Red Sox 1, Yankees 11: David Price implodes in New York

This was ugly in every way, and it has caused everyone to lose their minds. I get it, though. I really do. David Price was awful, and there is a legitimate pattern building with him both against the Yankees and in big spots in general. It’s getting harder and harder to ignore with each outing. Whatever you think about him in big games, this game specifically was clearly a disaster and he couldn’t make it out of the fourth. The offense didn’t fare much better, getting shutout by Luis Severino and the Yankees bullpen. It was a bad, awful, very no-good game. Ultimately, though, they leave New York tied in the division, so it could be worse.

There’s no sugar-coating it. David Price was awful in this game. Some of the pitches that ended up leaving the yard didn’t have terrible location, but the separation of velocity between pitches wasn’t there at all in this outing and he didn’t have the same kind of movement/command combination we’d been seeing from his recently. It was a hugely disappointing start for a guy who really could have used a big outing against the Yankees.

Honestly, there’s no a whole lot to say about the individual events in his outing, and they kind of all blend together. After getting the first out, he threw a fastball up and in to Aaron Judge, and the Yankees slugger smashed it over the wall in straightaway center field to make it 1-0. It was disheartening, but Judge does that from time to time. One solo homer was not a killer. What happened after was. Giancarlo Stanton ripped a base hit in the next at bat and Didi Gregorius smoked a double over Mookie Betts’ head to put two in scoring position with just one out. That brought Gleyber Torres to the plate, and the young star took a low fastball and put it over the wall in right field. Just like that, the Yankees had a 4-0 lead with only one out on the board. Price would get out of the inning after that, but the damage was done.

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Clearly, that was not the first inning the Red Sox were looking for, and going up against Luis Severino it seemed entirely possible at the time that the lead was already insurmountable. Still, if Price could come back strong after that awful first inning he could give his team a chance to win and, perhaps more importantly, gain a little confidence against the Yankees. That...didn’t happen. Instead, he’d come out in the second and give up another home run. This time it was a two-run shot from Aaron Hicks, and New York was up 6-0. That felt like the back-breaker.

Even worse, it wasn’t the end of the damage against Price. After he tossed a scoreless third, mercifully, the Yankees got back to work in the fourth. There, he gave up a solo home run to Kyle Higashioka — his first career hit — and and another solo shot to Hicks. Just like that, it was an 8-0 lead and Price’s night went from bad to embarrassing. Hicks’ second homer marked the end of the night for the lefty, and he’s going to hear it from all corners of the fanbase and media after this one. At this point, it’s hard to defend him given these struggles against the Yankees.

Price is, deservingly, going to be the story of this game, but the Red Sox offense didn’t do much better. Severino has already established himself as an elite pitcher in this league, and he looked every bit the part on Sunday night in the Bronx. He was featuring his incredible fastball/slider/changeup combination and the Red Sox hitters had nothing against it.

Really, they didn’t have many chances to do damage and before they could even turn the lineup over the game was essentially in the books. They managed just one baserunner through the first two innings, and it felt as if their only sign of life came in the third. In that inning, Betts drew a walk and Andrew Benintendi hit a single — the team’s first hit of the game — to put two on for J.D. Martinez. At that point, it was a 6-0 game and a home run would have cut the lead in half. Still an uphill battle, but not an unwinnable one. Well, it didn’t work out as Martinez struck out to end the inning, the rally and essentially the game.

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

In all Severino made it through 6 ²⁄₃ dominant innings in which he didn’t allow a run and only gave up two singles and three walks. David Robertson came one after him, and recorded three outs before handing off to Dellin Betances to finish the eighth. He’d get one out in the ninth before Aroldis Chapman came in. The Red Sox did get one run off him thanks to a Sandy León double, a Blake Swihart single and a Rafael Devers ground out, but that was it.

For the Red Sox, Justin Haley came in after Price exited and ate up 2 ²⁄₃ innings. He wasn’t great, but he didn’t have to be as his job was simply to get through as much of the game as possible. He did allow only one run in that time, too, so it wasn’t a disaster. Brandon Workman came on for a scoreless seventh, and Hector Velazquez gave Hicks his third homer of the night in a two-run ninth.

The Red Sox will look to put this one behind them as they head to Washington D.C. on Monday. They’ll have another very tough test going up against Max Scherzer, and they’ll counter with Rick Porcello. First pitch is at 7:00 PM ET.

BOX