The Boston Red Sox are in third place in the American League East standings.
Boston dropped Game 2 of a doubleheader, 2-0, against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night after falling in the matinee game. The Yankees are 68-52, and the Red Sox are 69-53. While both teams are 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees take the lead in the standings on percentage points.
Nathan Eovaldi — spectacular in his last start six days ago (after imploding in the outing prior to that) fared decently in the nightcap. Things got a bit dicey in the bottom of the fourth, when he had an 0-2 count against Kyle Higashioka with two outs but threw four straight balls to walk him.
That came after he allowed a solo home run to Giancarlo Stanton (which made it a 2-0 game after a solo shot from Luke Voit earlier in the game), and after a double to Rougned Odor. But Eovaldi worked his way out of the jam and came back for the fifth.
Eovaldi ended the night with two earned runs on seven hits, fanning six.
“I’ve been able to keep the ball in the ballpark for the most part of the year, and to get beat today on two solo home runs, it’s pretty frustrating,” Eovaldi said after the loss. “Seven-inning game on top of that, so losing the first one then losing the second one, it’s a tough one for us.”
But no matter how good of a start Eovaldi put up, you can’t win a game without runs. And the Red Sox didn’t have any, finishing the night with five hits and nothing to show for it. As a team, they left nine men on base and were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Alex Verdugo, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers — the Nos. 2-4 hitters in the lineup — were a combined 0-for-8, though Verdugo did reach twice on walks and Bogaerts took a base on balls as well. Kevin Plawecki, Travis Shaw and Bobby Dalbec (who pinch-hit for Shaw in the sixth) joined the trio in failing to get a hit.
“In this game, Nate was outstanding,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the loss. “We expect to win games like this. We put some good at-bats, but most of them were empty at-bats. That’s why we lost the game.”
Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Yankees games:
— If the season ended today, the Red Sox would not make the playoffs. They have lost six of their last seven series on the road and are 6-13 through their last 19 games, going just 2-11 against teams that have a winning record this season (via Alex Speier of The Boston Globe).
— The Red Sox set up a reunion with Travis Shaw when they claimed him off waivers Sunday, and manager Alex Cora said he thinks the veteran first baseman will make the Red Sox a “more complete unit.” He got the start at first base in Game 2, and wasn’t necessarily the answer to Boston’s offensive struggles at the position.
He was 0-for-2, striking out both times.
— Tanner Houck got the start in Game 1, and he said he was pleased with his outing after scattering five hits with two runs through four innings. But the bullpen wasn’t there behind him, and Cora acknowledged that the group “hasn’t been great” in recent outings. The bulk of the damage was done in a brutal fifth inning.
The team sent Houck back to Triple-A Worcester after the doubleheader. And no, he doesn’t mind the back-and-forth.
— The series concludes Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Nick Pivetta (9-5, 4.20 ERA) will go up against New York’s Andrew Heaney (7-8, 5.78 ERA).
