Yankees 4, Red Sox 2
NEW YORK, August 16 — Well, if there was ever a time for the Boston Red Sox to snap out of their six-game losing streak, and eight-game skid against the New York Yankees, Sunday was the perfect night to make something happen. With Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and DJ LeMahieu all missing from the lineup, paired with J.A. Happ’s 10.29 ERA heading into the night, there looked like there may be a glimmer hope of for the second-worst team in baseball — there wasn’t.
The Yankees “B lineup” can still run circles around this year’s “A lineup” for the Red Sox. While Mike Ford was the difference-maker in the game, the bigger story comes from the other dugout. The starting pitching for the Red Sox has been tough to watch, but the lack of offensive production to this point has been crippling, and that’s probably an understatement.
Ford’s 3 RBI Night Too Steep for Sox
The Yankees played small ball early on to score in each of the first two innings. They strung together some hits leading to Mike Ford, and Aaron Hicks driving in the first two runs of the night.
Things got a bit louder once the teams got into the third frame. Kevin Pillar homered to left in the top half of the inning to cut the Yankee lead in half. That didn’t last long, however. In the home half of the third, Gleyber Torres reached with one out. Ford dug in next took Chris Mazza deep to right-center field. The Mike Ford swing drew comparisons to the great Babe Ruth later in the ESPN broadcast. Ford’s second and third RBI of the night was enough to bury the Red Sox by the third inning.
Red Sox Relief Gives Team a Chance
While Mazza’s line wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world, his first career start could’ve gone much worse. The 30-year old lasted three innings, giving up eight hits and four runs. Again, not great, but by no means did he let the game get out of hand by the third inning.
From that point on the combination of Ryan Weber, Ryan Brasier, and Marcus Walden pitched five innings of scoreless baseball. There’s no way to get around the fact that these guys gave their side a chance on Sunday night and the offense squandered a golden opportunity.
Stars Look Helpless at the Plate
At least when the Red Sox were losing a week ago they could say Xander Bogaerts was playing well. Christian Vazquez had been consistent. It looked like J.D. Martinez might have started to figure it out. Rafael Devers hit a couple of homers. Maybe the team could flip a switch. Nope. Sunday against the Yankees those four players combined to go 2-for-14 with four strikeouts. On the season those four are batting a combined .226.
“It’s 2020, Get Over It”
The Red Sox held a team meeting in the outdoor area of their hotel following their seventh straight loss. Pillar highlighted how strange this season has been for the Red Sox specifically partly because they don’t have a conventional clubhouse. The team is using the luxury suites at Fenway Park as locker rooms for the players to be able to remain distanced. Pillar explained that it’s difficult to build relationships as a team like this, but they really just need to get over it and play baseball.
“It’s been a challenge. We just need to find ways to stay together and find ways to make this fun. It’s definitely unique, it’s hard, and it’s even worse when you’re not playing really well,” noted Pillar. “The message we were trying to get across was to make this as normal as possible, stop feeling bad for ourselves because we have to wear a mask. These are things that have to be done. It’s 2020, get over it. Let’s go out and play and try to have fun with it.”
Kevin Pillar talks Red Sox team meeting … pic.twitter.com/WOsFDqtdAp
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) August 17, 2020
Series Finale at Yankee Stadium 7:05 ET
Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 5.17) will get the ball for the Yankees looking to complete a sweep of the Boston Red Sox. Montgomery was solid in his last time out against the Atlanta Braves earning his second win of the season. Martin Perez (2-2, 3.38) will rival Montgomery for the Red Sox. Perez has been the team’s best starter to this point and will try and quiet the Yankee bats before leaving the Bronx.
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