So, the New York Yankees started the game with a 2-0 lead over the Boston Red Sox in this Bronx series. In recent days, they had edged the games, with extra innings and a remarkable comeback playing their part on different days. These Yankees were not going to lie down.

Game 3 then with Brayan Bello on the mound for Boston, and Yankees ace, Gerrit Cole heightening his teams chances of moving towards a sweep in the series.

… but then there have been many twists in this tale.

And there is room for more.

Cole quickly settled into his groove. In the first, Jarren Duran popped out to Jazz Chisholm jr. Cole is a little uneasy with Rafael Devers, and accidentally or otherwise he hit him with a pitched ball when he was crowding the plate a little. However, Tyler O’Neill grounded into a double play with Chisholm throwing to Gleyber Torres who turned to Anthony Rizzo to complete the 2nd and third out.

Nothing much to report about the bottom half of the inning. Fly out for Torres. Ground out for Juan Soto. Aaron Judge called out on strikes.

Cole was really hitting his stride and took the next three down in order. Masataka Yoshida flied out, and Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas both struck out.

The Yankees collected the first hit of the game in the bottom of the second. With one out (Austin Wells), Jazz Chisholm singled to right field, but those behind in the line-up didn’t develop the situation. Jasson Dominguez went down swinging and Anthony Rizzo hit one into the air in rightfield which easily nestled in Abreu’s glove.

And so Cole continued relentlessly. He made Trevor Story and Danny Jansen pop out and then Enmanuel Valdez hit a strong liner towards Rizzo who dealt with it with aplomb.

Then the Yankees finally created a meaningful chance, and surprisingly it was the bottom section of the line-up which built the bridge to the first run. Anthony Volpe singled a grounder to centre field. Alex Verdugo singled on a line drive to right, but then he decided to round the base and head for second only to be thrown out 9-6. The good news was that Volpe was safe at third. And then as we moved back to the top of the Yankees’ line-up, Torres singled to rightfield to bring Volpe home. 1-0.

Then Soto hit one toward second base which Valdez took his eye off, allowing Juan to reach first on the error. Torres moved up to second and it looked like there might be more runs in the mix. However, Judge hit to right field and Abreu captured it easily and then a little pop up from Wells brought the inning to a sudden end.

And then things got weird…

It was business as usual when Duran flied out to Dominguez. Then the question of how far Devers has got into Cole’s psyche once more reared its ugly head. You’ll remember that Gerrit hit Devers by pitch in the first, this time he just didn’t want to face the guy at all, and he motioned to give him an intentional walk. At game end, everybody who was quizzed expressed surprise at the tactic including Aaron Boone. Devers had got deep into Cole’s mind, and the Yankees gameplan was about to come apart.

Devers, sensing he had Cole rattled, stole second. And then to make matters worse, without the intention, Cole walked O’Neill. Then he served up one he telegraphed for Yoshida to hit a ground-rule double. Abreu’s single then brought home two RBIs with both O’Neill and Yoshida crossing the plate. Fortunately, Casas hit into a 3-6-3 double play, otherwise this inning could have gone on all night or at least until the Yankees brought someone on for Cole. 3-1.

Could the Yankees respond in the bottom of the 4th? Well, no. Chisholm walked, but then Bello caught him off base. The umpire first called him safe, but a review called him out. Both Dominguez and Rizzo grounded out. It was not looking good.

The Yankees trusted Cole’s assurance that he was back in a good head space, but the reality worked out a little different. Story singled and then easily stole second base. Then Jansen walked. Cole achieved one out with Valdez flying one out to Soto in rightfield. But the spectre of the approaching Devers was in the corner of his eye. He made his second hit by pitch of the game as Duran took a stinging one.

And then Devers. A simple single on a line drive to right field. Story scored. Jansen scored. Duran advanced to third. 5-1 with only one out.

It could only get better. Right? Wrong! A third hit-by-pitch this time to O’Neill loaded the bases. Then Yoshida singled to center field with Duran and the ubiquitious Devers scoring and O’Neill making it safe to third.

Time for change. Tim Mayza was brought on for Cole in the hope of eating up the remaining innings. Things couldn’t really get worse, and the game was in all likelihood over.

In the bottom of the 5th, Verdugo was walked with one out, but he was put out at second when Torres hit into a force out. Soto’s flyout ended the inning.

Similarly, Trevor Story reached first in the sixth with one out, albeit on a single. And then, to keep up the parallel, Jansen hit into a force out before Valdez lined out.

After the Red Sox got Judge out on a lineout, they decided to bring on Bailey Horn in relief of Bello. He started off by facing Wells who reached first on an error by Devers. He then walked Chisholm, but caused Dominguez to hit into a flyout. Rizzo then grounded out 6-3 to end the inning.

Into the 7th and without Cole on the mound, the Yankees finally had Devers under control albeit too late. Duran singled, but Devers flied out and Duran moved up to second. There was really no need for the Red Sox to be pushing now, but Duran didn’t seem to know that and was caught stealing third. O’Neill struck out swinging for the fences to end the inning.

Josh Winckowski had a bad night not so long ago, but today was much better as he came in for Horn. Volpe grounded out and Verdugo grounded out. Winckowski walked Torres, but recovered for an accomplished striking out of Soto.

The Red Sox had a chance of extending their lead in the 8th. Casas singled with two outs. And then Story added another single. Jansen failed to bring them home with a soft fly out to centerfield.

The Yankees’ chances were growing thinner and thinner, but Judge hitting a double never hurts. The Red Sox brought in Zach Penrod to settle things down. He began well striking out Wells and Chisholm, but walked Dominguez. A meek pop out from Rizzo ended the 8th and the outlook was no better.

So, Tim for Tim as Tim Hill replaced Mayza. On the offensive side, Romy Gonzalez replaced Enmanuel Valdez. Gonzalez promptly struck out. Duran grounded and then Devers walked before O’Neill grounded out.

Ex-Yankee Greg Weissert came onto pitch the ninth and Alex Verdugo must be feeling the burden of facing the pitchers who went in in the opposition direction in his trade to Yankees. Richard Fitts dominated two nights ago and now it was Weissert’s turn. With one out, Weissert made getting him to ground out very easy indeed.

Then Torres who is not known for pressing when there seems nothing to gain was struck out without much effort.

7-1.

All of a sudden it seemed like it should be a cold winter’s night. It was not. It was still a late afternoon with sun, and tomorrow would bring another chance for the Yankees to continue to press on toward the post-season…