BOSTON—Mike Yastrzemski enjoyed a visit from his grandfather Carl and then homered into the Fenway Park bullpen just as the Hall of Fame outfielder so often did in his heyday, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Boston Red Sox 3–1 on Thursday.
Ryan Walker (3–2) pitched a perfect sixth inning to help the Giants avoid a series sweep and snap Boston’s four-game winning streak. Camilo Doval pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
“Six hits. Scratched three runs out of it today, but there’s still more out there,” said Giants Manager Bob Melvin, whose team had just 15 hits in the three-game series. “But when you win a game, you don’t really concern yourselves with that. It’s when we’re losing games and not getting many hits and not scoring many runs. Did enough today.”
Tyler O’Neill walked twice and hit a wall-scraping popup to drive in Boston’s only run.
Carl Yastrzemski visited his grandson in the visitor’s clubhouse before the game but did not stay to see Mike come up in the third inning of a scoreless, hitless game and line a 1–1 pitch from Josh Winckowski over the low wall in right-center field. Although there were plenty of Giants fans in the crowd for the team’s first trip to Boston in five years, even Red Sox fans stood and cheered for the opponent with the beloved last name.
The Red Sox tied it in the bottom half when O’Neill doubled off the Green Monster and Rafael Devers came around to score from first base. San Francisco went back ahead in the seventh on consecutive singles by Patrick Bailey, Matt Chapman, and Thairo Estrada that chased Zack Kelly (0–1), and then made it 3–1 on Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice fly.
Good and Bad
The Red Sox loaded the bases in the first inning on two walks and a hit batter, but Giants rookie left-hander Kyle Harrison got Garrett Cooper to fly out to end the inning. Harrison allowed one run and three hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking five.Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee lost Ceddanne Rafaela’s high fly ball in the sun in the fourth inning, allowing it to fall in for a double. But Harrison got Bobby Dalbec on a grounder to second.
In the fourth, Lee came in to make a diving catch of Jarren Duran’s sinking liner, saving a run in a 1–1 game.
Up Next
Giants: Head to Philadelphia for four games, with right-hander Jordan Hicks (2–0) starting against Phillies righty Aaron Nola (4–1) on Friday.Red Sox: Travel to Minnesota for a three-game series starting Friday. Right-hander Tanner Houck (3–2) will face Twins righty Chris Paddack (2–1).