The Red Sox are slipping.
Boston on Friday fell to the New York Yankees 4-2 in the series opener of a four-game set at Yankee Stadium. With the loss, the Sox now have fallen in five straight games, their longest losing streak of the season.
Things looked promising out of the chute, with J.D. Martinez’s two-run homer in the first inning giving the visitors an early lead. But Gleyber Torres’ grand slam in the bottom half of the frame put the Yankees ahead for good.
The Red Sox fall to 59-52 with the loss, while the Yankees climb to 69-39 with the win.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Again.
Another night, another loss.
ON THE BUMP
— One bad inning marred an otherwise adequate outing for Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez. However, his misstep was a pretty brutal one. Rodriguez finished his night having allowed four runs on as many hits with eight strikeouts and six walks over 6 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez was given a two-run lead before he even toed the rubber for the first time, and he did a fine job squandering the advantage. The southpaw let the first three Yankee hitters reach via a single and two walks, then allowed a one-out grand slam to Torres.
He finished the rest of the inning with minimal issue, and after that frame, things were relatively smooth for E-Rod. He pitched scoreless frames in the ensuing 5 2/3 innings, including a 1-2-3 fifth inning in which he struck out the side. Alex Cora made the somewhat shocking decision to send Rodriguez back out for the seventh, and after getting the first two hitters out, the lefty gave up a double to D.J. LeMahieu, ending his night.
— Marcus Walden took over and struck out Aaron Judge to strand LeMahieu.
— Nathan Eovaldi pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, striking out one.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox got off to a nice start, with Xander Bogaerts working a two-out walk to keep the first inning alive.
J.D. Martinez made good use of the extending stanza, launching a two-run homer into the seats in left field.
It was Martinez’s 24th dinger of the year, however, that was all the offense the Red Sox could muster the rest of the night.
— Martinez, Andrew Benintendi and Christian Vazquez had one hit apiece.
— Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, Bogaerts, Sam Travis, Michael Chavis and Jackie Bradley Jr. all went hitless.
TWEET OF THE DAY
This was nice.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees have a double-header on deck for Saturday, with Chris Sale and Domingo Germán set to be the starters in Game 1. First pitch from Yankee Stadium for the matinee is set for 1:05 p.m. ET.
