There’s always something unique about Red Sox-Yankees games. The meetings tend to feature the rarest of baseball occurrences, and that certainly was the case in Thursday night’s 5-4 Red Sox extra innings win.

The Yankees led 1-0 in the top of the fifth, when the game entered a brief rain delay. After the Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, the Yankees responded with two more runs, and took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Still, the game was far from over. New York’s bullpen has been a problem all season, and entering Thursday night’s contest the Yankees had lost three of their previous 15 games when leading in the ninth inning.

With closer Aroldis Chapman unavailable after pitching three of the previous four days, Yankee manager Aaron Boone turned to Chad Green – the fifth pitcher used by the Yankees in the game – to get the save. Despite allowing a pair of base hits, Green had the Red Sox down to their final out. However, Kiké Hernandez extended the game, delivering a two-run double that forced extra innings. It was Hernandez’s 10th straight extra base hit, the most by a red Sox leadoff hitter in the expansion era, per Elias.

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  The Yankees would retake the lead in the top of the 10th, going up 4-3. Again needing a save from a thin bullpen, Boone called on rookie Brooks Kriske. Kriske proceeded to have one of the worst single innings by a pitcher in baseball history, tying the MLB record (and setting a new Yankee record) with four wild in the frame.
  
  Facing leadoff hitter Xander Bogaerts, two of Kriske's first four pitches skipped to the backstop. The first allowed Rafael Devers - on second due to the new extra innings runner rule - to advance to third, and the second allowed him to score.
  
  Naturally, that at-bat led to a walk, capped by yet another pitch spiked in the dirt (it's not officially a wild pitch if no runners are on base). Kriske then issues two more wild pitches, which put Bogaerts at third with nobody out. When Kriske did finally throw a pitch close to the plate, Hunter Renfroe lifted it into right field, scoring Bogaerts on a sacrifice fly and winning the game for Boston.
  
  Following the game Kriske was demoted to Triple-AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The move was announced at 1:12 AM, just over an hour after the game ended.
  
  Watching that performance, and this year's bullpen as a whole, has to be tough for Yankees fans. Making the matter even worse is the fact that the Yankees essentially gave the Red Sox two of their top bullpen arms for nothing this offseason, by trading Adam Ottavino in a salary dump and not protecting Garrett Whitlock in the Rule 5 draft.

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  Lost in all the chaos of the evening was Tanner Houck's brief yet impressive performance. Making his first start since getting sent to the minors in early April, Houck was nearly unhittable before the rain delay knocked him out of the game after 4.2 innings. He allowed just one unearned run on two hits, one of which was an infield single that got lost in the wet grass immediately before the umpires paused the game. The righty struck out eight of the 18 Yankee hitters he faced.
  
  Matt Barnes, who allowed just one unearned run in the top of the 10th, picked up the win for the Red Sox. He now has a 5-2 record on the season. Kriske, of course, earned the loss (1-1) as well as a blown save.
  
  With the win, the Red Sox improve to 59-38 on the season, and maintain their one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. Meanwhile, the Yankees fall to 50-45, and sit eight games back.
  
  Friday night's game will be the second of the four-game series, with each team sending their ace to the mound. Eduardo Rodriguez will get the start for the Red Sox, he's opposed by Gerrit Cole.

MORE: Who will the Red Sox target at the trade deadline?

Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.

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