Yankees Sweep Pivetta, Sox (8/18/21)

Wow....what a difference a month makes. Going into July 6th the Sox were 3.5 games in front of the Tampa Bay Rays and on August 18th they're 5 games behind the Rays and a game behind the New York Yankees for the first wild card after tonight's loss to the Yankees. The Yankees swept the Sox in a series both teams needed and it looks like the Sox season is going down the drain. Nick Pivetta (9-6, 4.43 ERA) got shelled in the second inning for four runs before he was yanked. Garrett Richards and the Boston bullpen heroically pitched one run ball the rest of the way but the problem was the Boston bats were once again quiet. Andrew Heaney held the Sox to a single run in 7 innings of work before turning the game over to the bullpen. The Sox did manage to rally against Aroldis Chapman and have the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth....but Kevin Plawecki grounded out to end the game. The Yankees completed the sweep of the Red Sox with a 4-2 win at Yankee Stadium.

                                               Live look at the Sox in the AL East standings

The Sox did manage to strike first in the top of the first inning although Kike Hernandez flied out to right to start. Hunter Renfroe grounded out to first but Xander Bogaerts smashed his 19th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Rafael Devers struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0. They would have just three hits the rest of the game.

                                               Bogaerts taunts the Yankees

Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and DJ LeMahieu took strike three to start. Anthony Rizzo lined out to center but Aaron Judge walked. Joey Gallo flied out to left to end the inning.

JD Martinez struck out swinging to begin the top of the second and Kevin Plawecki flied out to right. Alex Verdugo popped up to short to end the inning. The Yankees exploded in the bottom of the second as Giancarlo Stanton singled to left to start. Rougned Odor drew a walk and Gary Sanchez singled to right to load the bases. Brett Gardner hit a sac fly to center to score Stanton with the tying run and Andrew Velazquez got a base hit to right to score Odor, moving Sanchez to third. Velazquez stole second but LeMahieu grounded out to third. Rizzo smashed a base hit down the first base line to score both runners and Judge walked to finally pull the plug on Pivetta, Nick had nothing and got yanked before the damage could get worse. Garrett Richards came in and got Gallo to ground out to short to end the inning with the Yankees up 4-1.

                                                     Velazquez serves it back

The Sox rolled over in the top of the third as Bobby Dalbec flied out to right to start. Christian Vazquez grounded out to third and Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning. Stanton drew a walk to start the bottom of the third but Odor took strike three. Sanchez went down hacking and Gardner forced Stanton at second to end the inning.

Renfroe walked to start the top of the fourth but Bogaerts forced him at second. Bogaerts took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on the grounder to third by Devers. Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning. Velazquez struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth before LeMahieu lined out to center. Rizzo struck out swinging to end the inning.

Plawecki singled to left to start the top of the fifth but Verdugo flied out to left. Dalbec lined out to second and Vazquez popped up to Heaney to end the inning. Judge grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fifth and Gallo struck out swinging. Stanton flied out to center to end the inning.

Hernandez walked to start the top of the sixth before Renfroe flied out to right. Bogaerts grounded into a double play to end the inning. Odor grounded out to second to start the bottom of the sixth and Sanchez flied out to left. That was it for Richards who tossed 4 shutout innings to keep the Sox in the game. Martin Perez came in and Gardner singled inside the third base bag but Velazquez took strike three to end the inning.

Devers struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh before Martinez lined out to left. Plawecki flied out to center to end the inning. Adam Ottavino came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and LeMahieu grounded back to the mound to start. Rizzo popped up to short but Judge walked before swiping second. Gallo was intentionally walked but Stanton grounded out to third to end the inning.

Zack Britton came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Verdugo struck out swinging to start. Dalbec grounded out to short and Vazquez grounded out to second to end the inning. The Yankees got a run in the bottom of the eighth with Josh Taylor on the mound. Odor flied out to center but Sanchez doubled to right. Sanchez moved to third on the grounder to second by Gardner but Velazquez got a base hit to left to score Gary. LeMahieu grounded out to third to end the inning with the Yankees up 5-2.

                                                         Yankees are all smiles

Aroldis Chapman came in to close out the top of the ninth and Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Renfroe somehow cracked his 22nd home run of the season but Bogaerts walked to bring the tying run to the plate. Devers grounded out to first but Martinez singled to right to move Xander to third. Lucas Luetge came in to pitch to Plawecki but he grounded out to short to end the game. The Yankees had swept the Sox out of the wild card spot with a 5-3 win.

                                                              Yankees win

Jackass of the Night is Nick Pivetta. He got shelled for 4 runs in 1 2/3 innings to put the game out of reach early.

                                                      Cora takes the ball from the Jackass

The Good:

Hunter Renfroe was 1 for 3 with a walk and a solo home run.

Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk and a solo home run.

Garrett Richards tossed 4 scoreless innings.

Martin Perez got the final out of the sixth inning.

Adam Ottavino pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

The Bad:

Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3.

Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3.

Josh Taylor allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth.

The Ugly:

Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.

JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Kevin Plawecki was just 1 for 4.

Final Thoughts:

The Sox earned this ass kicking by the Yankees. They couldn't hit in the clutch, couldn't keep the Yankees off the scoreboard when it matters and just generally looked defeated. Every move Yankees manager Aaron Boone made turned to gold and everything Sox manager Alex Cora did backfired. Pivetta had nothing and Cora did the right thing to get them out of there but the Sox couldn't generate any offense against a pitcher they should have lit up. That's been the problem since the all-star break is they simply stopped hitting. The lack of Andrew Benintendi in the lineup is rearing its ugly head because they're not getting much production outside of a home run or two from Renfroe. Hopefully the Sox can right the ship because they just gave up the division and now the wild card in under a month. They need to get their heads straight because they're blowing a chance of redemption after the last two years of misery. The loss dropped the Sox to 69-54, a game behind the Yankees for the first wild card. The Sox have an off-day tomorrow to regroup and they're back in action Friday night against the Texas Rangers. Chris Sale (1-0) gets the ball up against Dane Dunning of Texas. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.