Hunter Dobbins shines after scrutiny as sloppy Yankees struggle with teller of tall tales

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Jun 14, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — First Hunter Dobbins spun some yarn about the Yankees. Then he spun a gem against them.

The Red Sox rookie enjoyed one of the best starts of his young career on Saturday night, tossing six scoreless innings in a 4-3 win over the Bombers. The right-hander allowed only two hits his ninth start, and he walked just one while striking out five over 82 pitches.

The performance followed a week of scrutiny for Dobbins, as the 25-year-old vocally inserted himself into baseball’s oldest rivalry when he told the Boston Herald that he’d retire if the Yankees were the only team to offer him a contract. Dobbins cited his father, Lance, being a diehard Red Sox fan when explaining his disdain for the pinstripes.

Dobbins also told the Herald that his dad was drafted by the Yankees twice and that the father was close friends with Bronx legend Andy Pettitte. However, the New York Post reported that those claims were untrue, as Pettitte and Brian Cashman, among others, had no recollection of a Lance Dobbins.

Asked about that report, the younger Dobbins said that he heard those stories growing up and that he had no reason to fact-check his dad.

While Dobbins dominated the team he’ll never pitch for in his second start against the Yankees — he held them to three runs over five innings on June 8 — New York started to rally in the seventh when Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells knocked RBI singles off Luis Guerrero and Justin Wilson, respectively.

However, Domínguez killed the momentum when he lost track of the count during Trent Grisham’s ensuing at-bat.

Domínguez, apparently thinking Grisham had just been rung up on strikes when the count was really 2-2, strayed too far from second base. Carlos Narváez then threw down to second before the confused Domínguez was thrown out at third for the final out of the inning.

Realizing his mistake too late, Domínguez hung his head at third as the Red Sox ran off the field.

That wasn’t the only time sloppiness hurt the Yankees on Friday, as the Sox scored their first run on an Anthony Volpe throwing error in the opening inning. Volpe tried a Derek Jeter-style jump throw in the hole at shortstop, but he bounced the ball past Paul Goldschmidt at first.

The Sox scored their second run in the fourth inning on a hustle RBI double from Trevor Story. While the shortstop didn’t come around to score himself, he seemed to catch Grisham and Volpe by surprise as he motored into second base.

Boston crossed the plate again in the fifth, a frame that began with Carlos Rodón hitting Kristian Campbell. The rookie ended up scoring on a Romy Gonzalez double.

Rodón, hit hard all night, totaled five innings, seven hits, four runs (three earned), two walks and four strikeouts over 92 pitches. He now has a 3.01 ERA this season.

The Red Sox got their last run on a Marcelo Mayer sac fly in the sixth. That came with Yerry De los Santos on the mound.

The Yankees managed to cut the deficit to one in the ninth with a Paul Goldschmidt double and a Volpe groundout, but they fell short against Greg Weissert after Wells flew out to end the game, stranding Domínguez at second following a two-out double.

The first-place Yankees, who only scored one run in Friday’s series-opening loss, have now dropped their last four games against the fourth-place Red Sox. They will try to snap that streak on Sunday with their stopper, Max Fried, on the hill.

The lefty has a 1.84 ERA this season.

Brayan Bello will take the ball for the Red Sox as they try for a sweep on Father’s Day. He has a 3.96 ERA this year.