BOSTON — The Red Sox’s game against the New York Yankees on Wednesday was ugly no matter which way you sliced it.
The one semi-bright spot in the 9-4 loss was Drew Pomeranz, who gave Boston everything it needed to win this one before the bullpen spoiled his chances for his first W in a Red Sox uniform. The offense didn’t do him any favors, either, as the team left 11 runners on base.
Here’s how the madness unfolded.
GAME IN A WORD
Sloppy.
This was bad baseball all around for the Red Sox and Yankees. It started when New York starter Nathan Eovaldi couldn’t make it past the first inning due to elbow discomfort, and the Red Sox added to the rough display by earning most of their runs on forceouts, stranding baserunners left and right and having a bullpen implosion in the top of the seventh.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
The Red Sox couldn’t come back in the ninth inning.
For a while, it felt as though Wednesday’s game might never end, but it actually did — after four hours and 15Â minutes — when the Red Sox went down in the ninth.
ON THE BUMP
— It wasn’t the best start for Pomeranz, but most importantly, he pitched himself out of jams and minimized the damage. The lefty threw 24 pitches in the first inning before coasting through the second, third and fourth. Pomeranz gave up a leadoff home run to Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius in the fifth and followed that with two straight singles before striking out designated hitter Gary Sanchez and inducing a double play.
Pomeranz finished the night with one run on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk over 5 1/3 innings.
— Clay Buchholz relieved Pomeranz in the sixth inning and induced a double play to end it.
— Matt Barnes came on in the seventh and gave up three singles, the third of which brought in a run. The right-hander got Alex Rodriguez to fly out — much to the delight of the Fenway crowd — before being replaced by Fernando Abad.
Abad struck out Brett Gardner on three pitches but gave up two singles to tie up the ballgame. That was enough for manager John Farrell to turn to Junichi Tazawa.
Tazawa gave up a walk and a double to make it 6-4 Yankees before ending the inning.
— Tazawa started the eighth by giving up a solo home run to Sanchez and walked Austin Romine before getting yanked for Robbie Ross Jr. Ross didn’t fare much better, though, giving up two runs on wild pitches.
— Brad Ziegler did his job, at least, pitching a clean ninth inning despite giving up a single.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— It wasn’t a terrible offensive night for the Red Sox if you only looked at the stat lines, but they were in the business of stranding baserunners. Collectively, Boston was 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.
— Sandy Leon (of course) had a good night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
— Mookie Betts (2-for-4 with a double and an RBI) and Andrew Benintendi (1-for-4 with an RBI and a run) put Boston’s first two runs on the board, which both came on fielder’s choices in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
Holt replaced Betts in the top of the eighth inning after Betts felt some right calf tightness. The utility man flied out in the bottom half of the inning.
— Dustin Pedroia went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI out of the leadoff spot, and Xander Bogaerts followed him at 0-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
— David Ortiz (0-for-2), Hanley Ramirez (0-for-5) and Travis Shaw (0-for-1) all went hitless, but Shaw walked once and Ortiz walked three times, twice intentionally.
Aaron Hill pinch-hit for Shaw in the bottom of the fifth and went 0-for-2.
Ortiz fouled a ball off his shin/foot area in the ninth inning and couldn’t finish his at-bat. Bryce Brentz came in and struck out.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. went 2-for-5 with a run.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
The Fenway faithful were ready when A-Rod came in to pinch-hit in the seventh.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox finish out their series against the Yankees on Thursday, and lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will start in place of Steven Wright, who has inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Michael Pineda will be on the mound for New York in the 7:10 p.m. ET game.
Thumbnail photo via Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports Images
