BOSTON — The Red Sox had a chance to win their series against the New York Yankees on Wednesday, but they didn’t even come close.
The Yankees lit up Red Sox starter Henry Owens for six runs in the second inning, forcing him to make an early exit. New York was beating Boston 8-1 by the third inning, and things certainly weren’t looking good for the Sox.
The Red Sox were able to put some runs on the board, but it wasn’t nearly enough to get the win.
Let’s take a look at how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Bad.
Sometimes you don’t need a fancy word to tell it like it is. Owens had a solid first inning for Boston, but that was pretty much it. With one out in the second, the lefty proceeded to give up six runs on six hits — including back-to-back home runs — and exited before the third out. Reliever Ryan Cook immediately gave up a first-pitch home run after that, and the Red Sox were left trying to dig themselves out of an 8-1 hole.
The Red Sox also scored eight runs on 13 hits, so the game wasn’t too much better for the Yankees.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Henry Owens imploded early.
It’s never good when a team has to dip into its bullpen in the second inning, and it’s even worse when that team has a weak bullpen. Owens put the Red Sox in a jam that they simply weren’t likely to get out of.
ON THE BUMP
— Owens’ outing started off promising, as he enjoyed a 1-2-3 first inning and struck out Carlos Beltran to start off the second. But it all went downhill from there.
The 23-year-old walked Chase Headley and gave up back-to-back jacks to Greg Bird and John Ryan Murphy. Owens then loaded the bases on a single, a double and a walk, and two more singles scored three Yankees runs and ended his night early.
— Ryan Cook entered for Owens, and his outing didn’t go much better. Cook gave up a two-run home run to Beltran on the first pitch he threw before ending the inning with a groundout. In the third, Cook walked two batters and gave up a one-out home run to Stephen Drew to make the score 11-1.
— Heath Hembree enjoyed a 1-2-3 fourth inning, but he gave up a two-out solo shot to Didi Gregorius in the fifth.
— Craig Breslow was on the mound in the sixth and added a 1-2-3 inning of his own. He gave up two singles to start the seventh, but was able to get himself out of the jam with three straight outs.
The lefty was pulled with two outs in the eighth after giving up a run.
— Alexi Ogando finished off the eighth for Breslow with a groundout and came back in to pitch a clean ninth inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Xander Bogaerts did most of the heavy lifting for Boston in this contest. The shortstop went 3-for-5 with a home run, a run scored and two RBIs.
Bogaerts has had a consistent presence on the basepaths for the Red Sox, with a hit in 13 of his last 14 games.
— David Ortiz scored Mookie Betts on a ground-rule double in the first inning, but he couldn’t get anything going after that. The designated hitter went 1-for-3 with a strikeout and was pulled in the seventh inning for Sandy Leon.
— Betts also exited the game and was replaced by Allen Craig in the top of the sixth. The outfielder went 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. added a hit, too. JBJ went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
— Pablo Sandoval and Brock Holt both went hitless, going 0-for-4 and 0-for-5, respectively.
TWEET OF THE GAME
AÂ lot of Red Sox fans probably were thinking this by the third inning.
[tweet https://twitter.com/SurvivingGrady/status/639192114123960320 align=’center’]
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will get a much needed day of rest Thursday before starting a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway on Friday. Joe Kelly will face Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan in a 7:10 p.m. game.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
