Stanton's slam lifts Yanks to 5-3 win, WC tie with Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead grand slam over the Green Monster in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees beat Boston 5-3 on Saturday to tie the Red Sox for the top spot in the AL wild-card race.

The Yankees, who began the day with a two-game lead over Toronto and Seattle for the second wild card, now have a chance to nudge in front of their longtime rivals in Sunday night’s series finale at Fenway Park.

Stanton connected off reliever Darwinzon Hernandez with two outs to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead. The slugger also had three hits and a three-run homer Friday night to help New York win the opening game of the series.

Luis Severino (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Aroldis Chapman allowed Bobby Dalbec's solo homer in the ninth and hit Kevin Plawecki with a pitch but held on for his 29th save.

New York starter Nestor Cortes’ day ended after 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander gave up two runs on four hits and struck out four. He hasn’t won since Aug. 28, a span of six starts.

Tanner Houck (1-5) took the loss, allowing two runs over 1 2/3 innings.

Plawecki had a home run for Boston. Kyle Schwarber scored on a wild pitch and starter Nick Pivetta allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings.

The Red Sox took an early 2-0 lead before Pivetta was pulled in the sixth after he gave up a single to Gio Urshela and a double to Brett Gardner. Hansel Robles entered and threw his first pitch to Aaron Judge to the backstop, allowing Urshela to score.

Gardner tried to score on Judge's chopper to third base, but was easily thrown out at the plate by Rafael Devers. Anthony Rizzo then lined out to end the inning.

The score was still 2-1 when Boston manager Alex Cora inserted Houck, who walked Stanton and Joey Gallo on eight pitches before settling down and getting...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Stanton-s-slam-lifts-Yanks-to-5-3-win-WC-tie-16487815.php