OFF HOLLIDAY
Matt a miserable 0-4 in return to lineup
BOSTON — The return of Matt Holliday to the lineup was supposed to be good news for the Yankees.
Instead, it just added to their misery in a 5-4 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday, as their second half began in the same way their first half ended.
Playing in his first game since June 24, when he was sidelined by a viral infection, Holliday went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
And the one time he did put the ball in play proved to be the worst outcome of the night.
Up with the bases loaded and one out in the third, with the Yankees already having scored a run to take a 1-0 lead against Drew Pomeranz, Holliday bounced into an inningending 3-2-3 double play.
Afterward, Holliday wasn’t pleased with how it turned out, but said he felt fine.
“Physically, I felt good,” Holliday said following their fifth loss in six games. “Obviously, the outcome was not what I wanted as far as results, but I felt good and saw the ball well. The end result wasn’t desirable, but I felt fine.”
In his other three plate appear- ances, Holliday whiffed looking. He ended the first with Brett Gardner on base, as well as the fifth and the eighth.
If the Yankees have any hope of staying in playoff contention, they will need a productive Holliday in the middle of the lineup.
And that’s what he was for much of the first three months of the season — and his absence was noticeable as the Yankees stumbled toward the All-Star break.
Holliday was able to play a pair of rehab games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before coming back to the Yankees on Friday and insisted his swing wasn’t off despite the long layoff.
“I played those two games and felt pretty good, so I wasn’t too concerned with how it would go out there in terms of timing or anything,” Holliday said. “I feel good, so I don’t anticipate any problems. It’s just frustrating when you have a chance to drive in runs and you don’t do it. That’s always the case.”
That has been the case frequently of late for Holliday, who is now 0for-15 with eight strikeouts in his last four games, going back before he landed on the disabled list.