Taking three out of four from the American League East-leading New York Yankees is certainly a good weekend, but the Boston Red Sox will be kicking themselves after Sunday’s loss at Fenway Park.
The Bronx Bombers avoided the sweep, beating the Red Sox 9-6 to wrap up the four-game set. New York was outhit once again, but the Yankees took advantage of multiple Red Sox miscues throughout the game and made their division rival pay. Poor pitching, fielding and a lack of timely hitting told the story for Boston in this one.
The Red Sox committed three errors Sunday, with Jackie Bradley Jr.’s rare misplay headlining the group. With the bases loaded, Darwinzon Hernandez got Didi Gregorius to fly out to shallow center. Bradley Jr. then tried to catch Voit inching off first, but no one was covering the bag, ultimately allowing two runs to score.
Manager Alex Cora called it a “freak play” after the game, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, adding that he reacted to his teammates pointing to first. But the Sox skipper said “no one was wrong on (the) play,” as there wasn’t supposed to be anyone covering first base.
Chris Sale wasn’t all that sharp either, allowing five runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. The lefty struggled with his command, walking three, which turned out to be costly. All three of said walks came around to score.
“Walks kind of put him in a bad spot,” Cora said, per Speier. “Command was OK, wasn’t great. The slider was on and off. But the walks put him in a bad spot.”
Boston thrived with runners in scoring position through the first three games of this weekend’s series, but the timely hitting wasn’t there on Sunday. Boston was 1-for-9 with RISP. Andrew Benintendi’s ninth-inning two-run single proved to be the only instance of the night.
Here are some other notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Yankees game:
— Sale is generally tough on himself following a loss, and Sunday was no different. The southpaw said he “sucked the life out of” his club.
He added that he was “flat-out terrible,” while emphasizing that now isn’t the time of year for poor performances.
— The Red Sox still are not afraid of Yankees’ closer Aroldis Chapman.
Boston has had success against the flame-thrower in the past and did so again Sunday. Chapman gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth inning.
— Heath Hembree was one bright spot out of the bullpen for Boston.
The right-hander had struggled in his last few outings but pitched a scoreless ninth inning. Hembree retired the side in order and showed better velocity, clocking in at 95 mph, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
— Here’s your crazy stat of the night:
The Red Sox scored 44 runs in four days against New York this weekend. That’s more runs than either team had ever scored against one another in a four-game series in the rivalry’s history, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The previous record was held by the 1978 Yankees.
— The Red Sox will have Monday off before beginning a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
