Marcus Thames and Alex Rodriguez hit two-run homers off Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the ninth inning and the New York Yankees rallied past the Boston Red Sox, 11-9, on Monday.
Rodriguez tied the game at 9-9 with his one-out blast. Papelbon then got the second out of the inning before hitting Francisco Cervelli with a pitch. Thames followed with the walk-off homer.
Javier Vazquez (2-4) got the win in his first appearance in the bullpen since being taken out of the rotation for New York, which has now beaten Boston in 14 of its last 17 meetings.
The Red Sox rallied from a 5-0 deficit after the first inning to take the lead into the ninth. Papelbon (1-3) had converted 22 straight save opportunities in the regular season before Monday’s collapse.
Victor Martinez hit two of Boston’s five home runs in the game. J.D. Drew’s three-run homer helped the Red Sox cut the deficit to 6-5 in the fifth inning.
After the Yankees made it 7-5 on an RBI double by Thames, Martinez cut it to 7-6 with a solo homer.
Kevin Youkilis then gave Boston its first lead with a two-run homer in the eighth inning off Chan Ho Park. Martinez followed with his second solo home run of the night.
Rodriguez and Thames both finished with four RBIs for the Yankees, who had 15 walk-off wins last season.
Boston | NY Yankees | |
Daisuke Matsuzaka | Player | Phil Hughes |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
4.2 | IP | 5.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 3 |
9 | Hits | 6 |
13.50 | ERA | 9.00 |
Boston | NY Yankees | |
Victor Martinez | Player | Marcus Thames |
2 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 4 |
2 | HR | 1 |
8 | TB | 6 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Boston | 13 | 5 | 29 | .342 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
NY Yankees | 13 | 2 | 23 | .351 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 |