BOSTON — Christian Arroyo had made it a few steps out of the batter’s box down the first-base line when he learned his reality and proceeded to slam his helmet on the ground.
But moments later, he was jogging to home plate, with his hand raised in the air as the Red Sox celebrated a big victory over their rivals.
Down a run in the ninth to the Yankees, the Red Sox didn’t quit. J.D. Martinez tied the game, then deadline acquisition Tommy Pham won it in the 10th inning — adding to his impressive 10 days since joining Boston — with a walk-off single as the Red Sox overcame Aaron Judge’s early home run with a 3-2 victory at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox still have a lot of work to do, but they aren’t dead just yet.
A night after a momentum-creating victory over the Orioles, the Red Sox built on it — even if it looked unlikely for much of the night after Nathan Eovaldi, who continued to operate less than his best self, produced a strong effort.
The Red Sox trailed 2-1 with one out in the ninth, but they had hope with the heart of the lineup coming up. Yankees reliever Clay Holmes obliged.
Holmes simply couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked Xander Bogaerts on five pitches, then Alex Verdugo got ahead of him on a 3-0 count. Holmes battled back for a full count, but ultimately walked Verdugo on a ball in the dirt to put two runners on.
The Red Sox took advantage, as Martinez singled home Bogaerts with a sharp liner up the middle to tie the game. Fenway Park was deafening, but they had to be patient to celebrate a victory. With Verdugo on third, Wandy Peralta replaced Holmes and struck out Eric Hosmer for the second out. Arroyo nearly ended it with his first career walk-off hit, but his line drive that looked destined for left found Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s glove to send the game to extras, prompting the second baseman’s frustration.
That didn’t last too long.
Garrett Whitlock — who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth — was heroic again for the Red Sox. Facing the heart of the Yankees’ order to start the 10th, he walked Judge, but came back strong. He induced Anthony Rizzo into a lineout, then struck out Josh Donaldson and Gleyber Torres back-to-back to give the Red Sox a critical shutout inning heading into the bottom of the 10th, where they didn’t waste their chance.
With Arroyo on second to begin the frame, Jaylin Davis moved him over with a soft groundout. Reese McGuire then came up and executed what looked like a sacrifice squeeze bunt attempt, but Arroyo didn’t go home.
It didn’t ultimately matter. A batter later, Pham laced a sharp grounder down the third-base line past Donaldson, allowing Arroyo to easily score the game-winning run from home. As Pham rounded first, he was mobbed by all his new teammates in short right field.
Eovaldi didn’t have his best stuff — a theme in his six starts since returning from the injured list with back inflammation — but he was still effective and gave the Red Sox an important six innings that allowed them a chance.
The right-hander’s fastball velocity continued to be down. His four-seamer averaged 94.4 mph, he induced just one swing and miss on it over 36 tries, and the less effective pitch cost him to the wrong hitter, when Judge smoked a 93-mph heater in the zone and cleared everything in left field for his league-leading 46th home run of the season.
