Sabathia took the mound in the top of the first and the Sox pissed a golden chance to take an early lead. Rajai Davis struck out but Sabathia threw a ground ball by Eduardo Nunez away, allowing him to reach first. Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts drew back to back walks to load the bases but Xander Bogaerts ran away screaming for strike three. Rafael Devers whiffed on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. That set the tone for the night of incompetence. Meanwhile Rodriguez plunked Brett Gardner to open the bottom of the first inning. Aaron Hicks flied out to left and Gary Sanchez struck out but Didi Gregorius walked. Starlin Castro struck out to end the inning.
The Red Sox mustered nothing in the top of the second inning as Hanley Ramirez grounded out to second and Chris Young flied out to right. Christian Vazquez singled but Davis struck out to end the inning. Rodriguez walked Judge to begin the bottom of the second inning but got Chase Headleyto fly out to right. Greg Bird flied out to left and Todd Frazier flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox shot tbemselves in the foot in the top of the third inning although Nunez singledto start. Benintendi singled to move Nunez to third but greedily broke for second. He slid in...SAFE! Ohhh wait a minute. Yankees manager Joe Girardi challenged the call and sure enough, Benintendi was out at second. That lost runner was big when Betts walked to put runners at the corners. Now it was the Sox turn to challenge when Bogaerts seemingly banged into a double play to end the inning. Turns out he was safe and Nunez scored to give the Sox the lead. Betts swiped third to put runners at the corners again then Devers walked to load the bases. The Sox had the fat man on the ropes but Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. That turned out to be a huge miss but the Sox led 1-0.
The Yankees quickly tied it in the bottom of the third inning. Gardner singled but was doubled off first on a line drive by Hicks to Rodriguez. The should be suspended Sanchez then lit up the crowd with a solo home run to tie the game. Gregorius hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning but it was 1-1.
Right on cue Sabathia began to dominate. Young, Vazquez and Davis all grounded out to begin and end the top of the fourth inning. The Yanks almost took the lead in the bottom if the frame when Castro hit a leadoff double. Rodriguez got Judge to fly out to center before striking out Headley. Bird flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox ran themselves out of the top of the fifth inning although Nunez grounded out to short to begin. Benintendi singled but somebody missed a sign as Betts was rung up for strike three and Benintendi was out by a mile trying to steal to end the inning. The Yankees struck again in the bottom of the fifth inning although Frazier froze on strike three to start. Gardner singled and Hicks singled Gardner to third. The should be suspended Sanchez blooped a single over the head of Nunez to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Gregorius flied out to center but Castro singled to load the bases. Rodriguez got Judge to pop up to first to end the inning but it was 2-1 Yankees.
The Sox caught the opposite of what happened with Sanchez in the top of the sixth. Bogaerts looked at strike three but Devers walked. Ramirez blooped a ball to right, but Devers held up to see if it was caught and he was thrown out at second for the force. Young grounded out to end the inning.
The Yankees put the game away in the bottom of the sixth as Rodriguez trudged to the mound for some inane reason. Headley doubled and Bird smashed a 2 run bomb to ice the game just like that. Frazier singled and Sox manager John Farrell woke up from his snooze and rushed to the mound to replace Rodriguez with "The Human White Flag" Fernando Abad. He struck out Gardner but Hicks singled. Sanchez lined out to center but Gregorius singled up the middle to score Frazier to increase the lead. Farrell then realized he brought in the wrong pitcher the whole time so he sprinted out of the dugout to chase Abad all over the stadium, allowing Heath Hembree to come in to pitch. Castro grounded out to end the inning but it was all but over, 5-1 Yankees.
Sabathia was done and David Robertson was in for the top of the seventh inning. Vazquez grounded out to short and Farrell drew more criticism by sending slumping Brock Holt to pinch hit for Davis only to line out to center. Nunez flied out to center to end the inning. The Yankees were relentless in the bottom of the seventh inning as Judge walked and Headley singled. Bird singled home Judge and Frazier walked to load the bases. The irate Farrell threw his hat down and jumped up and down on it before screaming at Hembree to get off the mound. Robby Scott came in and got a huge double play when Gardner lined out to second and Bird was doubled off. Scott struck out Hicks for the Houdini but it was now 6-1 Yankees.
The Sox pissed another chance away in the top of the eighth inning. Benintendi walked and Robertson booted a ball hit by Betts to put two runners on. They were stranded as Bogaerts struck out, Devers grounded out and Ramirez lined out to end the inning. This offense sucks. Blaine Boyer got the call to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning and he cruised. Sanchez struck out, Gregorius hit one up the elevator shaft and Castro whiffed to end the inning.
All those missed chances reared their ugly head in the top of the ninth inning as the Sox rallied against Dellin Betances. Young walked and both Vazquez and Holt were plunked to load the bases. Nunez whiffed for a key out but Benintendi walked to score Young. Somehowthe tying run came to the plate but Betts pissed down hus leg as he popped up to second. Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Bogaerts but flied out to left to end the game. Once again the Red Sox went 0 for a zillion with runners in scoring position and lost 6-2.
Jackass of The Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. The second coming of Felix Doubront got smacked around for 5 runs in 5 plus innings when the team needed him to deliver the knockout punch to the Yankees. Thanks for nothing.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 2 with 3 walks and an rbi.
Rafael Devers walked twice in 4 plate appearances.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch.
Brock Holt was hit with a pitch in the 9th inning.
Robby Scott Houdini'd out of the bottom of the seventh inning.
Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Rajai Davis was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland failed to produce as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded.
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4.
Fernando Abad allowed an inherited runner to score, put two men on and failed to make it out of the 6th inning.
Heath Hembree allowed 2 runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked twice and stole a base.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 but drove in a run.
Chris Young was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Final Thoughts:
So much for burying the Yankees tonight. If anything it was the Red Sox who got buried again. For whatever reason they haven't in the clutch all year against these guys. Every loss is a shut out or they score less than two runs it seems because they can't hit in the clutch. Its also tiresome to watch Eduardo Rodriguez pitch now. This is two years in a row now he hurts his knee and was never the same. Maybe the Sox can trade him for prospects in the off-season or something. If the loss wasn't bad enough, Sabathia decided to run his mouth after the game, calling the Sox classless for having the unmitigated audacity to bunt on him. Its too bad the Sox won't see him again this season because everyone in Boston would love to see Nunez, Betts and the guys bunt on his fat ass all night long just to piss him off. Between that and Gary Sanchez being allowed to play by Yankee manag...I mean MLB Head of Discipline Joe Torre, if nothing else this could be a spark needed to revive the rivalry which has been largely dormant since Kevin Youkilis and Joba Chamberlain left town. The loss drops the Sox to 76-58, 4.5 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Doug Fister goes up against Sonny Gray in a battle of scrap heap pickup vs big tradeline acquisition. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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