Second inning struggles cost Red Sox in 4-0 loss to Yankees

The Red Sox and Yankees played eight close innings of baseball Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately the other inning was a bit of a bowout, leaving Boston the 4-0 losers.

The primary author of that inning was Felix Doubront, and really it came out of nowhere. The first frame could not have gone better for Boston's young lefty, who picked up two strikeouts on eight pitches, retiring the side in order. Juan Rivera was able to smack a flare back up the middle to lead off the second, however, and Drew Sutton came up woefully short on what should have been a pretty easy ground ball out from Ben Francisco.That defensive failure cost Doubront a double, and from there the rout was on.

While it's true that the defense didn't exactly help Doubront in that second inning--even Jose Iglesias failed to secure a throw from Jackie Bradley Jr. in center which would have forced out a runner at second--Doubront didn't help himself after those first couple of at bats. He struggled to find the inside part of the plate, and as the inning went on completely lost control, at one point spiking a pitch into the dirt to allow a run in from third. By the time it ended, the Sox trailed 4-0.

While Doubront's next couple of innings would go better, the Red Sox weren't exactly rallying behind him. A one-out double from Jackie Bradley Jr. in the first was the most noise Boston would make in those first innings, with Bradley's next bid--a line drive into left with two men on base--staying up just long enough to end the top-half of the fourth without a run on the board for the Sox.

And, really, that was it for both teams. Daniel Nava had a single in the sixth, and Jackie Bradley picked up his customary second hit in the ninth. Andrew Miller had to work around a walk in the eighth, but other than that both bullpens were pretty much spotless, leaving New York's four-run second inning the difference maker at the end of the day.