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5 takeaways as Red Sox drop disastrous doubleheader to Yankees
The Yankees now lead the Red Sox by a percentage point in the standings.
The Red Sox woke up Tuesday two games ahead of the Yankees in the American League East standings, and they will go to bed trailing their division opponents by a percentage point after falling 5-3 and 2-0 in back-to-back outings.
Here are the takeaways.
The Big Picture (Game 1)
After a scoreless frame in the opener, the Yankees struck first in the bottom of the second with a two-run single by Andrew Velazquez. The Red Sox evened the score in the third when Xander Bogaerts drove in two with a single and took the lead in the fourth on Christian Vazquez’s solo homer.
In the fifth, however, the Yankees re-took the lead with a two-run single by Luke Voit, then tacked on another insurance run. They didn’t need the insurance — the Red Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh but Travis Shaw lined out, which preceded strikeouts by Kiké Hernández and Hunter Renfroe.
The Big Picture (Game 2)
After going 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the opener, the Red Sox were 0-for-8 in the evening. The Yankees scored on solo homers by Luke Voit and Giancarlo Stanton in the second and fourth innings respectively, and their pitchers scattered five hits across seven innings.
Star of Game 1
Luke Voit — 1-for-2, one run, two RBIs, walk
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Voit drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a bloop single — part of the rally that ultimately doomed the Red Sox.
Star of Game 2
Luis Gil — 4.2 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs
The 23-year-old walked four batters and left the bases loaded in the fifth, but the Red Sox got very little going in the first four innings. In a shortened game, a pristine 4.2-frame high-stakes outing for a young pitcher is plenty to earn a nod.
What It Means
It’s probably time to start really sweating the Red Sox. When they scuffled and fell out of first place in the American League East, the Yankees were still a few games back and while a wild-card slot wasn’t guaranteed, it felt like a decent bet.
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But now both the Yankees and Red Sox are trending in very different directions, and the two teams have just one three-game series remaining. Wednesday’s series finale looms large both in the standings and as an opportunity to grab a little momentum back.
Takeaways
1. After the opener, Cora was open about the struggles of the bullpen. After Houck left the game, Josh Taylor and Garrett Whitlock — two of the Red Sox’s steadier relievers — gave up three walks, two hits, and three runs in a combined 0.1 innings of work.
“It hasn’t been great,” Cora said. “We still have good stuff. We’ve got to make sure we get ahead of guys and put them away. I think that’s very important for us.
“There were some good things that happened afterwards. [Hansel] Robles and [Austin Davis] did a good job, but as a unit, we’ve got to be a little bit more better. We’ve got to attack guys and put them away.”
Cora added that he isn’t particularly concerned about Whitlock after a pair of tough outings in his last three appearances.
2. In the second game, Cora appeared agitated in the dugout as Gil pitched with runners on second and third in the fifth inning. Cora repeatedly went to the dugout phones not to call for reinforcements on the bullpen phone but to check on something via replay. Eventually, Cora called for time and spoke to the home-plate umpire.
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After the game, Cora said he wanted clarification about Gil working from the stretch.
“Declaring where you are going, if you’re going from the wind up or the stretch with men at third,” Cora said. “I was just trying to get them to clarify the rule. He went from the stretch in the first pitch, and then he declared from the wind-up, and I wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
3. The Red Sox were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in the second game after going 2-for-6 in the opener.
Maybe the toughest moment for the Red Sox: With the bases loaded and two out in the fifth inning, Rafael Devers grounded into a fielder’s choice that ended the frame.
“Obviously he’s probably a little frustrated that he wants to contribute and probably he hasn’t done it the way he wants to, but I’ll take my chances with Raffy Devers with the bases loaded all the time,” Cora said.
Devers expressed some frustration with the balls and strikes.
“There was a ball that was pretty borderline, but that’s the game, that’s how things go at times,” he said. “But I still go out there and try to be aggressive and try to come through. At that moment, I wasn’t able to. … I’ll just turn the page and when my name is called and I have that opportunity next time, I’ll be able to come through.
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4. In that same inning, Jarren Duran had an opportunity to try to tag and score from third on a fly ball to Joey Gallo in left field. His decision to stay at third left the NESN broadcast second-guessing, but Cora had no issue with it.
“He’s one of the best defensive outfielders in the big leagues,” Cora said. “We had second and third after that. He has a canon. We had the scouting report to be very careful with him that situation. We prepare for situations like that. I was actually 100 percent with [Red Sox third-base coach] Carlos [Febles] and Jarren on that one.”
5. Cora was asked if Tuesday’s results were deflating.
“It’s not deflating,” he said. “I mean, it’s two games. We lost, whatever. You played good baseball, they pitched well, we pitched well. … Obviously there’s no moral victories. You come here and try to win games, and it didn’t happen.
“We’re not happy we lost two games, but the deflating part of it, the frustrating part of it, if people feel that way in the clubhouse they need to turn the page and be ready to play tomorrow.”
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