JD Martinez got a base hit to center to start the top of the second before Kyle Schwarber drew a walk. The rally ended as Kevin Plawecki took strike three while both Jarren Duran and Travis Shaw struck out swinging to end the inning. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the second although Giancarlo Stanton took strike three. Rougned Odor struck out swinging but Luke Voit hit a home run all the way to the moon to put the Yankees up for good. Tyler Wade popped up to short to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.
Hernandez popped up to first to start the top of the third before Verdugo walked. A passed ball moved Alex to second but naturally Bogaerts grounded out to short and Devers lined out to center to end the inning. Kyle Higashioka got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the third before LeMahieu singled to right. Gardner popped up to short, Judge flied out to center and Gallo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Martinez flied out to right to start the top of the fourth before Schwarber popped up to third. Plawecki popped up to first to end the inning. The Yankees iced the game in the bottom of the fourth as Stanton hit a home run that hasn't landed yet to put the game out of reach. Odor doubled to left but Voit struck out swinging. Wade flied out to left but Higashioka walked. LeMahieu popped up to first to end the inning with the Yankees up 2-0.
The Sox blew their best chance to tie the game in the top of the fifth as Duran singled to right to start. Shaw struck out swinging but Hernandez singled off the glove of Wade to move Jarren to third. Verdugo flied out to deep left to move Hernandez into scoring position and Bogaerts walked to load the bases. Wandy Peralta came in to pitch to Devers and Rafael forced Bogaerts at second to end the inning. Eovaldi came back for the bottom of the fifth and Gardner grounded out to short to start. Judge singled to right and stole second but Gallo struck out swinging. Stanton lined out to center to end the inning. Even though he was only at 83 pitches, Cora felt Eovaldi had done enough despite using four relievers in Game 1 and two innings still to go in this one. Nate just made two mistakes and the Sox couldn't generate any offense.
The Sox blew another rally in the top of the sixth as Martinez flied out to right to start. Schwarber got a base hit to center but was forced at second by Plawecki. Hunter Renfroe pinch hit for Duran and got a base hit to center to move Plawecki to third. Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Shaw only to line out to Peralta to end the inning. Martin Perez came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Odor flied out to right to start. Voit struck out looking but Wade beat out a roller to first. Cora then brought in Hiro Sawamura once again and he got Higashioka to fly out to right to end the inning.
Jonathan Davis took over for Voit, Andrew Velazquez came in for Stanton and Chad Green came in to close out the top of the seventh. Hernandez popped up to first, Verdugo struck out swinging and Bogaerts grounded out to short to end the game. The Yankees had blanked the fading Sox 2-0 to sweep the doubleheader.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one but we'll go with Travis Shaw. He was 0 for 2 and left 3 men on base in a game where one swing could have made a difference
The Good:
Alex Verdugo walked twice in four plate appearances.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3.
Kyle Schwarber was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Jarren Duran was 1 for 2.
Hunter Renfroe was 1 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Martin Perez got the first two outs of the sixth inning.
Hiro Sawmaura got the final out of the sixth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Nathan Eovaldi took the loss by allowing 2 solo home runs but tossed 5 innings while striking out 6.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox earned this ass-kicking today. Not getting hits in the clutch, running into outs and just not being patient against bad pitchers. Not to mention Boone managed circles around Cora, especially with the pitchers. In two 7 inning games Cora used a combined SIX relief pitchers. Both Whitlock and Eovaldi could have easily gone six innings apiece but Cora just had to manage both games like they were Game 7 of the world series. Technically the Yankees didn't even bat in each 7 innings so Cora needed six relief pitchers for 12 innings. Its all adding up as the bullpen is tired and the offense is beginning to fade as well. The Sox only scored 3 runs in 14 innings and now they relinquished the 1st Wild Card spot. In just over a month the Sox have blown the AL East and the 1st Wild Card. Its all on Cora for overusing his pitchers and for the bats for not being patient enough.The loss dropped the Sox to 69-53, percentage points behind the Yankees for the 1st Wild Card. The Sox look to avoid a sweep tomorrow against the Yankees when they send Nick Pivetta (9-5) to the mound up against Andrew Heaney of the Yankees. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.
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