Boston Red Sox: Xander Bogaerts, Sox make ‘statement’ vs Yankees

Boston Red Sox critics, eat your heart out.  This team is a special, and they are not going away.

After losing 3 of 4 to the Houston Astros with a weekend series with the New York Yankees to follow, it looked dim for the Red Sox.  But a stellar pitching performance by Martin Perez in the finale of the four-game set in Houston quickly shifted momentum.

If fact, that momentum led a three-game sweep of the A.L. East rival Yankees following an extra-inning 6-5 victory Sunday night.  With yet another comeback victory, the Red Sox overcame a rare blown save by Matt Barnes in the ninth and got a clutch hit from Xander Bogaerts in the 10th to put the game away and wave away the Yankees…at least for now.

"“It was real nice,” Bogaerts said, via MLB.com.  “We know we haven’t had a lot of success [vs. the Yankees] these last couple of years, but this team is different.  We have a lot of winning players.  You could see that with Kike [Hernandez] last night with that big RBI.  Marwin [Gonzalez], these last couple of days, he’s been getting hot.”More from Boston Red Sox3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red SoxMLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts ReturnRed Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive WinMookie Betts Has Humble Outlook on Returning to FenwayAlex Cora Reveals What He Said to Cause NSFW Response from Justin Verlander"

Each of those players introduced themselves to the classic rivalry this weekend.  Hernandez hit the go-ahead double that led the team to a 7-3 victory on Saturday and Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the seventh inning on Sunday night.

Both players were brought in to re-instill a winning attitude in the Red Sox clubhouse and it is nice to see those players finally starting to contribute in clutch situations as Bogaerts did in the extra-inning victory.

Boston Red Sox come up big with two outs

In fact, his two-out, two run single told the story of the three-game sweep of the Yankees.

With the clutch RBIs, the Red Sox scored 11 of their 18 runs with two outs.  It both showed the discipline of the team and the resiliency of the entire season so far.  Every time you want to count this team out, they come back and win a game or games they have no business winning.

From solid pitching performances from Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez and Garrett Richards to clutch hitting from Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, Gonzalez, Hernandez and Bogaerts, the Boston Red Sox made a statement that they are not going anywhere and can hold their own against good teams.

"“I think this was a good statement that we made, coming in here and winning these three games,” Bogaerts said.  “We were down, 3-1, but I think the best part of these last two wins is we came back from behind.”"

In sweeping the New York Yankees, the Red Sox ended the brutal seven-game stretch with a 4-3 record.  Considering they started 0-3, the road trip ended on a very high note, one that Xander Bogaerts and the entire team can now run with.

Confidence, energy and simple believing in their team, this Red Sox squad has brought the excitement of baseball back to Boston this summer.  Watching Bogaerts wave goodbye to the Bronx crowed last Sunday night was basically the team waving hello to playoff contention.