Schadenfreude 221 (A Continuing Series)

George A. King III, Post:

Not even the frosty air that smothered Fenway Park on Tuesday evening could mask the stench pouring out of the Yankees' road gray uniforms.

A monster homer and three hits from Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton singling and doubling in the final two at-bats after whiffing in the first two didn't reduce the need for nose plugs.

No, the smell was so putrid during a 14-1 loss to the Red Sox in front of 32,357 customers, nothing could kill it.

"That is no fun getting beat up like that," Aaron Boone said of his club's fourth loss in five games that dropped its record to 5-6 and left the Yankees 4.5 lengths back of the AL East-leading Red Sox, who are 9-1. ...

"It sucked. We don't want to give up nine runs in an inning," catcher Austin Romine said. ...

In addition to ineffectiveness from Severino, Kahnle and Shreve, there was more ugliness from Gary Sanchez's frigid bat. Sanchez ... went 0-for-4 and has one hit in 33 at-bats. ...

[Stanton:] "I saw the ball better ... It was good progress. ... [D]on't worry about the outside noise."

Or the smell that was impossible to ignore.

George A. King III, Post (early edition):

There was a lot more wrong with the Yankees than Giancarlo Stanton's bat pushing cold air around Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

While Stanton's wood produced two more strikeouts, he wasn't the only reason the Yankees were embarrassed 14-1 by the Red Sox ...

Staff ace Luis Severino ... couldn't handle a Red Sox lineup that was missing stud shortstop Xander Bogaerts. In five innings he allowed five runs, eight hits and walked three. ...

If all that ugliness wasn't enough, the 5-6 Yankees committed two errors and have made a dozen in 11 games this season.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

In the sixth inning, as things started to unravel, Red Sox fans began one of their favorite chants: "Yankees suck! Yankees suck!"

On Tuesday night, they were not wrong. The Bombers looked awful in every facet of the game — as they were embarrassed by the Sox, losing 14-1 at Fenway Park.

Luis Severino gave up four runs in the first two innings — five overall. Tommy Kahnle and Chasen Shreve combined to give up nine runs in the sixth inning alone. ...

On the other hand, Chris Sale was dominant, allowing one run on eight hits and striking out eight in six innings. Mookie Betts went 4-for-4 with a grand slam and 5 runs scored.

Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone haven't been in panic mode just yet, with plenty of baseball left. But this will certainly cause Yankee Nation to panic, that's for sure.

Billy Witz, Times:

It is the ritual of a baseball player to shrug off today's misfortune, knowing that there will be a chance to get on the right side of the ledger tomorrow. It is the only sane way to navigate the six-month grind of a season.

Still, the Yankees managed on Tuesday to test the bounds of healthy amnesia — and the limits of humiliation — renewing their rivalry with the Boston Red Sox with an epic face plant of a 14-1 defeat.

If the Yankees were eager to get a crack at the Red Sox, whom they tried in vain to chase down for the division title last season, their excitement did not last long: Mookie Betts ripped the second pitch from Yankees ace Luis Severino high off the Green Monster for a double.

Once the Red Sox dispatched Severino after five innings, they gutted the bullpen — scoring nine runs in the sixth inning ... The Yankees defense was also jittery ... and their hitters did nothing to dent Red Sox starter Chris Sale ...

The Yankees had not lost this decisively to the Red Sox in nearly a decade — since an identical 14-1 defeat on Aug. 22, 2009. ...

Stanton did manage to single off Sale, then double off reliever Joe Kelly ... Those were the types of positive crumbs Boone clung to as he watched the Yankees disintegrate ...

Tyler Kepner, Times:

Through 118 seasons of triumph and turmoil, the Boston Red Sox had never won eight of their first nine games. Then again, they had never been granted an easier schedule, either. The Yankees, who arrived at Fenway Park on Tuesday, would pose a new kind of test ...

It wasn't a fair fight — for the Yankees. The Red Sox kept on rolling, bludgeoning the Yankees by 14-1 ...

The best news for the Red Sox — and the part that should worry the Yankees — is that their top three starters have looked sturdy. ... Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello have combined for a 1.24 earned run average in seven starts. ...

The Red Sox ... are the first major league team since at least 1940 go without an error in their first 10 games.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

The gleeful chant from the home crowd as things unraveled for the Yanks in a nine-run sixth inning for the Sox: "Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!"

If only there was a mercy rule.

"Just a crappy night all around," said first-year manager Aaron Boone, whose championship-or-bust team is off to 5-6 start. ...

The Bombers were dominated by Chris Sale, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. ...

The Bombers have already had to deal with injuries, bullpen meltdowns and games they gave away and lost in extra-innings.

With so many expectations, adversity has come quickly. In the sixth, they fell apart. ...

Boone's message to his team at the time: "Fight. Grind. No excuses. No sulking."

Dan Martin, Post:

Luis Severino struggled with his slider command Tuesday night, but that might not have been his only issue in his worst outing of the young season.

Manager Aaron Boone admitted Severino may be tipping his pitches ...

Severino blamed his poor outing mostly on a lack of command of his slider, though he added he may look into whether he was giving anything away on the mound. ...

Regardless of what his main problems were, Severino was no match for Chris Sale. ...

Severino said the 38-degree temperature wasn't a factor, but Betts wasted no time getting to him, blasting a double to open the bottom of the first.

Dan Martin, Post:

Maybe now it's time to start worrying about the Yankees' bullpen.

Aaron Boone has said throughout the team's sluggish start to the season that the bullpen's early woes have not been cause for concern ...

That was before Tuesday's 14-1 thrashing at Fenway Park, when the pen entered a mess largely created by Luis Severino and made it significantly worse — giving up a nine-spot in the sixth. ...

It was just the latest rough night for a relief corps that was billed as one of the game's best ...

Dellin Betances, David Robertson, Chad Green and Adam Warren have already had poor outings this season — and that was before Kahnle and Shreve set Tuesday's game on fire. Jonathan Holder has also already been jettisoned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for underperformance.

Joel Sherman, Post:

[T]here are a lot of reasons the Yankees are underachieving through 11 games that have nothing to do with Stanton. This is not exoneration of Stanton. Heck, in most at-bats he has looked hapless, hopeless and helpless — so large are the holes being exposed up in the zone with fastballs and away with breaking stuff. ...

The Yanks are not under .500 (5-6) for the first time this year only because of Stanton. And they were not humiliated 14-1 ... only because of Stanton.

Their ace, Luis Severino, failed. Tommy Kahnle and Chasen Shreve were atrocious. The lineup went 1-for-20 with men on base (1-for-14 against Chris Sale) and the only Yankee to reach third came when Judge homered in the fifth. ...

[Stanton's] biggest contribution to date for his Yankee teammates is providing cover for their failure. ... However, this does not mean the rest of the team skates. ...

Overall, though, Boone praised his club, stating, "I think guys are going into the game really prepared." ...

Sanchez has two hits in 36 at-bats, his .056 average the worst in the majors. Neil Walker, whose spring addition felt like offensive gluttony, has one extra-base hit in 34 at-bats. Miguel Andujar ... is 3-for-24 without an extra-base hit ...

[The Yankees bullpen] has let in runs in nine of 11 games and allowed an inherited runner to score in one of the other two games.

Scott Lauber, ESPN:

If not for intermittent drizzle Tuesday evening, television cameras would've been focused on twin New York Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton as they took aim at the Green Monster in batting practice.

Instead, a few hours later, viewers were treated to the Mookie Betts Show.

As the Boston Red Sox renewed their age-old rivalry with the Yankees, Betts put forth a performance for the ages. In a 14-1 Red Sox rout, he punctuated a 4-for-5 night with a grand slam in a nine-run sixth inning. Betts became only the second player ever with at least four hits, five runs and four RBIs in a game against the Yankees, joining Ken Griffey Jr. on May 24, 1996.

"I mean, at this point, it's almost not impressive," Red Sox ace Chris Sale said with a straight face. "No, I'm just kidding. It's great. ... He just continues to be unbelievable."

At 9-1, the Red Sox are off to the best start in franchise history. Betts is an enormous reason for that. In 10 games, he is posting video-game numbers: 16-for-37 (.432, which leads the majors), five doubles, two homers, 13 runs, six RBIs, six walks, only three strikeouts, a .533 on-base percentage and a .730 slugging percentage. ...

[Betts] has taken an offseason challenge from new manager Alex Cora to be a more aggressive hitter out of the leadoff spot rather than focusing so much on taking pitches. ...

Five plate appearances. Eighteen pitches. Four hits and a walk.

That's called being aggressive. ...

[T]he Red Sox's nine-run sixth inning was their biggest outburst against the Yankees since May 31, 1998, when they scored 11 runs in the third inning at Yankee Stadium.

Two SoSH game thread comments:

bagwell1: "14-1 and the Judge solo HR is the lead highlight on ESPN mlb page. I love it."

RedOctober3829 said: "This is all well and good but have the Red Sox played a contender yet?"

Stanton worth every penny... to us!! pic.twitter.com/ZagxbjGR29

— Red (@SurvivingGrady) April 11, 2018