Miller Shuts the Door on Tense 3-2 Yankees’ Victory

The Yankees finally made it to double digit wins in dramatic fashion Friday night with a 3-2 victory against the Red Sox. David Ortiz and Boston manager John Farrell were both ejected with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth after a 3-1 slider low and away was called strike two by home plate umpire Ron Kulpa. Yankees closer Andrew Miller proceeded to strike out Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez in succession to win the game.

Big Papi landed the first big blow of the night in the first inning, a laser line drive to right center that just cleared the fence for a two run homer. It was his seventh of the season and his third in four games against the Yankees. Even more notably, it was number 510 for his career, which moved him past former Yankee Gary Sheffield for 25th on the all time list.

Jacoby Ellsbury exited the game after the first with an injured right hip. After getting on with a walk then stealing both second and third, Ellsbury began to wince and grab his hip. He stayed in to run, scoring on a double by Brian McCann, but was replaced in the outfield to start the second by Dustin Ackley, who came in to play right with Aaron Hicks sliding over to center.

Ackley then promptly tied things up in the bottom of the inning by driving in Starlin Castro, who led off with a single, was bunted over by Hicks, and scored from second on Ack’s single.

Michael Pineda found his groove after the tumultuous first inning, stringing together five scoreless innings of work before turning it over to the Yankee pen. Kirby Yates, Chasen Shreve, Dellin Betances, and Andrew Miller combined to close things out for New York.

The turning point of the contest came in the top of the seventh when Aaron Hicks hammered the first pitch he saw over the fence in right-center field to give the Yankees the lead. You can see his game winning shot here.

Notes:
– Ronald Torreyes started his second straight game at third in place of the struggling Chase Headley.

– Ellsbury will undergo an MRI to diagnose the severity of his tight hip. With Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia expected to miss several weeks, the last thing the team needs is to lose another key regular for an extended period while they’re trying to dig themselves out of last place.

– Erik Boland of Newsday reported that Aroldis Chapman struck out all three batters he faced in an extended spring training game. The appearance was his last before rejoining the team Monday in the Bronx.

The Yankees continue their three game series against the Sox Saturday at 1:05 when Nathan Eovaldi faces off for the second consecutive weekend against Boston ace David Price.