Notebook: Bogaerts, Betts help Red Sox rally
With the potential tying run on third base, Mookie Betts wanted to get the ball in the air. It didn’t matter given the good bounces the Boston Red Sox were getting.
Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, Betts had the tying single before scoring the go-ahead run and the Red Sox beat the Yankees 6-5 in Boston, for their third straight win over New York.
Trailing 5-4 in the seventh, the Red Sox took the lead with two well-placed bounces.
Betts’ high-chop grounder bounced over drawn-in shortstop Didi Gregorius to score Bogaerts, and Betts scored when Adam Warren (3-2) bounced a wild pitch that caromed to the right of Sanchez.
Hanley Ramirez, who started on second, went to third, stopped, then tried to score when he saw Sanchez had his back to the plate. The catcher scampered back in time for the tag.
Cards top Giants in playoff chase
Kolten Wong hit a sacrifice fly that capped a two-run comeback in the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a big win in their playoff chase, beating the San Francisco Giants 3-2 in San Francisco.
The Cardinals had lost three straight and held a team meeting prior to the game. Their win further tightened the NL wild-card race – the Giants and Mets are tied for the top two spots, with the Cardinals trailing by two games.
Jedd Gyorko singled with one out in the ninth off Sergio Romo. Santiago Casilla (2-5) walked Yadier Molina before Randal Grichuk hit a tying single.
Jose Martinez, pinch-running for Molina, took third on the hit and easily scored on Wong’s fly.
Seung Hwan Oh (5-3) retired six batters for the win.
Brandon Moss hit his 27th homer for the Cardinals.
The Giants fall five games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
deGrom likely out for season
Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday and is unlikely to pitch again this season because of an injury to the ulnar nerve in his right elbow.
DeGrom has been out since Sept. 1 after experiencing elbow pain in a start against Miami. He felt fine while throwing a bullpen Friday, then felt a twinge while tossing a baseball in from the outfield during batting practice about 15 minutes later.
“Just trying to lob it into the bucket,” deGrom said. “I guess throwing that bullpen had messed with that nerve. After I threw it, I was like, `OK, I have to go say something.”
DeGrom will need surgery but the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year has not decided whether he will wait until the end of the season to have it. The recovery time for the surgery is expected to be three months.
DeGrom is 7-8 with a 3.04 ERA this season, including 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA in his final three starts.