Red Sox Wrap: Bullpen Struggles In Loss To Yankees In Game 1

The Boston Red Sox lost control and ultimately fell to the New York Yankees in their series opener.

New York beat Boston 5-3 on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of their doubleheader. The Red Sox led the Yankees 3-2 in the middle of the fifth inning but surrendered three costly runs in the bottom half.

Red Sox starter Tanner Houck pitched solidly for four innings, but relievers Garrett Whitlock, Josh Taylor and Hansel Robles walked four batters and in that fateful fifth.

Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vázquez produced Boston’s runs on a two-run single in the third inning and a solo home run in the fifth, respectively.

The Red Sox fall to 69-52, while the Yankees improve to 67-52 to cut Boston’s lead in the wild-card race to one game.

Here’s how it all went down.

GAME IN A WORD
Control

Walks undid the Red Sox, turning their lead into a deficit in the seven-inning contest. Boston’s relievers walked six in just two innings of work.

ON THE BUMP
— Houck found himself in trouble in the second inning when he lightly hit Luke Voit with a pitch with one out. Rougned Odor followed by singling, and the Yankees later loaded the bases on Tyler Wade’s single. Andrew Velazquez then singled, scoring Voit and Odor before Houck retired DJ LaMahieu to end the inning.

Houck settled down and pitched the next two innings without noteable incident. He threw four innings in total, allowing two runs on five hits. He also struck out two without walking any batters.

— Whitlock replaced Houck to start the bottom of the fifth inning. However, Whitlock would face just three batters — striking out DJ LaMahieu before walking Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge — before Taylor replaced him on the mound.

— Taylor initially loaded the bases by walking Gallo with one out. Voit scored Gardner and Judge and moved Gallo to third on a broken-bat, bloop single, which Hernández nearly caught.

Next, Giancarlo Stanton drove home Gallo and increased the Yankees’ lead to 5-3 on a single.

— Robles replaced Taylor with one out in the fifth inning. He struck out Gary Sanchez then walked Tyler Wade. Robles escaped further damage by striking out Andrew Velazquez with the bases loaded to end the rockiest of innings.

Robles struggled in the sixth inning, allowing a LeMahieu single and walking Gardner. Robles struck out Judge before Austin Davis replaced him on the mound with one out and two on base.

— Davis struck out Gallo but loaded the bases by walking Voit with two outs. However, the threat ended when Davis struck out Jonathan Davis.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, the Red Sox didn’t wait long to counter the Yankees with two runs of their own in the top of the third.

Bobby Dalbec got the ball rolling with a one-out single. After walking Kiké Hernández, Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery retired Hunter Renfroe on a ground-out, which moved the runners into scoring position. Bogaerts then brought home Dalbec and Hernández with a single.

— Christian Vázquez gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning with this solo home run, which ended his 34-game wait, dating back to June 27, for a round-tripper.

— The Red Sox attempted to rally in the top of the seventh inning when Kyle Schwarber, Vázquez and Alex Verdugo loaded the bases with three consecutive singles against pitcher Jonathan Loaísiga.

Travis Shaw, Boston’s latest roster addition, replaced Bobby Dalbec as a pinch hitter but lined out. Hernández and Hunter Renfroe struck out to end the game.

— Vázquez led Boston with two hits. Renfroe, Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Schwarber, Verdugo and Dalbec each had one hit.

— Hernández, J.D. Martinez and Shaw all went hitless.

TWEET OF THE GAME
New York’s win only ramps up the tension for the remainder of the series.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Yankees will play Game 2 of their doubleheader Tuesday night. NESN will air it in full, with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.