situation for anybody. You know, he’s been a workhorse for us this year. So my mentality is that the situation never should have happened in the first place. I take ownership of that. I don’t blame any of it on anybody but myself.”
Cora put it bluntly postgame when he said that the bullpen needed to throw strikes, especially after an impresive outing from Richard Fitts, who filled in as the starter for Tanner Houck.
Boston will get a chance to bounce back in Saturday matinee action.
