On a day when the lack of a contract extension for New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge dominated the headlines, Josh Donaldson enjoyed a game-winning hit in his first taste of the rivalry between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
After starting the season with Donaldson’s dramatic hit, the Yankees will seek another win Saturday when they host the Red Sox, who may be without Xander Bogaerts.
The Yankees earned a 6-5 win when Donaldson opened the 11th inning with a hit that scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was acquired March 13 from the Minnesota Twins in the same trade as the third baseman.
“It was nice for my first game here, to be able to help the team win,” Donaldson said. “I feel like we showed some resiliency today.”
Donaldson’s hit capped a game in which the Yankees also got homers from Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu.
Donaldson’s hit occurred nearly six hours after general manager Brian Cashman said the team was headed to arbitration with Judge, who can become a free agent this season. Cashman said the Yankees offered a seven-year deal worth $213.5 million that would have started next season.
“I’m just disappointed, because I’ve been vocal about wanting to be a Yankee for life,” Judge said shortly after Donaldson’s hit.
The Red Sox will attempt to rebound after blowing a pair of late one-run leads. They took a three-run lead four batters in on a two-run homer by Rafael Devers and an RBI double by J.D. Martinez.
But Boston also struck out 11 times and was 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Trevor Story was 0-for-5 in his first game as a second baseman.
Bogaerts collected a pair of doubles, scored twice and hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th. It was on that single that Bogaerts experienced some tightness in his right hamstring that caused his exit, though he was optimistic about his status for his second game paired with Story as Boston’s double-play combination.
“I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t good, though,” Bogaerts said. “I tried to do whatever to not feel it, and it kind of went away for a little bit. It was a good sign. It wasn’t a normal thing that happens every day.”
After both teams combined to use 13 relievers, New York’s Luis Severino will oppose Boston’s Nick Pivetta on Saturday in the matchup of starting pitchers.
Severino is making his 89th regular-season start but first since Sept 25, 2018, at Tampa Bay, when he pitched five innings to conclude an 18-win season when his average fastball velocity was 97.6 mph. He is 5-6 with a 3.89 ERA in 14 career appearances (12 starts) against Boston.
Pivetta will begin his second full season with the Red Sox and is 11-8 with a 4.36 ERA in 33 appearances since being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies.
Last season, Pivetta was 7-4 with a 4.30 ERA in 18 starts before the All-Star break and 9-8 with a 4.53 ERA in 31 appearances overall. He is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media