Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. save Yankees from drama in electric win over Red Sox

Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning of Sunday's finale against the Red Sox (after Saturday's postponement), it was more of the same for the Yankees. Dominant starting pitching, iffy defense, underwhelming offense, and reliance on the bullpen to take it to the finish line.

But then the offense came alive against Red Sox relievers Justin Slaten and Joe La Sorsa, who was acquired via trade from the Pirates on Friday. Five runs later, New York took a 6-1 lead and never looked back. Cody Bellinger hit the game-winning solo homer. Trent Grisham added an RBI single. And Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke it open with a three-run homer. They did all of that damage with two outs in the inning.

Sometimes, it's just that easy. It's what Yankees fans are accustomed to, but aren't getting enough of against good pitching this season.

Yankees' win over Red Sox was electric, but puts band-aid on bigger problems

While it was an energizing moment at Yankee Stadium, this one was almost a deflating loss. Ranger Suarez handled the Bombers across 6 1/3 one-run innings. New York logged just six hits and walked once before the Sox's bullpen crumbled. They only cashed in on just one of their six opportunities with runners in scoring position.

And then there was the defense. Anthony Volpe (who was 0-for-2 with RISP and finished 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored) made one of the worst relay throws you'll ever see that allowed the Sox to tie the game. Jazz Chisholm couldn't make a somewhat tough play on a squibbler in the seventh that would've been costly had Brent Headrick not induced an inning-ending double play. It just wasn't sightly baseball against one of the worst teams in the AL.

Had the Yankees' lost, Volpe's miscues would've gone viral, much like his strikeout against Aroldis Champan on Friday night. It's just not the discourse we need right now with Aaron Judge out for the foreseeable future. The play needs to at least be as tight as possible if the offense is going to be inconsistent or boom-or-bust.

Yankees fans might sometimes sound like the sky is falling because of the consistent concerns that are always looming. That's not going to change with the roster as weak as it's been in recent years due to injuries. But the Yanks are tied for first in the division after the Rays lost on Sunday.

Life could be much, much worse. You could be a Boston Red Sox fan in the year 2026.

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