Yankees Jump Ahead a Game on Red Sox for Wild Card

 YANKEES 5 - RED SOX 2 

The sizzling New York Yankees completed a three game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a dominating 5-2 win over Boston at the Stadium. The victory caps off an incredible two days that saw the Yankees catch and pass the Red Sox for the lead in the AL Wild Card race. 

To think back on July 5 the Yankees were 10.5 games behind Boston in the standings. It looked like New York was well on their way to a horrible second half. Aaron Boone would be fired. Brian Cashman's job at stake. Instead New York has gone 27-11 since their 10-5 loss to the Mets in the first game a double-header back on July 4. 

This team is on fire, even if there is a clubhouse schism in the works between Luke Voit and Anthony Rizzo. 

Voit has hit .280 with a pair of homers and seven runs driven in over the past week. His solo shot in Tuesday's nightcap of a double header spearheaded the Yankees 2-0 victory. After the game he said he wanted to play more often, acknowledging there would be an issue with Rizzo around. 

On Wednesday, Rizzo was back in the lineup after dealing with COVID-19. Voit was on the bench. Here we go with some controversy.

But it hasn't slowed down the Yankees just yet. 

After Xander Bogaerts put Boston out front early 1-0 on a solo blast off struggling Andrew Heaney in the first inning, the Yankees knocked out Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta in the bottom of the second plating four runs, while batting around the order. 

The inning started on a single by Giancarlo Stanton, a walk to Rougend Odor and a single by Gary Sanchez. Three batters into the inning, Pivetta had already tossed 16 pitches, and there was nobody out. Brett Gardner followed with a sac fly, scoring Stanton to tie the game. 

Rookie Andrew Velazquez kept the momentum going with a RBI single of his own to plate Odor to make it 2-1 Bronx Bombers. Two batters later Rizzo reached on an infield single to score two runs to push New York to a 4-1 lead. 

At that point Pivetta was done. 1.2 innings pitched; four earned runs. 

The Yankees would cruise the rest of the way, with Heaney putting in seven solid innings of work, allowing only a run on two hits. He is 8-8 on the season. 

The Yankees have now won six in a row. They remain five back of the Rays for first in the AL East. They hold a half game lead over the A's for the top wild card slot, and a full game over Boston. 

The Yanks welcome the lowly Twins into town on Thursday for a four game series.