George Lombard Jr.’s night ended at New York-Presbyterian Hospital after the Yankees pulled their top prospect with right knee discomfort in Game 2 against the Red Sox. Just 23 games into his major-league career, Lombard became the biggest concern from a night New York otherwise had every reason to celebrate.
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The Yankees still beat Boston 9-2 and did it in one of the strangest ways possible. They finished with 13 hits, all singles, and not one extra-base hit. That matched a franchise feat last seen in 1909 against the Cleveland Naps, back when the Yankees were still the New York Highlanders.
X handle New York Yankees Stats wrote, “This is the second time in team history the Yankees had 9+ runs and 13+ hits without an extra-base hit in a home game. The other was on September 17, 1909, vs. the Cleveland Naps.”
After getting shut out 6-0 in Game 1, the Yankees needed a response, and Max Fried gave them one in his return from the injured list. He worked 3.2 innings with four strikeouts, allowing only a solo homer to Nick Sogard before walking Willson Contreras in the fourth. Fried then struck out Caleb Durbin and Andruw Monasterio before the Yankees pulled him.
The Yankees’ lineup did the rest by pounding Boston with singles. Brayan Bello held New York scoreless for two innings, but the dam broke in the third when the Yankees pushed across three runs and took control.
Jose Caballero opened the third with a single, and Trent Grisham followed with a walk. Ben Rice then drove in Caballero with another single before Jazz Chisholm Jr. brought Rice home on a sacrifice fly. Luis Garcia Jr. added another run with a grounder to second, scoring Grisham. Rice finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and became the engine of New York’s offense.
The Yankees broke it open with five runs in the eighth.
Red Sox reliever Raymond Burgos gave up back-to-back singles before Jazz Chisholm Jr. helped load the bases. Amed Rosario, who had replaced the injured George Lombard Jr., then drove in Cody Bellinger to start the damage.
Spencer Jones followed Rosario with another single to keep the bases loaded, and Austin Wells blooped one into the outfield to bring home two more runs.
Jose Caballero added another single before Rice capped the rally with a two-run knock. The singles-only attack made the night even stranger; it was the most runs the Yankees had scored in a game without an extra-base hit since September 16, 1956.
Lombard was sent to New York-Presbyterian Hospital for imaging after tweaking his right knee on a checked swing in the second inning. The Yankees pulled him after three.
Lombard immediately grimaced, grabbed his knee, and hopped out of the batter’s box, but he stayed in long enough to single on Bello’s next pitch. He returned to shortstop for the top of the third before flying out in the bottom half and exiting the game. Jose Caballero took over at shortstop, while the 21-year-old was listed as day-to-day.