Hunter Dobbins outpitches Carlos Rodón once again as Red Sox hold off Yankees for fourth straight victory

Boston Globe

16 hours ago

The Sox improved to 36-36, their first time at .500 since May 24. They have won four games in a row and six out of seven, and they have taken three consecutive series — two against the Yankees, who at 42-27 remain atop the AL East.
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Greg Weissert stranded the potential tying run at second base in the ninth inning. Austin Wells flied out to the warning track in left-center field for the final out.
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The Yankees' other best chance came in the seventh inning, when they cut a four-run deficit in half and threatened for more — until Narváez, continuing to haunt his former club, made a heads-up play to end the inning.
With two runners on and Aaron Judge on deck, Trent Grisham whiffed for strike two. For some reason, Jasson Domínguez wound up between second and third base. Narváez fired to shortstop Story, who threw to Mayer, who applied the tag for the surprise out. In the visitors' dugout, Yankees manager Aaron Boone appeared dumbfounded.
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Dobbins turned in perhaps the best outing of his rookie season — the fifth consecutive game the Red Sox received at least that much length from their starting pitcher, a full turn through the rotation, a massive improvement over the preceding stretch.
Dobbins held them to two hits (Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s single in the second, Anthony Volpe's single in the fifth) and a walk. And he struck out five, including Judge in each of his first two at-bats, swinging at a curveball both times. In his third at-bat, Judge grounded out to third base, where Marcelo Mayer made a backhanded stop and long, cross-body throw for the out.
The Red Sox plated four runs (three earned) and seven hits in five-plus innings against Yankees lefthander Carlos Rodón, the second time in a week he got out-pitched by Dobbins.
The two hitters inserted into the lineup specifically to hit Rodón played big roles. Rob Refsnyder went 2 for 3 with a first-pitch double to lead off the bottom of the first, scoring three batters later on shortstop Volpe's two-out throwing error. Romy Gonzalez added a two-out RBI double to right-center field in the fifth, bringing in Kristian Campbell (hit by pitch) from first base.
Another day brought another round of lineup machinations, with Alex Cora managing a roster that — as he described it — has 'shifted' via a series of injuries, most recently to Wilyer Abreu (left oblique strain).
The latest iteration featured Duran batting fifth, the first time since May 12, 2024, that he was slotted lower than first or second.
That allowed Cora to put his lefty-crushers, Refsnyder and Gonzalez, in the Nos. 1 and 3 spots, respectively.
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Moving down Duran, who has struggled against lefthanded pitchers this year and in his career, probably will be a regular occurrence for as long as the Sox field this position-player group.
'We're going to maximize Romy and Ref,' Cora said before the game. 'Against righties, we'll go the way we've been doing it [with Duran at the top]. Against lefties, with the personnel that we have, this makes sense.'
Tim Healey can be reached at