Sox can’t convert
HRs carry Yanks over Sale
In the past two weeks, the Red Sox have had such success against the Yankees bullpen that their rivals changed closers yesterday afternoon.
YANKEES 4 RED SOX 3
Hours later, that change seemed to make all the difference.
There was no late-inning Red Sox rally this time. They loaded the bases in the eighth inning and put the tying run on base in the ninth, but each rally was thwarted in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park.
“Even when we lose, we don’t go down easy,” Chris Sale said.
The Red Sox were riding three weeks of momentum and playing in front of a packed house. Rafael Devers had hit another home run, Jackie Bradley Jr. had made another remarkable catch, and Sale had recorded his 250th strikeout of the season.
All the Red Sox lacked was another signature comeback. But with the game on the line, Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to stay away from Aroldis Chapman, who’d given up runs to the Red Sox in three of his past four outings.
Instead it was Dave Robertson who intentionally walked Mitch Moreland to load the bases in the eighth before striking out Xander Bogaerts, who’s hit just .204 since the All-Star break and has particularly struggled lately in big spots.
“I recognize that Bogey’s in a little bit of a run here of late with runners in scoring position where he’s battling to get through it,” manager John Farrell said. “Just the other night against St. Louis where they’re intentionally walking Devers ahead of him, he cashes in in that spot. Felt like we were in a good spot, bases loaded, down a run. They made good pitches.”
It was Dellin Betances who handled the ninth inning for New York. Sandy Leon reached on a strikeout and wild pitch, but pinchrunner Brock Holt was thrown out trying to steal second base.
“We have full confidence in his ability to steal a base right there, particularly a 2-0 count where typically a pitcher is going to get a little bit longer to throw a strike,” Farrell said. “And Dellin is a guy that’s got a fairly long, if not long, unloading time. (Catcher Gary) Sanchez threw a bullet right to second base. That’s an aggressive baserunning play and, I think, a calculated risk.”
The loss was only the Red Sox’ third in their past 16 games, and their division lead is back down to four games heading into this afternoon’s series finale.
On paper, this seemed to be a game in the Red Sox favor. They had Cy Young favorite Sale facing veteran CC Sabathia, who was pitching his first game back from a recurring knee injury. But Sabathia allowed just two runs in six innings, while Sale allowed four earned runs for only the fifth time this season.
Although Todd Frazier’s solo home run in the sixth technically stood as the difference — it was a high fly ball that barely carried to the top the of the Green Monster — it was the second inning that most irritated Sale.
Didi Gregorius became the first lefty to hit a double against him this season, then Frazier was hit in the shin by a slider, and then rookie Tyler Austin came to the plate to face Sale for the first time.
Recalled from Triple A just two days earlier, Austin hammered a 95-mph fastball over the Green Monster for his second home run of the season.
“I’ve got to be better than that for the guys,” Sale said.
It was the first three-run blast off Sale all year. And with that one swing, the Yankees had scored as many runs off Sale as they had in any of his previous 10 career starts against them.
Austin very nearly did it again in the fourth inning.
His fly ball that inning was clocked at 106 mph off the bat and measured at 400 feet to straightaway center field, but Bradley made a stunning catch more than halfway up the garage door, seemingly as high as he could possibly jump.
“I can get a little higher,” Bradley said. “I wanted to get as close to the wall as I could to read the angle a little bit better to see whether I would have a chance. As it started coming down, I saw that I had a pretty good opportunity to try to make a pretty cool catch.”
Bradley also had two hits, including one in a two-run fifth inning that kept the Red Sox within shouting distance. But after Devers’ eighth home run pulled them within a run, the Sox couldn’t complete another comeback, snapping their three-game winning streak against the Yankees.
“We put ourselves in a position to win a ballgame,” Bradley said. “We just weren’t able to complete it.”