BOSTON – Gerrit Cole was standing on the back of the mound of Fenway Park, with a shrug on his shoulder. Rafael Devers had just made his second home run club in the game, topping his personal history, and the Yankees’ ace extended his hand like: “What’s up?”
Luckily for Cole, his teammates had already given all the necessary answers for this evening. Josh Donaldson launched the Grand Slam, the Yankees’ third in the last two nights, and Aaron Hicks entered the game for the second time as the Bombers won 6-5 over the Red Sox on Thursday.
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“It was a great, great atmosphere,” Donaldson said. “Baseball is here; The two really good teams are going against each other, playing hard. I’m glad we won today. “
So while the Devars ’blast in Cole made a comeback and thrilled the home crowd, a five-RBI performance won’t stop the Yankees from becoming the first major league team to win 60 this season. Thanks to Cole and Bullpen, Jose Trevino’s fluke RBI doubles survived as the difference in his first visit to New York’s Fenway Park after last year’s AL wild card game.
“You feel a little cold – it felt like a warm September or October night,” said Aaron Boone, the Yankees’ manager. “We haven’t been back in a while and it’s always fun to come here and play better than the [Red Sox].”
Two walks and one hit in the third inning set the stage for Donaldson, who stopped right-hander Josh Winkowski, who was running at 95.1 mph for the sixth Grand Slam of his career, as the blast cleared the center-field wall. Hicks then slipped Winkowski’s next pitch into the visitors’ bullpen on the right field, scoring five quick runs in Cole’s back pocket.
“Giving us a little pillow was a big deal for us,” Donaldson said.
Had it not been for Devers, Cole and Yanks in Boston’s lineup, it would have been laughable; Probably not to the point of the Pirates’ 16-0 defeat on Wednesday, which included the Grand Slams of Aaron Judge and Hicks, but still a comfortable spot.
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(The last major league team to win three Grand Slams in a two-game period was the Yankees of 2011 – Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson, all of whom scored 22-9 in athletics this season.)
Instead, the Divers continued the change in the fifth inning for the American League All-Star team by tweaking the third-inning Cole Slider for a two-run blast, followed by a three-run shot. The latter Homer immediately made a mound visit in which pitching coach Matt Blake told Cole that “a homer doesn’t beat us here,” which eventually came true.
