Ex-Met Reed provides an Amazin’ gift in 8th
Maybe the Yankees were better off without any Mets after all.
In his introduction to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, former Mets reliever Addison Reed turned what looked like an easy Boston victory into a dismal 5-4 loss in The Bronx. He faced four batters, all of them reaching base, and the uncharacteristically wild Reed issued a wild pitch as Boston’s season-high eight-game winning streak came to a sudden halt.
Reed was charged with a season-high four earned runs, as many as he had allowed in his previous 16 outings, dating to June 24.
Aaron Hicks touched him up for a Stadium special, a two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole and over the short porch down the line. Gary Sanchez followed with a single and Aaron Judge walked, ending Reed’s night. Both of his inherited runners scored, as reliever Joe Kelly came on to give up back-to-back singles to Didi Gregorius and Todd Frazier.
“You never help yourself out when you’re all over the place,” said Reed, who last allowed four earned runs in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series. “I kind of put myself in a bad position by hitting [Brett] Gardner, falling behind in the count to Hicks.
“It happens, but I picked a bad time for it to happen.”
Earlier in the week, the Mets traded outfielder Jay Bruce to the Indians for a Single-A pros- pect, after engaging with the Yankees about possibly dealing him there. The Yankees also were involved in talks with the Mets for first baseman Lucas Duda before he went to the Rays. The two teams then came close to a trade of second baseman Neil Walker, but the Yankees backed out on the deal because of medical concerns, The Post reported.
Reed, acquired by the Red Sox from the Mets on July 31 for three minor league relievers, had pitched well for Boston since the deal. Over 3 2/3 innings, he had allowed only one run, striking out four without walking a single hitter, as one of closer Craig Kimbrel’s setup men.
But that changed Friday night. Inheriting a three-run lead, he hit Gardner in the toe with his second pitch and allowed Hicks’ 11th homer, on a 3-2 slider. He couldn’t put away Sanchez after getting ahead 0-2 and he walked the struggling Judge.
“Addison hasn’t hit a guy in three years and he’s averaging just over one walk every nine innings,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “This was a night our bullpen didn’t close the door.”