It’s not unusual to hear a Red Sox fan suggest they’d never play for the Yankees if given the chance. People have been saying that for as long as the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry has existed.
But for most fans it’s a pointless hypothetical. Few are actual big league pitchers, and even fewer make such comments publicly the day before making their first career start at Yankee Stadium.
Welcome to the rivalry, Hunter.
Red Sox right-hander Hunter Dobbins made waves on Saturday when he told the Herald that “if the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I’d retire.” Those comments put the rookie squarely in the spotlight, but for the most part Dobbins backed up his words, earning the win in the club’s eventual 11-7 victory.
Red Sox rookie says he’d rather retire than play for Yankees
He also benefitted from an offensive eruption, with the Red Sox lineup hitting five home runs to help clinch the series win at Yankee Stadium.
Through the first half of the game, Dobbins was front and center.
Dobbins’ comments about the Yankees were the central focus of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. Color commentator Eduardo Perez asked Yankees captain Aaron Judge about the quotes during their pregame conversation, and both Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. were asked during in-game interviews.
Once Dobbins took the mound things didn’t get off to the best start. After allowing a leadoff single to start the bottom of the first, Dobbins squared off against Judge, who sent a first-pitch fastball 436 feet the opposite way for a two-run home run.
But after that the rookie settled down.
Dobbins only made one misstep the rest of the way, allowing a solo shot to DJ LeMahieu in the bottom of the fifth. Outside of the two home runs Dobbins was in command, limiting New York to just two additional baserunners, both coming on singles. He finished with three runs allowed over five innings with four hits, no walks and no strikeouts, and he retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.
He also got some support from his offense, which has begun to show encouraging signs of progress.
Kristian Campbell, who came into this weekend’s series batting .137 with a minuscule .383 OPS since the start of May, finally enjoyed something of a breakout on Saturday when he went 2 for 3 with two RBI. He did one better on Sunday, ripping a two-run home run the opposite way in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2.
Campbell also walked and singled, finish 2 for 3 with the homer and two RBI.
After LeMahieu put New York back up 3-2, the Red Sox responded again with five runs in the top of the sixth. Carlos Narvaez delivered the haymaker with a three-run home run against his former team to put Boston on top, and Jarren Duran extended the lead to 7-3 with his two-run single.
Over the course of the rally the Red Sox also chased Yankees starter Carlos Rodon, who came in having won his last four starts while posting a 0.72 ERA over 25 innings. Sunday the left-hander was charged with five runs over five-plus innings on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts, tying his season-high for most earned runs allowed in a game.
Once the Red Sox had the lead, Cora opted to go to the bullpen rather than let Dobbins face the top of the Yankees order a third time.
New York made an immediate push in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with one out and scoring twice on a Chisholm sacrifice fly against Brennan Bernardino and a bases-loaded walk by Trent Grisham against Garrett Whitlock. Whitlock was also hit in the leg by a 100 mph comebacker off the bat of Anthony Volpe, but the right-hander stayed in the game and eventually got out of the inning with Boston still up 7-5.
Justin Wilson followed with a scoreless seventh, and in the top of the eighth Abraham Toro and Trevor Story hit back-to-back home runs to extend Boston’s lead back to four.
New York got one more chance in the bottom of the eighth, but Greg Weissert stranded a pair of Yankee baserunners to keep the opposition at bay. Rafael Devers then delivered the exclamation mark in the ninth with a solo shot to the second deck, and Toro finished the scoring with an RBI double.
Judge tacked on a second two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth against right-hander Robert Stock. The Yankees superstar now has 23 on the season.
Boston (32-35) now returns to Fenway Park and will look to carry its momentum into this week’s upcoming six-game homestand. First up will be a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays starting Monday, and after that the Red Sox will face the Yankees again over this coming weekend.
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