The Boston Red Sox had a chance to make a statement Tuesday night.
They did just that, but not in a good way.
With struggles mounting all season, the Red Sox kicked off their quick two-game series with the New York Yankees by getting pounded 8-0 at Yankee Stadium.
Chris Sale, though he showed a bit more promise, was tagged for four runs. His stuff wasn’t awful, but every mistake he made was punished. Meanwhile, the equally disturbing trend of offensive ineptitude continued, as they managed just three hits and no runs all game. That allowed Yankees starter James Paxton to go eight innings with 12 strikeouts, one walk and two hits, needing 110 pitches.
The Red Sox fall to 6-12 with the loss, while the Yankees climb to 7-9 with the win.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Brutal.
This is becoming a trend, isn’t it?
ON THE BUMP
— Sale got off to a decent start, but flamed out a bit in the back end of his outing. Over five innings, the left-hander allowed four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk, also giving up a homer.
The ace, who saw his velocity top out at 98, began the game by tossing 1-2-3 innings in the first and second.
In the third, the Yankees got a pair.
Brett Gardner led off the inning with a double, then came home on a DJ LeMahieu two-out single, putting the Yankees up 1-0. Sale walked Aaron Judge and allowed a one-run single to Luke Voit before getting out of the inning.
The Yankees doubled their lead in the fourth, beginning with a Clint Frazier solo shot to begin the stanza.
Sale got the next two hitters out, but Austin Romine kept the inning alive with a single. That allowed Mike Tauchman to rope a double down the right-field line to plate Romine from first, upping New York’s advantage to 4-0.
The lefty pitched a scoreless fifth inning to end his night, allowing one hit in the frame.
— Erasmo Ramirez took over in the sixth, and his Major League debut didn’t go too well.
The right-hander allowed a leadoff double to Gio Urshela before walking Gardner. Romine moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Tauchman brought everyone home with a three-run blast to make it 7-0.
Judge hit a two-out single to the wall before Ramirez got out of the inning.
Ramirez was rolled back out for the seventh, and the Yankees went yard on him again. This time it was Gleyber Torres ripping a solo homer to right-center field to make it a miserable 8-0 deficit for Boston.
With a victory very much out of reach, Ramirez got the eighth. He retired the side in order, striking out one.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. each doubled, and J.D. Martinez hit an infield single. That was all the hitting the Red Sox would do.
— Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Steve Pearce, Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez, Rafael Devers and Sandy Leon all went hitless.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Yeah, there’s really no way to dress up this team’s performance in 2019.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees will finish up their two-game set Wednesday. Nathan Eovaldi is expected to get the ball for Boston and will be opposed by J.A. Happ. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 6:35 p.m. ET.
