Sox survive Judge but fall to Yankees in extra innings

Sep. 23—Every time a Red Sox pitcher threw Aaron Judge a pitch out of the zone, the fans at Yankee Stadium loudly voiced their displeasure.

With Judge sitting on 60 home runs with a chance to tie Roger Maris' American League home run record, the New York Yankees slugger's at bats have become appointment viewing. Whether they hoped to avoid becoming the answer to a future trivia question or simply give their team the best chance to win, the Red Sox staff succeeded in keeping Judge in check but couldn't pull out the win as New York won 5-4 on a walk-off single by Josh Donaldson in the 10th inning.

Judge went 0 for 2 with three walks in the loss, including a towering fly out to deep centerfield in the bottom of the ninth that looked for a moment like it could have been a walk-off shot for No. 61.

The other out came in the bottom of the fifth, when Wacha struck out Judge with two men on and one out in the inning. That punch out was huge given that it helped Wacha escape what was at first a bases-loaded, no-out jam relatively unscathed, but even when Judge walked the Red Sox still came out ahead, with the Yankees grounding into double plays later in the inning all three times.

Though Judge's home run celebration will have to wait at least another night, there were plenty of other fireworks at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

After Kyle Higashioka gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly just before Judge's strikeout in the fifth, the Yankees made it 3-0 after Giancarlo Stanton struck for a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.

That home run barely made it into the first row of Yankee Stadium's short right field porch, but the Red Sox made the park's dimensions work for them when they struck for two right field home runs of their own in the top of the seventh.

First came Triston Casas, who hit his third career home run to put the Red Sox on the board. That solo shot was followed by a Kiké Hernandez single and a Yu Chang walk, which set the stage for Reese McGuire's go-ahead three-run home run.

Boston missed its opportunity to put the game away in the eighth when McGuire struck out with the bases loaded, which proved costly moments later when Ryan Brasier allowed a sacrifice fly to Harrison Bader to tie the game at 4-4. The Red Sox couldn't score in the ninth or 10th either, setting the stage for Donaldson's walk-off single.

With the win New York has now officially clinched a playoff berth. Rich Hill will take the mound for the Red Sox on Friday looking to outduel Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and keep Judge from leaving the yard another day longer.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com.

Twitter: @MacCerullo.