Red Sox 5, Yankees 11: I’m running out of headlines

I mean, what is there to say? The Red Sox fell behind early, had one nice inning on offense that gave them a lead, had their starting pitcher give up the lead in a big inning, and then the bullpen put it out of reach in the blink of an eye before the offense scored a few runs after it was over. This is how it goes every day now as the Red Sox have lost six in a row, having allowed over ten runs per game in that stretch. A more detailed account is below, but I really have nothing else to say here.

The Red Sox came into Saturday’s game having lost each of their last five games, with the majority of those losses being of the blowout variety. They were a team in desperate need of some early momentum, and going up against a guy in James Paxton who hasn’t quite been himself this year provided that opportunity. Sure enough, they got themselves a chance right away in the first when Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez smacked a pair of one-out singles. That put two on for the four and five hitters, but neither Xander Bogaerts nor Christian Vázquez were able to come through.

That left it as a scoreless game for Nathan Eovaldi, who was facing a Yankees lineup that is missing some of its top talent but also still home to plenty of thump. Luke Voit got the rally started for New York in that first inning with a two-strike base hit up the middle to put a man on with one out. A couple batters later, Gio Urshela stepped to the plate and continued to terrorize Red Sox pitching. The third baseman got a fastball that Eovaldi tried to put over the outside corner but caught too much of the plate, and Urshela put it out over the wall in right field for a two-run, opposite field shot to make it 2-0 Yankees.

The score remained the same entering the top of the third, and the Red Sox would get going against Paxton here. José Peraza started things off with a nice at bat that resulted in a leadoff walk, and a couple batters later Devers poked a double into left field to put a pair in scoring position with one out. This time, the offense came through with the chance as Martinez roped a base hit through the left side, bringing both runners home. Martinez got a little over ambitious, though, and was tossed out at second base trying to stretch things into a double. That turned out to be a pretty big mistake, as Bogaerts came up next with a great at bat. After falling behind 0-2, he worked his way back to a full count then took a 3-2 pitch and hit it high into the air and just barely up and over the wall for a solo shot. While it could have been for two runs, it did at least give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.

Even better, Eovaldi was able to come back and protect the lead with a perfect shutdown inning in the bottom of the third. The bad news is he couldn’t keep that up in the fourth. With his team still up one, Eovaldi gave up a one-out single to Gleyber Torres. A couple batter later, Gary Sánchez got ahold of one and crushed a two-run shot out to left field, giving the Yankees their lead right back. Eovaldi would also give up a double and a walk in the inning, but no more runs.

After both sides went down in order in the fifth and the Red Sox managed just a single in the sixth, Eovaldi found himself in more trouble in the bottom of the sixth as he gave up a leadoff single to Torres and a double to Mike Tauchman, placing a pair in scoring position with nobody out. The righty did get a huge strikeout against Sánchez for the first out, but then Clint Frazier came through with a three-run shot out to right field, and just like that it was a 7-3 game. Eovaldi would give up a double before finally being taken out, and Heath Hembree came on to allow one more run and make it an 8-3 ballgame.

Matt Barnes came on for the eighth and continued what has been a brutal year for him, losing control and allowing three runs to make it 11-3. The good news is Phillips Valdez tossed a perfect inning, so that’s neat. They also got another home run from Alex Verdugo in the ninth to close the gap to seven, and they’d get another one on a Kevin Pillar triple. Again, neat. But that was that, and it was an 11-5 final.

The Red Sox continue this series on Sunday, for some reason getting to play on ESPN. They have Chris Mazza coming up to make this start with J.A. Happ going for New York. First pitch is at 7:00 PM ET.

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