Turner's two clutch hits help Red Sox to 2nd sweep of Yanks in '23

NEW YORK -- The ninth inning of Sunday’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees was intense. It had a real playoff feel to it. When it was over, it was Boston that came out on top in a 6-5 victory to sweep the three-game series.

First baseman Justin Turner proved to be the difference. He finished with four RBIs and drove in the game-winner in the top of the ninth off closer Clay Holmes. With runners on first and third, one out and the score tied at 5, Turner doubled down the right-field line to score Pablo Reyes.

“I try to keep it simple and not try to do too much -- get something I can get in the outfield to make sure to get one run in. Sometimes, good things happen. I feel good. I like being in those situations,” Turner said.

Turner had another heroic moment earlier in the game. With two outs in the seventh inning and a runner on second base, manager Aaron Boone intentionally walked Rafael Devers to get to Turner. One can understand Boone’s logic: Devers is a Yankee killer, with 23 career homers against New York, including a solo blast in the first. But the plan backfired. Turner broke a 2-2 tie by hitting a three-run homer off reliever Michael King.

“I would have walked [Devers], too,” Turner said. “Any time someone intentionally walks in front of you, obviously, it feels a little bit better when you make a big swing right after that.”

But Boston reliever John Schreiber quickly gave up the lead by allowing a three-run bomb to Anthony Volpe in the bottom half of the frame.

Turner produced on Sunday despite playing with a bone bruise on his right heel. In fact, manager Alex Cora said Turner will not play Monday against the Astros as long as Triston Casas, who missed the past two games with a tooth infection, can play.

“I’m tired. I’m looking forward to getting on that plane and off my feet a little bit -- regroup and get after it tomorrow,” Turner said.

The Yankees would not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth inning against Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen. After Greg Allen doubled and DJ LeMahieu was hit by a pitch, Aaron Judge came to the plate and struck out on three pitches. Gleyber Torres followed and also struck out, before Ben Rortvedt flied out to center fielder Adam Duvall to end the game.

“Just take one pitch at a time and give it a try,” Jansen said. “That’s what I did -- slow it down pitch by pitch, and slowly but surely got out of the inning.”

After the game, the Red Sox celebrated with a beer shower for bench coach Ramón Vázquez, who took over the game in the sixth inning after Cora was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.

Cora, who watched the rest of the game in Boston’s locker room, talked about the play at the plate in the bottom of the eighth in which the Yankees thought Isiah Kiner-Falefa scored the go-ahead run on a single by Volpe.

But the call was overturned after Boston challenged and Kiner-Falefa was called out. The Yankees then challenged that catcher Connor Wong blocked Kiner-Falefa’s path to home plate, but the call stood.

“From the get-go, I thought he was out,” Cora said. “[Home-plate umpire] Junior [Valentine] waited and waited to look at the baseball and then he called him safe.”

But the victory belonged to Vázquez.

“That was our bench coach’s first win. Definitely, a beer shower. I called [Cora] to give the speech,” Jansen said. “We just try to have fun, man. We're trying to chase the Wild Card and go to the postseason. We have to stay loose and have fun.”

Boston has taken eight out of nine from the Bronx Bombers this season, with a four-game series remaining in September.

"I think everybody in the AL East is tough this year,” Kiner-Falefa said. "They've just got the better of us. I feel like they're swinging the bats well, they've got a good game plan. They're just better than us right now."

Cora said the Red Sox are a good group of guys to work with, and it started in Spring Training. Entering the four-game series against the Astros on Monday, the Red Sox are three games behind the Mariners for the third and final Wild Card spot in the American League.

“It should be fun for the next month and a half,” Cora said. “We are playing good baseball. We are getting healthier, which is the most important thing. Let’s see where it takes us.”