BOSTON -- Make contact and good things will happen. Red Sox manager Alex Cora has preached that since Spring Training, and it materialized in a big way on Saturday night.
This was a game in which the Sox -- at least from an offensive standpoint -- simply scratched and clawed their way to a 4-2 victory against the Yankees in front of another packed house of 36,857 at Fenway Park.
How did the runs score? On three sacrifice flies and an infield hit -- one of three that Hunter Renfroe had on the night. Overall, Boston had five infield hits.
To some managers, that might seem like winning ugly. To Cora, it is beautiful.
The second sacrifice fly was a true work of art, hit all of 152 feet by Bobby Dalbec and caught in foul territory by first baseman Luke Voit.
You can bet that Voit never envisioned Rafael Devers would tag and try to score on the play. But sometimes the element of surprise is what is needed, and Devers came roaring home to beat the throw and the enthralled Fenway approved with hearty cheers.
The Sox have already clinched this three-game series, and they’ll try for the sweep on Sunday when Eduardo Rodriguez goes against Gerrit Cole.
On the season, Boston is 5-0 against its forever rivals -- a monumental improvement from last year’s 1-9 mark.
While the offense grinded their way to everything they got, Nathan Eovaldi cruised with one of the best performances by a Boston starter this season.
In 7 2/3 innings, Eovaldi (8-4, 3.67 ERA) scattered seven mostly inconsequential hits, walking none and striking out six. The only run he allowed was to the last batter he faced, a homer off the bat of DJ LeMahieu. It was the first time the Red Sox have received a start of at least seven innings since June 3, and the fifth in 77 games this season.
The righty threw a season-high 109 pitches, 72 for strikes.
Things got tense once Eovaldi exited, as the normally reliable Hirokazu Sawamura came on and walked three straight batters. But former Yankee Adam Ottavino got the Sox out of that precarious situation by getting Luke Voit on a groundout to end the threat.
Ottavino returned for the ninth and escaped another jam for the save.
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