Yankees & Red Sox Put Up Most Runs All Season In England

Although London Stadium poised almost certain to offer entertaining offensive displays from both teams with the field’s smaller dimensions and remarkably short distance to the centerfield fence, few expected a record breaking offensive performance during the MLB’s first game across the pond.

New York opened the flood gates early, putting up six runs during the first inning thanks to Luke Voit, Didi Gregorious, Edwin Encarnación, and Aaron Hicks, who all recorded RBIs. Although Hicks’s blast to right center concluded the early barrage which New York unloaded onto Boston and Rick Porcello, who only recorded one out as the starter, Boston answered during their first chance in the inning”s bottom half. After a allowing an RBI double to Rafael Devers and sack fly to Christian Vazquez, Boston held Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka against the ropes before knocking him out after Brock Holt‘s RBI single. Boston capped off their explosive response with a three–run homer from Chris Chavis, which tied things up at 6–6.

Answering an opponent’s offensive surge themselves, the Yankees next unleashed a storm raining down hits to flood Boston bullpen’s pitchers, as the Yankees increased their run total to 17 between the fifth and fourth innings. Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge highlighted the run explosion with both outfielders launching home runs into the seats.

Although this stretch from New York which which put them ahead 17–6 ended up as the finishing blow to Boston, the Sox warranted some concern from the Yankees dugout during the later innings, as another homer from Chavis and RBI double from J.D. Martinez helped usher in more runs during the seventh inning to close the deficit to just four runs.

However, the Yankees closed things out eventually after some assistance from relievers Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman, who ended the fireworks by combining for two shutout innings.

After the dust settled, London Stadium’s boards reflected a 17–13 score favoring New York. With the storied rivals combining for 30 runs, the London series’s inaugural game broke records for both teams, most notably, with the 12–run first inning which shattered the record for the most runs between the two during their entire 22,200–game rivalry.

After the Yankees and Red Sox play the game’s sequel, baseball’s next chance to excite the English fans comes next year as the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals enter the international stage, likely looking to put on a show at least close to as entertaining as the New York and Boston extravaganza.

Article by Collin Helwig