SHOCK & AWFUL
Chapman implodes in 9th as Yanks lose ground in East after horrific ‘L’
BOSTON — There are bad losses and then there are defeats that kill seasons like the one the Yankees absorbed Sunday night at Fenway Park.
Three outs away from salvaging one win in four games against the Red Sox, the Yankees evacuated New England’s living room with a stomach-turning 5-4 loss in 10 innings that was witnessed by 38,830.
Sandy Leon singled with two outs in the 10th off Jonathan Holder who wild-pitched him to second. With first base open Mookie Betts was walked intentionally which brought Andrew Benintendi to the plate. He bounced a 2-1 pitch up the middle that scored pinch-runner Tony Renda from second with the game-winning run and end the 4-hour and 39-minute marathon.
On a night when Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts gifted them two runs in the seventh, the Yankees carried a three-run lead into the ninth inning. Aroldis Chapman flushed the advantage with a huge assist from third baseman Miguel Andujar who made a colossal throwing error in the ninth.
The Yankees’ fifth straight loss enabled the Red Sox to sweep the four-game series against their blood rivals and increase their AL East lead to a whopping 9 ½ games. It also cut the Yankees’ lead over the surging A’s in the race for the top wild-card spot to 2 ½ games. The Yankees lead the Mariners by five lengths for the second ticket into October.
Asked to protect a 4-1 advantage Chapman walked Leon and Betts with one out in the ninth. He caught Benintendi looking at a slider for the second out before Steve Pearce walked to load the bases.
J.D. Martinez followed with a two-run single to center that cut the Yankees’ lead to 4-3. Andujar fielded Bogaerts’ grounder from deep third base and unleashed a one-hop throw that went in and out of first baseman Greg Bird’s glove. As the ball rolled toward the pitcher’s mound Jackie Bradley Jr. raced home from second to tie the score, 4-4.
Chapman, who blew his second save in 31 chances, struck out Mitch Moreland to send the game into extra innings.
Bogaerts botched Aaron Hicks’ bases-loaded ground ball in the seventh with no outs that appeared to be a sure double play. Instead it led to two of the Yankees’ four runs that erased a 1-0 Red Sox lead that Mookie Betts’ homer off Masahiro Tanaka in the fifth provided.
Like all four Yankee starters in the series Tanaka didn’t deliver length. But he allowed only a run in 4 2/3 innings.
David Robertson and Zach Britton combined for 2 ¹/3 innings of shutout relief before Dellin Betances took over to start the eighth with a three-run lead. He hit J.D. Martinez to open the inning but retired the next three batters. With the count, 2-1, to Eduardo Nunez and two outs trainer Steve Donohue and Aaron Boone went to the mound to check on Betances who was picking at a nail on his right hand. He remained in the game and retired Nunez on a ground ball to third.
For six innings even seeing David Price on the mound wasn’t enough to get the Yankees’ bats going. Price entered the game with a 24.92 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season. On July 1, the last time the lefty faced them, he gave up five homers and eight runs in 3 ¹/3 innings.
Price opened the seventh by giving up a single to Brett Gardner and walking Austin Romine after being ahead of him, 1-2. Right-hander Heath Hembree was summoned to face Shane Robinson and after fouling off two bunt attempts he walked on a full-count. With the bases loaded and no outs Hicks hit a hard grounder directly at Bogaerts for what looked like a sure double play. Instead the ball glanced off Bogaerts’ glove and rolled into short center field. Gardner and Romine scored and Robinson made third. Giancarlo Stanton’s sharp single to left plated Robinson for a 3-1 lead.
Stanton and Hicks advanced to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch. After Didi Gregorius whiffed, Ryan Brasier came in to face Gleyber Torres and he hit the first pitch on a line to center that scored Hicks to make it 4-1.
Talking about Tanaka before the game Boone was very confident the right-hander was the right man to keep the Red Sox from sweeping a four-game series.
Boone wasn’t relying on blind faith in Tanaka because he entered the game not having given up a run in the previous 17 ¹/3 innings, was unbeaten in his last 13 starts and hitters batted an anemic .205 (55-for-272) during that stretch.
“Actually he is the perfect guy to give the ball to right now,’’ Boone said. “Hopefully he can go out there and pitch well and get us deep into this game. Hopefully we can grab a lead and let the back end [of the bullpen] do its thing.’’