Red Sox 2, Yankees 3: A minor loss

The Pawtucket Red Sox fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3-2 in a game that probably never should have seen the light of day outside of March.

The Red Sox would be the first on the board in this low-powered matchup. Allen Craig provided a leadoff hit in the second, then came around to score as Bryce Brentz picked up his third hit in three at-bats, shooting an RBI single into left field to make it 1-0, Red Sox.

Knuckleballer Steven Wright was not able to hold that lead for very long, however. Or, rather, the Red Sox weren't up to the task of helping him keep it. While Wright had earned his trouble in the first couple innings, allowing a hit and two walks, a rough third inning was mostly the fault of those around him. Wright should have had the first two outs of the inning by way of the K, getting Jose Pirela to swing through a mid-80s fastball and Eury Perez to take a knuckleball for strike three.

But, as can happen with knuckleballs, Dan Butler was unable to corral that third strike, allowing Perez to reach base on the passed ball. That led into a pair of singles to score the one run, and a ground ball to second which, when thrown away by Mookie Betts attempting to turn a double play, was good for the second, leaving New York ahead by a run.

The Red Sox would go quiet at the plate for the next few innings, with a Rusney Castillo single the only baserunner they had to show for the third-through-sixth innings. The Yankees, on the other hand, managed to put up a third run in the sixth after a leadoff double from J.R. Murphy set the stage for an RBI sacrifice fly from Zelous Wheeler to make it 3-1.

The best bright spot of the night for the Red Sox would come in the bottom of the seventh with two down. Chris Capuano's night had just come to an end having retired eight straight batters after Castillo's single. That left Castillo coming back to the plate against reliever Shawn Kelley, whose first pitch of the night was a slider that came back across the plate, waist high. Castillo did not miss his opportunity, crushing his second homer in as many nights, this one heading out over the Monster and into the Boston night.

That, however, was that for the Red Sox. They went quietly in the eighth, and managed just the lone baserunner in the ninth.as David Robertson nailed down the save for the Yankees, leaving the Red Sox with a loss in the first game of their final series in 2014.