BOSTON — Red Sox rookie Justin Slaten faced a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth inning after walking Yankees sluggers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.
With former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo stepping to the plate, pitching coach Andrew Bailey visited the mound.
“Bails comes out there. We have the mound visit. We knew exactly what pitch we had to go to, to get Verdugo,” Slaten said.
The Red Sox won 8-4 over New York here at Fenway Park.
Slaten retired Verdugo on the first pitch, a 93.4 mph cutter. Verdugo grounded to first baseman Bobby Dalbec who threw home to catcher Connor Wong for the force-out.
“The only thing on my mind was just make the next pitch,” Slaten said. “I’m not try to think too far ahead but just knowing that if I execute what’s called, I was going to put myself in a good spot.”
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Slaten then struck out Giancarlo Stanton swinging on a 2-2 83.7 mph sweeper to escape the jam without allowing a run. The Red Sox maintained their 5-2 lead.
Four Red Sox relievers — Slaten, Brennan Bernardino, Greg Weissert and Kenley Jansen combined to pitch the final five innings. Slaten earned the win, hurling 2 ⅔ innings and allowing one run, two hits and two walks while striking out three.
“It’s everything you see as a kid growing up,” Slaten said about Red Sox vs. Yankees. “This rivalry goes back a long way obviously. And it’s something you can feel coming into the clubhouse every day, stepping out onto the field before the anthem and all throughout the game. You hear everybody screaming. Both sides. So it’s just a really surreal feeling. Honestly, I had to kind of come in after I was done and just take a minute and kind of think, ‘Wow, that’s the first time pitching in a game like that.’ All games matter but it just feels like these last two and the one tomorrow just (matter) a little bit more.”
