It may only be Spring Training, but the Boston Red Sox were not going to show the New York Yankees any mercy on Sunday.
The two bitter rivals met up in Grapefruit League play to close out the weekend. It became a one-sided affair right off the bat, with Boston’s offense immediately erupting in the St. Patrick’s Day showdown.
After Tanner Houck retired the Yankees in order in the top of the first, the Red Sox got to work at the plate.
Left fielder Jarren Duran reached on an error by shortstop Kevin Smith, then third baseman Rafael Devers singled through the left side. Shortstop Trevor Story put the first few runs on the board by delivering a home run to left, putting Boston on top 3-0.
The next wave of runs got kickstarted by another Yankees error, this time by second baseman Caleb Durin. Designated hitter Masataka Yoshida doubled to put runners on second and third, only for center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela to strike out and give New York a brief break.
That moment of relief was short-lived, however, as right fielder Wilyer Abreu singled to left and drove in both Yoshida and first baseman CJ Cron.
That was the last straw for starting pitcher Will Warren, who got the hook in favor of Luis Arejula. Unfortunately for the Yankees, however, Arejula didn’t fare much better.
Catcher Connor Wong immediately clubbed a two-run home run to left field. Duran tripled to center not long after, setting up another two-run shot – this time from Devers – that made it 9-0.
Story knocking a ground-rule double to right and Cron getting hit by a pitch gave the Red Sox a chance to break into double figures before the first inning was even over, but Yoshida grounded out to end the rally.
