It Was a 0-0 Tie in the 5th. Before “The Catch” or “Non Catch”. NY 16 Boston 1

August 31, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Heliot Ramos breaks game open with 3-run HR in the 5th, making it 5-0 Yanks. It was his first HR as a Yankee.

It was a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the 5th inning.

By the 8th the Red Sox had their shortstop pitching — Andruw Monasterio throwing 45-MPH lobs at the plate and the Yankee hitters treating it like the homerun contest.

Final score NY 16 Boston 1 on a warm (80 degrees) humid, cloudy (some dark and threatening) afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Will Warren was “fearless in the zone” — and threw a 2-hit shutout into the 8th.

Heliot Ramos got the big hit to break the game open — a 3-run Bomb in the 5th to make it a 5-0 game — his first HR as a Yankee.

The Yankees tacked on a run in the 6th and the 7th — and then clobbered Boston with a 9-run 9th inning, with the Red Sox giving up down 11-1 and putting Monasterio on the mound. He allowed 5 more runs.

Paul Goldschmidt got 3 hits and a HR; Jose Caballero got 3 hits and a HR; Austin Wells hit 2 HR’s — both in the 8th inning!

Cody Bellinger, Amed Rosario, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Ramos got 2 hits each — as the Yankees banged out 18 hits total.

And there was a catch — or non-catch — a phenomenal diving catch, or non-catch — made (or not made) by Ceddanne Rafaela running in from center for the 1st out of the inning with a runner on 1st at the time — ruled a hit by the umps and maintained a hit after the Red Sox challenged — which sent them and all Red Sox fans into an uproar. Innings later they were saying it was an out and all 5 runs in the 5th wouldn’t have happened, and the game would have been different. Replays showed the umps might have been right.

“He had GREAT stuff today — probably his best outing of the year — and it came at a great time,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Warren. “We were short (in the bullpen) today (after the doubleheader yesterday). You go into days like this sometimes and first thing is you want to get through it. And you’re like I’m not sure how we’re going to get to the finish line. And it starts with Will Warren giving us quality innings — and to get us into the 8th inning and for us to get a big like that was a great day.”

NY takes 3 of 4 in the 4-game set and wins the season series against Boston — meaning they get home advantage if the two teams finish with the same record and meet in the playoffs. NY improves to 78-59, still 4.5 behind Tampa but now 4 games ahead of the 74-63 Red Sox.

1. The “Catch” or “Non Catch” and the 5-Run 5th

It was a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the 5th with a pitchers’ duel going between Ranger Suarez and Will Warren — when Jose Caballero reached on an infield hit to shortstop.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. then hit a liner to shallow center that Ceddanne Rafaela charged and seemingly made a spectacular diving catch on, as he somersaulted the ball appeared to still be in his glove — but may have touched the ground while he was somersaulting.

The ump on the field called it a hit and the Yanks had runners on 1st and 2nd. The Red Sox challenged. The Red Sox lost the challenge and they went into an uproar as did all of Red Sox Twitter.

Red Sox Twitter — led by Stool Presidente David Portnoy and Jared Carabis were in an UPROAR.

Yankee Twitter — led by Keith McPherson — were saying “not so fast”.

An even closer look:

Instead of an out — and possibly a double play (although Caballero probably would have made it back to 1st but stayed on 2nd after the ump fair-ball call) — the Yanks had runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Ali Sanchez bunted the runners over, and Paul Goldschmidt singled to center for 2 runs and a 2-0 Yankee lead.

Next batter Cody Bellinger singled to center, and then Heliot Ramos hit his first HR as a Yankee — a 416-foot bomb to left for a 5-0 Yankee lead.

How the Red Sox announcers called it:

2. Warren Spectacular

Had “the catch” or “the not catch” been a catch — it probably would not have made a difference because Will Warren was DEALING. He threw a 2-hit shutout into the 8th inning.

Warren actually allowed a ground-rule double to Roman Anthony leading off the game — then walked Wilyer Abreu after Ceddanne Rafaela lined out to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out — but struck out the next 2 batters to end the inning.

He then started to motor, retiring 13 batters in a row for a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The Red Sox got their next baserunner with 2 outs in the 5th — an infield single by Trevor Story — before Warren struck out Nick Sogard.

Warren worked around 2 singles in the 6th, getting a big double play to end the inning and keeping the score 5-0. He was FIRED UP as he left the mound.

He then pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 7th.

Warren went out for the 8th, leading 7-0, and allowed a leadoff double to Trevor Story and single to Nick Sogard for a run and was relieved by Tim Hill — who got a doubleplay and a groundout to end the inning.

3. Yanks Tack on Run in 6th

Meanwhile the Yankees tacked on a run in the 6th: a 1-out single by Jose Caballero off Ranger Suarez, a single by Jazz Chisholm Jr. off new pitcher Greg Weissert, and sac fly by pinch hitter Austin Wells to make it 6-0 NY.

4. Yanks Tack on Run in 7th

The Yankees tacked on another run in the 7th: a 1-out walk by Heliot Ramos against 6’1 lefty Jovani Moran, a single by Jose Garcia Jr. sending pinch-runner Spencer Jones to 3rd, and an RBI single up the middle by Amed Rosario made it 7-0 NY.

5. Yanks Lay Down 9 Runs in 8th

Jovani Moran stayed in for the bottom of the 8th — and the Yankees raked him.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off with a walk, then went to 2nd on a wild pitch, and stole 3rd. On the Red Sox radio broadcast the announcers were still talking about “the catch” or “non catch” and felt Chisholm should not have been trying to steal a base in a 7-1 game.

One of them said “wouldn’t you like to see Moran DRILL Wells right here?”

And just after he said it, Austin Wells — pinch hitting for Ali Sanchez — hit a 343-foot HR to right for a 9-1 Yankee lead.

Next batter Paul Goldschmidt ripped a 355-foot HR to right for a 10-1 Yankee lead.

Next batter Cody Bellinger flied out but Spencer Jones singled to center and the Red Sox waived the white flag and brought in shortstop Andruw Monasterio to pitch.

There is no waiving of white flag in baseball in terms of batters trying to get a hit for the sake of their batting average — so the Yanks kept hitting away as Monasterio threw 45-to-50-MPH lobs at the plate as if it was a homerun contest.

Monasterio walked Jose Garcia Jr. and Amed Rosario, and Trent Grisham hit a sac fly for an 11-1 Yankee lead.

Jose Caballero hit a 3-run HR to left for a 14-1 Yankee lead.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked, and Austin Wells hit a 358-foot HR to right for a 16-1 lead. It was his 2nd HR of the inning. He is now slashing 10-26-.184 (.277 OBP) in 282 at bats. Wells is batting .258 with a .324 OBP and .779 OPS in August.

Finally Cody Bellinger popped 0ut for the final out.

6. Hill Wraps Up

Tim Hill relieved Will Warren in the 8th with a runner on and got a double play and groundout to end the inning, then pitched a shutout 9th — allowing a leadoff single but getting another double play and a groundout for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401816732

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