The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 12-8 in London to complete a sweep of the first Major League Baseball series to be played in Europe.
The Yankees scored nine runs in the seventh inning and held off a late Boston rally to win on a specially built field at London Stadium.
“It was a crazy atmosphere,” said Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius, who was born in the Netherlands.
“It felt like a soccer match at the end. Pretty cool.”
After a historic 30-run spectacle in Saturday’s 17-13 Yankees victory that took nearly five hours, the 59,659 fans who attended the second game at West Ham’s ground saw scoring closer to the normal
MLB performance until the seventh inning.
Boston led for most of the afternoon but they fell behind in the seventh inning as the Yankees punished several errors, scoring nine runs to turn a two-run deficit into an advantage that withstood a
late Red Sox rally.
“The experience was great,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “The guys relished it, I felt they were really excited to get here and they embraced the whole thing.
“It felt big, it felt important, and to get out of here with two wins from some crazy games with a lot of offense, we’re really excited about that.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said it was “not a good weekend on the field” for his team but that “the atmosphere was amazing”.
The Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals will play in London in 2020 and Cora added: “I played in many different venues, international venues, some great venues.
“What we witnessed here was great, the atmosphere, the passion, and I hope it happens more than twice. I know the Cubs and Cardinals are coming and hopefully other teams can experience this venue too.”
