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<\/a><\/p>\nThe Yankees didn’t mess around on Sunday. They embarrassed the Red Sox in a 16-1 blowout win that solidified their position with home-field advantage should they meet again in a wild-card series to kick off the playoffs in October. The Yankees created real distance in the standings, increasing their lead to four games over the Red Sox \u2013 which is really five games, given the tiebreaker implications.<\/p>\n
Boone credited his players for coming into the finale with “a pep in our step,” especially after Saturday\u2019s day\/night doubleheader. New York\u2019s skipper was also working with a taxed bullpen, so he needed his starting pitcher to dig deep on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Right-hander Will Warren answered the call. The 27-year-old stepped up and pitched a shutout into the eighth inning. After the Yankees lineup broke out for an offensive performance that more closely resembled an NFL score, the club only needed one other pitcher, left-hander Tim Hill, to finish the game.<\/p>\n
“I think I was fearless in the zone,” said Warren, who struck out seven Red Sox hitters. Boone termed Sunday afternoon the best performance of Warren\u2019s career, and the righty agreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the series finale, Boone and Red Sox manager Chad Tracy both tried to downplay the importance of winning the home-field edge.<\/p>\n
Boone said that, of course, he\u2019d prefer to have it, but he also believes that oftentimes the industry tends to “overstate the venue.” The Yankees skipper reiterated that his club plays fantastic on the road, and he\u2019s right. The Bombers actually have a better record on the road (41-28, .594) than they do at home (37-31, .544) this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The same should be said about the Red Sox, who are much better on the road (40-30, .571) than they are at home (34-32, .515).\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Yankees ended their series against the Red Sox with a dominant victory on Sunday. (Michael Urakami\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n
Tracy said he didn\u2019t want his players stepping on the field Sunday being inundated with the pressure to win for the tiebreaker advantage. He told his clubhouse to treat the finale like any other game and essentially forget about the stakes at hand. Of course, telling them that is one thing. Players actually believing it and moving on from those thoughts, though, is another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
This was a weekend to forget for the Red Sox, but they\u2019re refusing to let go. Center fielder Cedanne Rafaela\u2019s non-catch in the fifth inning Sunday rattled Boston to the point where the team let it become the reason for its demise.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a tight, scoreless game, Rafaela attempted a sliding catch on a line drive off the bat of Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm, but umpires on the field ruled that he didn\u2019t actually catch the ball; he trapped it. The Red Sox challenged the call, and after an official replay review, the call stood. Chisholm was awarded a single, and the Yankees had runners on first and second with nobody out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Red Sox southpaw Ranger Suarez, who had started to settle in by the fourth inning, was thrown off by the call. He promptly allowed three of his next four batters to reach base, including a massive three-run home run to outfielder Heliot Ramos that capped a five-run rally for the Yankees.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rafaela, meanwhile, was still stewing over the non-catch in center field. He paced back and forth, agitated, and when he made a fair catch on a routine fly ball later in the same inning, he made a show of dropping it into his glove to emphasize that he caught it.<\/p>\n “I didn\u2019t even have to watch it,” Rafaela said postgame. “I know I made the catch. I know when a ball drops and a ball don\u2019t drop. And I know I made the catch.”<\/p>\n Added Suarez: “Everybody was surprised by that call. That was a game-changing play.”<\/p>\n Ceddanne Rafaela (right) reacts with fellow Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu after an important call didn’t go in Boston’s favor. (Rich Graessle\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) <\/p>\n Boston\u2019s body language and energy changed completely after that play. A five-run deficit was not insurmountable with four innings still left to play \u2014 especially given the troubling state of affairs in the Yankees bullpen. But the Red Sox gave up. Later in the game, they even allowed Chisholm to steal second and third without a throw and no one covered the base each time.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s deflated attitude was compounded by its several sloppy plays on defense throughout the series in the Bronx, including three defensive errors in Saturday\u2019s doubleheader. Rafaela\u2019s non-catch was a controversial call, no doubt. That it wasn\u2019t overturned was frustrating, of course. But the Red Sox have to be able to shake it off, move on, and realize there\u2019s still a game to play with everything on the line. Instead, later in Sunday\u2019s series finale, Rafaela didn\u2019t even bother to run to first on a ground ball he hit to second.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n It took nearly four weeks and a left-handed starter on the mound, but it finally happened. On Sunday, Ramos slugged his first home run since being traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Yankees, and it was no cheapie either. Ramos took Suarez deep for a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the series finale and broke the game open for New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I was super emotional. I\u2019m an emotional guy,” Ramos said. “I needed this. I\u2019ve been working hard in the cages trying to figure it out, trying to get my groove back. \u2026 Just knowing that I belong here. I know I can do it on the big stage. I can help this team. That\u2019s all I want to show.”<\/p>\n Ramos, who grew up idolizing former Yankees legends Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams, was incredibly fired up to get the monkey off his back after 20 unbearable games without a home run in his new pinstripes. Ramos connected on a 75 mph curveball from Suarez, and it left his bat at 107 mph before landing 416 feet away in left field. He all but flew around the bases in what must have been the fastest home-run trot of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Heliot\u2019s home run was massive,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought he was going to do a cartwheel around third.”<\/p>\n Heliot Ramos connects for an important home run in the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox on Sunday. (Rich Graessle\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) <\/p>\n Given the stakes of Sunday\u2019s finale, and the pressure to deliver but continuing to struggle since being traded, the unbridled joy that carried Ramos into the Yankees dugout was completely justified. Moments like that are why Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acquired him from the Giants. It was just bad timing as New York faced a steady stream of right-handers for three weeks, until the Red Sox came to town this weekend and put three left-handed starters on the mound.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ramos reached base seven times, including four on Sunday, against Boston. The Yankees offense is much more dominant with a slugging Ramos who\u2019s recaptured his rhythm at the plate.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 While both division rivals were publicly understating the importance of their clash in the Bronx, their transactions and urgency in bringing back key players gave away their true feelings.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Red Sox activated outfielder Roman Anthony and shortstop Trevor Story from the injured list on Sunday, and both players instantly got back in the swing of things, which will be crucial to Boston\u2019s stretch run. Anthony ripped a leadoff double to right field in his first at-bat since May 4. He went 2-for-4 on the day. Story, too, went 2-for-3 with a run scored after missing 93 games with sports hernia surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n Roman Anthony’s return will be a welcome addition to the Red Sox lineup. (Michael Urakami\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n Red Sox fans were upset that designated hitter Mickey Gasper was sent down to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Roman and Story. That\u2019s an understandable reaction, since Gasper was batting .423 with a 1.115 OPS and five home runs, 12 RBI and nine walks in 11 games since getting called up on Aug. 17. Gasper helped the Red Sox keep their momentum going to continue their incredible turnaround since sweeping the Yankees at home on June 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s not like heroes are coming back,” Story said before their 16-1 loss on Sunday. “We’re not looking at it that way. These guys have put in the work and done the things and performed on the field to get us to where we’re at, and we’re just coming in to help that.”<\/p>\n The Yankees activated left-hander Max Fried from the injured list for Game 2 of Saturday\u2019s doubleheader. He spent the minimum 15 days on the IL with recurring elbow inflammation, and he picked up where he left off. Fried allowed one earned run on three hits against Boston and struck out four in an abbreviated outing of 3 \u2154 innings pitched while he ramps back up from the two-week layoff. Fried has a 2.80 ERA in 90 innings and 16 starts this season.<\/p>\n Speaking of Yankees reinforcements, outfielder Aaron Judge is inching closer to his much-anticipated return from a fractured rib. The slugger has been on the IL since the end of May, and he\u2019s joining the Yankees on their road trip against the Angels and Padres this week to ramp up his rehab under the medical staff\u2019s supervision.<\/p>\n Aaron Judge is working his way back from a rib injury that has kept him out for months. (Benjamin B. Braun\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n Judge is expected to see velocity sometime soon, and Boone said he\u2019s getting more “entrenched” in his ramp-up. Judge and club officials have been pleased with his progress so far, which has included running and hitting off a tee, though a return date has not yet been announced by the Yankees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yankee Stadium (New York) \u2013 In the build-up to Sunday\u2019s first pitch, Aaron Boone didn\u2019t know how the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[10094,3472,128,71236,52249,996,34720,125390,9,24,321,63,67651,129,131,130,72292,63619,46145],"class_list":["post-333474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-aaron-judge","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bronx","tag-heliot-ramos","tag-jazz-chisholm-jr","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-max-fried","tag-mickey-gasper","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-nyc","tag-roman-anthony","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-tim-hill","tag-trevor-story","tag-will-warren"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Boston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/RedSox.vresize.200.200.medium.0.png\")
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<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Both Teams Getting Healthy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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