Red Sox Beat Yankees 5-4 To Cap Four-Game Sweep

Hanley Ramirez blasted two homers over the Green Monster at Fenway Park on Sunday night to propel the Boston Red Sox to a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees, thus completing a four-game sweep.

Red Sox Beat Yankees 5-4 To Cap Four-Game Sweep

The Red Sox last swept the Yankees in four games in 1990. Ramirez had four home runs in the series.

It was the third time in the past four days that Boston rallied back from a deficit of three or more runs, and Ramirez capped it by smacking a 3-2 change-up by reliever Tyler Clippard for a solo homer that broke a 4-4 tie.

“We don’t give up,” said Ramirez. “We know what kind of players we are, what kind of team we got. We can come from behind. We just continue to play the game.”

Clippard very plainly described the sweep, and especially his allowing of Ramirez’s game-winning solo homer.

“Brutal,” said Clippard. “It’s pretty self-explanatory when you get swept in a situation that we had. Brutal.”

The Red Sox had won only once in the last week, putting their playoff bid in danger and losing several players to injuries on Saturday: second baseman Starlin Castro (hamstring), center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (knee) and third baseman Chase Headley (back).

Boston, who are now preparing for a four-game series in Baltimore that begins Monday, are now in first place, and lead the Orioles by three games in the American League East. The Blue Jays are four back.

Meanwhile, the Yankees– who entered the series four back– are now out of the division picture, trailing by eight with 13 games remaining. The Yanks are four back in the AL Wild Cards standings, but would need to leap over four teams.

“I felt like we probably should have won three of those four, but they made the plays when they needed to,” Mark Teixeira said. “They stepped up when they needed to, and it just didn’t go our way.”

Left-hander CC Sabathia had tamed the Red Sox early, and rookie catcher Gary Sanchez hit his 16th home run as the Yankees gained a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, but the red-hot Ramirez changed the dynamic of the game with a two-out, three-run homer.

Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with an RBI single to right in the sixth on Sabathia’s final pitch of the game. The lefty gave up four runs on eight hits over five-plus innings.

“Yeah, four-game series are difficult,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell. “To take all four, and three of them in the comeback fashion, that says so much about that team down in the clubhouse. There’s never any feeling of we’re out of it. There’s never any giving at-bats away.”

Despite the sweep, Yankees manager Joe Girardi still seemed to remain confident his team would somehow reach the playoffs.

“You have to believe; it’s who we are,” Girardi said before the game. “You have to overcome challenges and adversity and injury and everything that happens, but I believe.”

Lefty Drew Pomeranz had his second consecutive abbreviated outing with the Red Sox, lasting merely 3 2/3 innings while allowing four runs on seven hits. Pomeranz has a 4.90 ERA in 12 starts since his trade to Boston in July.

Mookie Betts fired one back to the box, and Sabathia caught it out of the air on a nice play. Sabathia’s throw to first was high for an error, as first baseman Billy Butler couldn’t capture it. This allowed Ramirez to hit the three-run homer that cut New York’s lead to 4-3. According to Statcast™, Ramirez’s liner had an exit velocity of 109 mph and a projected distance of 392 feet.

Following their final off-day of the season on Monday, the Yankees (77-72, 4th in AL East) open a three-game series Tuesday against the Rays in Tampa Bay. Right-hander Michael Pineda will take the mound after lasting just four innings in his most recent start.

The Red Sox (85-64, 1st in AL East) will next begin a four-game series against the Orioles in Camden Yards on Monday night, with righty Rick Porcello (20-4, 3.12 ERA) set to start. Porcello lost, 1-0, on a homer by Mark Trumbo in his previous start.

BOSTON, MA – SEPTEMBER 18: Hanley Ramirez #13 of the Boston Red Sox hits a solo home run for his second home run of the game during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on September 18, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)