Even after Andrew Velazquez made a diving stop to his right on a Kevin Plawecki grounder and fired over to Anthony Rizzo at first base, where Rizzo made the scoop that appeared to seal a win, the Yankees had to wait.
After a lengthy review, the call stood and ended another tense ninth inning, as the Yankees held on, 5-2, over the Red Sox.
The victory completed a sweep over their rivals, but the Yankees made it clear they have their eyes on bigger things.
“I don’t think anybody’s focused on the Red Sox,’’ starting pitcher Andrew Heaney said. “We’re more focused on the Yankees. We want to win, no matter who we’re facing.”
They’ve matched a season-best six-game winning streak and passed both Boston and Oakland for the top spot in the AL wild-card race.
It’s a far cry from the last time the Yankees finished a series against the Red Sox, when they lost three of four at Fenway Park — including two in brutal fashion and trailed the first-place Sox by nine games.
“I feel like we’re better,” Aaron Boone said. “A different team now.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Heaney, last seen getting pummeled again by the long ball in the cornfields of Iowa, allowed just one run over seven innings and the lineup used a four-run second inning to provide the offense.
And Rizzo, in his return from the COVID injured list, had a two-run single in the second.
Aroldis Chapman, also coming off the IL (left elbow inflammation) made things interesting in the ninth, allowing a run and leaving with runners on the corners with two outs.
Lucas Luetge got Plawecki to ground into the hole, where Velazquez made the final play.
“I was just ready for anything there,’’ Velazquez said.
It was Luetge’s first save since 2012 as Boone said the Yankees were very short in the bullpen.
He’d already gone through Zack Britton and Chapman, so Luetge was up next.
The Yankees have had no shortage of unsung heroes this season, as the roster continues to churn.
It’s something Rizzo has taken note of in his brief time in The Bronx.
“I think it’s just the belief that it doesn’t matter who’s been in there,’’ Rizzo said. “That constant belief. And that’s what you need, from my experience, guys in different roles at any given time to get to the next level. It’s gonna take all 26 of us, every single day here. … Guys from anywhere can come in and help. Every day is a different story.”
Heaney was a key part of the most recent win.
The lefty had allowed eight homers in his first three starts since arriving in a trade with the Angels and his home run woes continued in the top of the first.
After Kiké Hernandez opened the game by driving a ball to the wall in right that Aaron Judge tracked down, Heaney gave up a two-out opposite-field shot by Xander Bogaerts into the second deck in right to put the Yankees in an early 1-0 hole.
But Heaney was superb after the first and gave up just one hit and a pair of walks following the homer in his seven-inning outing, matching a season-high.
The Yankees broke through in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with no one out.
Brett Gardner’s sacrifice fly to center tied the game at 1-1 and a Velazquez single up the middle made it 2-1.
Rizzo, who’d been out since Aug. 8, singled when Bobby Dalbec couldn’t handle his hard grounder to first to score two more.
Velazquez added another RBI single in the eighth to extend the Yankees’ lead to 5-1.
Heaney bounced back from the Bogaerts homer to retire seven straight and didn’t allow another hit until Plawecki led off the fifth with a single.
It was a stark turnaround from Heaney’s first three outings, when he’d given up 15 runs in 15 innings.
“I wanted to give us as many outs and innings as possible,’’ Heaney said. “With this lineup and this team, you’ve just got to give these guys a chance and they’re gonna put up runs.”