Tampa, Fla., March 5, 2016; Yankees 6, Red Sox 4 — For all of 2 minutes or so, it appeared the Yanks might be hard pressed to beat the visiting Red Sox Saturday. Mookie Betts raced to third after drilling free agent righthander Tyler Cloyd’s third pitch, then scored when Brock Holt singled sharply to right.

Knuckleballer Steven Wright then extended New York’s early scoreless streak to 15 innings by retiring six of eight through two frames, with young prospect Jorge Mateo leading off the Yankee third. And Mateo flailed badly at a low outside knuckler at 1-1. But he didn’t miss a following higher offering, blasting it off the scoreboard in deep left for the 1-1 tie.

Three singles gave the home team a lead they would not relinquish, and drove Wright’s pitch count past 50. The Yanks, meanwhile, using a pitcher an inning, held Boston at the one run, allowing just one more hit — and no walks — through seven innings.

The Yanks got a Ben Gamel single in the fourth, and scored a third run when Jacoby Ellsbury lashed a three-base hit to the right center field gap leading off the fifth. With the Sox playing back, Carlos Beltran delivered him with a fielder’s choice grounder to short.

Chasen Shreve, Tyler Olson, Johnny Barbato, Richard Bleier, and Kyle Haynes delivered 1-2-3 innings. Shreve looked particularly sharp, and Barbato, though a little raw and undisciplined, appears to be a very uncomfortable at bat.

With Joe Girardi substiting much of his lineup in the seventh, the kids quickly doubled the Yankee score. Rob Refsnyder and Ronald Torreyes stroked leadoff singles, which were followed by a one-out, no-doubt-about-it bomb to right by Aaron Judge, or Yank Aaron, as some are calling him.

Despite the 6-1 lead, however, victory was not assured, and righthander Mark Montgomery had a nightmare eighth, surrendering a home run to one-time Yank Brennan Boesch and another to outfielder Ryan LaMarre, the latter after Eddy Rodriguez’s passed ball on strike three had allowed catcher Dan Butler to reach. Suddenly, it was 6-4.

But Nick Goody, who had allowed two ninth-inning runs in Wednesday’s home owner, set Boston down on 13 uneventful pitches, with third baseman Jonathan Diaz making a fine running catch of a foul pop near the Boston dugout for the second out.

Young Yankee Thunder prevailed, in the 6-4 win.

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!