Sale got the ball in the top of the first and struck out both Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Hicks to open the game. Chase Headley lined out to end the inning. Masahiro Tanaka began his mastery in the bottom of the first inning. Dustin Pedroia grounded out, Andrew Benintendi lined out and Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to end the inning.
Sale ran right over the Yankees in the top of the second inning. Matt Holiday looked at strike three, Starlin Castro grounded out and Aaron Judge looked at strike three to end the inning. Hanley Ramirez greeted Tanaka with a single to lead off the bottom of the second and moved to second on the force by Mitch Moreland. Xander Bogaerts flied out and Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to end the inning. As sad as it sounds, the Sox never again reached second base.
Sale cruised in the top of the third inning. Chris Carter and Austin Romine struck out but Ronald Torreyes singled. Ellsbury looked at strike three to end the inning. Tanaka continued to cruise in the bottom of the third inning. Sandy Leon, Marco Hernandez and Pedroia grounded out in short order to end the inning.
The Yankees struck first in the top of the fourth. Hicks singled and moved to second on the Headley force. A passed ball by Leon moved Hicks to third and he scored on the sac fly by Holiday. Thanks a pant load Leon. Castro whiffed to end the inning but the damage was done. Tanaka rolled in the bottom of the fourth. Benny The Kid struck out and Mr. Mookie popped up but Ramirez singled again. He was stranded when Moreland grounded into a force to end the inning.
Sale hit Judge with a pitch to start the top of the fifth inning. Carter grounded into a double play and Romine flied out to end the inning. Bogaerts singled to begin the bottom of the fifth inning only for JBJ to ground into a double play. Leon flied out to end the inning. Sadly that was the Sox last hit of the game.
Torreyes singled and moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Ellsbury to begin the top of the sixth inning. Hicks grounded out to move Torreyes to third but Mr Mookie made a great running catch to rob Headley of a hit to end the inning.
The Sox offense went dead n the bottom of the sixth inning. Hernandez and Pedroia struck out and Benny The Kid lined out to end the inning.
Holiday singled to lead off the top of the seventh inning but was gunned down at second by Benny The Kid trying to stretch. Castro singled but Sale recovered to struck out both Judge and Carter to end the inning. There was nothing the Sox could do against Tanaka in the bottom of the seventh. Mr. Mookie grounded out, Ramirez flied out and Moreland grounded out to end the inning.
Sale returned for the top of the eighth and cruised. Romine flied out, Torreyes grounded out and Ellsbury grounded out to end the inning. Tanaka matched Sale in the bottom of the eighth. Bogaerts popped up, JBJ grounded out and Leon grounded out to end the inning.
It was a beautiful pitcher's duel for 8 innings but it ended when Sale ran out of gas in the top of the ninth. Hicks and Headley hit back to back singles but Sox manager John Farrell refused to pull Sale. Holiday then slammed home a single to score Hicks to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Farrell came out to get Sale who gave it all he had.
Heath Hembree came in to pitch and he gave up a single to Castro to score Headley to make it 3-0. Hembree escaped trouble by getting Judge to pop up and Carter grounded into a double play to end the inning. With a 3-0 lead, the game was all but over. Tanaka returned to finish his masterpiece in the bottom of the ninth. Hernandez, Pedroia and Benny The Kid all grounded out to end the game. The Yankees had defeated the Red Sox 3-0 on a complete game, 3 hit shutout by Tanaka.
Jackass of the Night should be John Farrell for leaving in Sale too long but in reality it was Sandy Leon. His passed ball led to the go-ahead run scoring and he went 0 for 3 at the plate.
The Good:
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 3.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a strikeout
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3.
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Chris Sale was lights out for 8 innings but fell apart in the ninth inning. He took the loss allowing 3 runs, 2 earned in 8 plus innings.
Heath Hembree allowed an inherited runner to score but escaped the ninth inning with no further damage.
Final Thoughts:
That was a hell of a game, just didn't win it. The Sox offense is in big trouble and for some reason the loss of David Ortiz is affecting them a hell of a lot more than it should. Even Xander Bogaerts after the game pretty much admitted the difference in this year's team and last year's was no Ortiz. Well to quote Rick Pitino, David Ortiz isn't walking through that door. The Sox need to suck it up and move on. They need someone to step up and be the leader of the team and if Pedroia can't do it, someone else needs to take control. The pitching this season has been pretty damn good, the offense has been absolutely putrid. Hopefully they can wake up but it doesn't look good right now. As if losing two straight to the Yankees isn't bad enough, the world champion Chicago Cubs are coming to town for a three game set. Tomorrow night at 7:10 Drew Pomeranz goes up against Jake Arrieta. If the Sox couldn't hit Fransisco Liriano, Dylan Bundy, Luis Severino or Tanaka, how the hell are they going to hit Arrieta?
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