Red Sox Wrap: Boston Offense Silent, Drops Series Opener Vs. Yankees 4-1

The Boston Red Sox did not start their weekend off the way they wanted to.

Rafael Devers crushed his eighth home run of the season to give the Red Sox an early lead on New York, but that’s all the bats would muster as Boston dropped its series-opener 4-1 to the Yankees on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

Chris Sale struck out 10, but the four earned runs he surrendered were enough for the Yankees to get the win. J.A. Happ lasted five innings for New York and gave up just the one earned run and struck out five.

The Red Sox also lost Steve Pearce early on in the game after he left before the third inning with what the team called back spasms.

The Yankees scored three in the third, highlighted by a two-run double by DJ LeMahieu. He later hit a solo shot to account for three of New York’s four runs.

Boston how has dropped three in a row.

The Red Sox slipped to 29-28 with the loss, while the Yankees climbed to 37-19.

Here’s how it all went down:

GAME IN A WORD
Silent.

The Red Sox’s offense only could push across one run on the night.

ON THE BUMP
— Sale started strong, retiring the first three Yankee batters he faced by way of the strikeout. He had another 1-2-3 second before running into some trouble in the third.

Sale gave up a leadoff single to Gio Urshela before striking out Cameron Maybin. A Brett Gardner single paved the way for LeMahieu to double to deep center to bring in Ursehla to tie the game at 1-1. New York extended its lead when Aaron Hicks drove in both runners for the 3-1 edge.

The southpaw finally got out of the inning with his sixth strikeout of the game.

LeMahieu drove in his second run of the game in the fifth with a solo shot to right-center to make it 4-1.

— Ryan Brasier got the ball for the seventh and gave up a walk in an otherwise scoreless inning.

— Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless eighth.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Devers put Boston on the board first with his eighth home run of the season, crushing a 3-2 four-seam fastball for the 1-0 lead.

— Boston had a chance to cut into the Yankees’ lead with Eduardo Nunez on second with one out in the fifth, but Sandy Leon struck out before Nunez was caught between second and third and thrown out trying to get back to the bag.

— Jackie Bradley Jr. was the only member of the starting nine to have multiple hits. He finished the night with two.

— Devers, Nunez and Xander Bogaerts each had one hit apiece.

TWEET OF THE GAME
*Insert fire emoji*

UP NEXT
The Red Sox continue their series with the Yankees on Saturday night. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 7:15 p.m. ET.