As for the game, the Boston Red Sox lack of clutch hitting since the All-Star break was on full display in today's doubleheader Game 1 loss to the Yankees. Not only that, Sox manager Alex Cora's continuing misuse of the starting rotation cost them once again. The Sox did manage to take a 3-2 lead on the Yankees after four strong innings from Tanner Houck but Kike Hernandez and JD Martinez collided on a pop up by Luke Voit to allowed the go-ahead runs to score in the bottom of the fifth. Trailing 5-3 in the top of the ninth, the Sox rallied to load the bases with nobody out. Just like everything else that's gone wrong since the end of July, the Sox failed to push even one run across against Jonathan Loaisiga as the Yankees held on to win Game 1 5-3 at Yankee Stadium.
"No runs in the ninth?"
Yankees strike first
Montgomery got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kike Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Hunter Renfroe singled to left but Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging. Rafael Devers beat out a grounder to third but Renfroe was foolishly thrown out at third trying to advance to end the inning. Houck got the ball in the bottom of the first and got the Yankees to beat the ball in the dirt. DJ LeMahieu grounded out to third, Brett Gardner also grounded out to third and Aaron Judge also grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the first as JD Martinez struck out swinging to start. Kyle Schwarber swung and missed for strike three but the ball went to the backstop, allowing Schwarber to reach first.....but wait! Yankees manager Aaron Boone challenged the call and sure enough, it was overturned for strike three. Christian Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning. Joey Gallo lined out to center to start the bottom of the second but Luke Voit was hit with a pitch. Rougned Odor ripped a base hit to left but Gary Sanchez lined out to third. Tyler Wade ripped a base hit to right to load the bases and Andrew Velazquez lined a base hit to center to score two runs. LeMahieu popped up to short to end the inning but the Yankees were up 2-0.
The Sox fought back in the top of the third as Alex Verdugo grounded out to second to start. Bobby Dalbec singled to left and Hernandez walked, but Renfroe could only move the runners over with a comebacker to the mound. Bogaerts ripped a base hit to left that scored Dalbec and Hernandez beat the throw home...but for some reason Bogaerts tried to go back to first and was thrown out to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Gardner grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the third before Judge struck out swinging. Gallo flied out to right to end the inning.
Devers hit one up the elevator shaft to start the top of the fourth but Martinez struck out swinging. Schwarber struck out swinging to end the inning. Voit struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth but Odor singled to left. Sanchez flied out to center but Wade beat out a roller to third. Velazquez flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox took the lead in the top of the fifth when Vazquez clocked his 5th home run of the season to start. Verdugo lined out to third and Dalbec struck out swinging, but Hernandez walked to chase Montgomery. Albert Abreu came in to get Renfroe to line out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 3-2.
Despite throwing just 58 pitches, Sox manager Alex Cor pulled Houck after just four innings. Right on cue Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to crap his pants in the bottom of the fifth. LeMahieu struck out swinging but Gardner and Judge both walked to chase The Lock. Cora turned to lefty Josh Taylor to get Gallo but Joey walked to load the bases. Voit then hit a pop up to right-center and Hernandez collided with Martinez trying to make the catch. Gardner and Judge scored on the play to give the Yankees the lead while Gallo moved to third. Stanton then got a base hit to center to score Gallo to ice the game. That was it for Taylor as Hansel Robles came in to pitch with Jonathan Davis pinch running for Stanton. Sanchez struck out swinging but Wade walked to reload the bases. Velazquez struck out swinging to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 5-3.
Jonathan Loaisiga came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Devers grounded out to short and Devers lined out to short to end the inning. The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the seventh as LeMahieu singled to left to start. Gardner walked but Judge struck out swinging. For some reason Cora brought in Austin Davis to pitch to Gallo and struck him out swinging. Voit walked to load the bases but Davis struck out swinging to end the inning. Knowing today was a doubleheader Cora still used 4 relief pitchers rather than Houck go, it cost him big time.
Meanwhile Yankees manager Aaron Boone kept Loaisiga out there to close out the top of the seventh and save Aroldis Chapman for the second game. Things looked good for the Sox when Schwarber beat out a roller to thrd and Vazquez singled to right. Jonathan Arauz pinch ran for Vazquez and Verdugo singled to right to load the bases. Travis Shaw pinch hit for Dalbec in his first Sox at-bat since 2016 and....lined out to left. Hernandez and Renfroe both struck out swinging to end the game. The Yankees held on to win 5-3.
Yankees win
Jackass of the Night is Josh Taylor. The collision in center didn't help but he still allowed 2 inherited runners to score and one of his own without technically retiring anyone.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3.
Kyle Schwarber was 1 for 3.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a home run.
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 2 with a run scored.
Anthony Robles tossed a full scoreless inning.
Austin Davis tossed 2/3 of a scoreless inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Travis Shaw was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Garrett Whitlock took the loss by being charged with 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 2 including striking out with the game in the line but walked twice and scored a run.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Tanner Houck allowed 2 runs in 4 innings of work.
Honorable Mention:
Jonathan Arauz ran for Vazquez in the seventh inning.
Final Thoughts:
Well this game was a kick in the pants and Cora is to blame for a lot of it. Houck had only thrown 58 pitches and if he goes one more inning without giving up a run, that changes the entire complexion of the game. As it is, Cora yanked him and the bullpen melted against the Yankees. They had to use 4 relievers with Game 2 still to play. The bats were silenced for the most part and the fact that Boone trusted Loaisiga to save the day and keep Chapman for Game 2 really makes it looks like Boone is managing circles around Cora. The Sox lead in the wild card is slipping as well as their AL East chances and losses like this are contributing to it. If the Sox blow everything then Cora will be the first to face the axe for continuing to pull starters out of games early. The Sox still need to take the nightcap to save face so no sense going all in on lashing them yet. The loss dropped the Sox to 69-52 and the division standings won't be known until the conclusion of the second game of the doubleheader. The Sox look to rebound against the Yankees in Game 2 when Nathan Eovaldi takes on Luis Gil of the Yankees. The game begins in a few minutes at Yankee Stadium.
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