Considering how this season has gone for the Yankees, they had no business winning their first series back from the All-Star break against the Boston Red Sox.
Their outfield had tapped of its resources, with Tim Locastro’s season-ending ACL injury joining the litany of hampered Yankees that also included Aaron Judge (COVID), Aaron Hicks (season-ending wrist surgery), Clint Frazier (vision), and Miguel Andujar (wrist).
It somehow got worse on Sunday night when Trey Amburgey left in the fourth inning with a right hamstring cramp after trying to beat out a double play — leaving the Yankees to try and close out the Red Sox with an outfield of Brett Gardner, Ryan LaMarre, and Greg Allen.
“It’s been a hard week,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone admitted. “Bottom line, as a team, it’s been a hard week.”
Yet they got the job done, going 4-for-7 with three RBIs, five runs scored, and a pair of stolen bases in a 9-1 victory to take the rubber game from the first-place Red Sox.
LaMarre led the heroics by going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run on a night in which he almost had to come out of the game after it looked as though he hurt his leg when crashing into the right-field wall while trying to make a catch.
“I told Booney, ‘I’m not coming out of the game,’” LaMarre said. “You don’t get too many chances to wear pinstripes, so I want to take advantage of every inning I’m given out there.”
Lamarre appeared in three games for the Yankees in May before a hamstring injury sidelined him. It was his first appearance in the majors since 2019, when he bounced around five different teams in five years while playing in just 119 games.
For Allen, who went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and a stolen base, it was just his 19th MLB game over the last two seasons after an unsuccessful stint with the Cleveland Indians from 2015-2019.
“There’s no doubt that they’ve come in and brought in an energy and excitement and enthusiasm for a handful of them — first time being in the big leagues, for a lot of guys, getting back to the big leagues,” Boone said. “No doubt that’s brought a little bit of energy. More importantly, they’ve gone out and played well. As tough as it’s been, it’s another winning series and that’s three in a row against some tough opponents.
“We just have to keep it going and find a way to win some ballgames.”
“Greg Allen, Ryan Lamarre, these guys coming up and fitting right in,” Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon added. “Putting together competitive at-bats… it’s been fun to watch, fun to be a part of.”
