Let's take a walk down memory lane. Stretch your memory all the way back to July 1.
The Yankees beat the Red Sox that day to complete a winning series and tie Boston atop the AL East.
Since then, the Red Sox essentially have stopped losing, winning 22 of 28 games. [JoS Note: It's actually 22 of 27. Even better!]
Too far back?
OK, how about the good ole days of three batters into this most recent series. At that point, the Yanks could still believe a big weekend at Fenway would catapult them into an AL East dogfight, especially since it was 3-0 in their favor three batters into this series.
The Red Sox have outscored the Yankees 23-6 since then.
They have taken the first three games of this series because they have been better on offense, defense, starting, relieving, baserunning, trade-deadline acquisitions, attention to detail and even video review. At this point, perhaps the Yankees could win a congeniality consolation prize. The AL East is about gone from their grasp. ...
The Red Sox are 78-34, the best record in the majors and their best record ever through 112 games. ...
Houston won it all last year with an offense that scored the most and struck out the least. Boston scores the most and strikes out the second-least. The Red Sox work pitchers into exhaustion and mistakes. ...
The Yanks are a strikeout staff. But in the first two games, the Red Sox struck out just seven times in 84 plate appearances. ...
"We know we can absolutely play with them and at our best beat them," Boone said.
That was easier to believe back in the good ole days.
As Sherman said, the Red Sox lost to the Yankees 11-1 on July 1, giving New York two wins in the three-game series and leaving the two teams in a virtual tie for first place:
End of July 1 Since Then End of August 4 Red Sox 56-29 .659 --- 22- 5 78-34 .696 --- Yankees 54-27 .667 --- 14-14 68-41 .624 8.5
Chance Adams' biggest obstacle Saturday in his major league debut was the Yankees' bats. ...George A. King III, Post (final edition):
The [Yankees' fourth straight] loss ... dropped them 8.5 lengths (their largest deficit of the season) back of the 78-34 Red Sox and emphasized the only way the Yankees are getting into the postseason for the second straight year is through the AL wild-card door. ...
One game after Rick Porcello went the distance and didn't face a Yankees hitter with a runner in scoring position Friday night, former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi almost matched his fellow right-hander.
Working with a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning, Eovaldi gave up a leadoff double to Stanton. That made the next hitter, Gregorius, the first Yankee to bat with a runner in scoring position since the ninth inning of Thursday night's opening game of the four-game series. ...
In his second start for Boston since being acquired from the Rays, Eovaldi is 2-0 and hasn't allowed a run in 15 innings. ...
Adams got bit by a very popular bug that lives in Fenway and has been annoying pitchers forever: the home-run ball.
Moreland hit a two-run homer to right in the first inning, and Martinez delivered a solo home run to left in the fourth.
And while [the Yankees] made it interesting by scoring a run ... the game ended on a stress-free fly ball off Greg Bird's bat that nestled in center fielder Jackie Bradley's glove to seal a 4-1 Yankees loss. ...
And while there aren't signs of panic coming from Aaron Boone and his players, they don't have their heads buried in the sand.
"It's reality. You got to understand," Giancarlo Stanton said of the largest deficit of the year. ...
They also know their bats have been dominated in the past two games. ... Until Alex Cora called for Kimbrel, the Red Sox manager might as well have sent the relievers to Martha's Vineyard for all they were needed in the past two games. ...
The challenge doesn't get easier Sunday night, when the Red Sox send David Price to the mound. ...
"Really, really important, super important," Boone said when asked the significance of Sunday night's game is for his staggering club.
"But I am a broken record. Tomorrow is always important. ... If we had won five in a row, tomorrow is really important."
If Boone's club had won five straight, it wouldn't be 8.5 out in a race that is showing strong signs of already being over.
Scoring just two runs over their last 18 innings, the Yankees dropped to 8.5 games behind the Red Sox ...
Saturday, Nathan Eovaldi, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Rays for just this type of game, shut the Yankees down for eight innings, allowing just one runner in scoring position. ...
Brett Gardner's single to lead off the fourth off Eovaldi was the Yankees' first hit since Miguel Andujar's home run in the third inning of Friday night's game.
[Not having Aaron Judge or Gary Sanchez] is obviously a significant hit to the lineup, but for any chance to try and catch the Red Sox, the Yankees needed their other hitters not only to step up and hit for power, but also help make the opposing pitchers work harder. ...
[Stanton] has gone 4-for-11 in this series with a meaningless home run late in Thursday night's game, when the Yankees were already being blown out. Gregorius is 3-for-11. ...
Gleyber Torres is 0-for-9 ... and Bird is 0-for-11. ...
Adams absolutely gave them a chance to win Saturday and gave them an opportunity to turn around an alarming slide.
Instead, it was the lineup that let them down, as it has this whole series with the Yankees' season quietly slipping away.
[T]he Red Sox have made a mockery of New York ... moving 8.5 games up in the division with 50 games to play.
Yes, the Yankees are without perhaps their best player in Aaron Judge, who's been sidelined with a right wrist fracture since July 27. And yes, they've been without catcher Gary Sanchez, who's been out with a right groin strain since July 24.
But Boston hasn't exactly had a full roster, either.
Within the last week, the Red Sox have put Rafael Devers, Chris Sale, Blake Swihart and Ian Kinsler on the 10-day disabled list. ...
Xander Bogaerts missed the first two games of the series against New York after getting hit by a pitch on the hand Tuesday night. ... The Red Sox were even without manager Alex Cora on Friday night after he got ejected in the first inning.
Instead of crumbling, however, baseball's best team battled. ...
[Steve] Pearce has hit .357 with an 1.162 OPS in 19 games since arriving in Boston following an early July trade from Toronto. Eovaldi hasn’t allowed a run in two starts over 16 innings for the Red Sox.
For a second straight day, a Boston Red Sox starter owned the New York Yankees' suddenly inept offense. ...
[Nathan] Eovaldi's impressive performance came on the heels of Rick Porcello's 86-pitch, complete-game one-hitter Friday. Boston also won that game 4-1 ...
Eovaldi's cutter was his big weapon Saturday. Nearly half of the 93 pitches he threw were cut fastballs, and according to those who faced him, he threw them at varying speeds and spots in the strike zone. ...
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Eovaldi is the third pitcher in Red Sox history to begin his Boston career with consecutive scoreless starts of seven-plus innings pitched. Boo Ferriss did it in [April and May] 1945, and Buck O'Brien did it in September 1911. ...
Saturday's loss was the Yankees' fourth straight. It's the first time all season they have lost that many consecutive games, making the Red Sox the only major league team now to have not yet amassed a losing streak of at least four games this season.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone ... freely admits that [his] views will be imbued with "a positive look on things." He considers his job to provide consistency in his messaging, which he believes reinforces a sense of stability. ...
It's a much easier strategy to adopt when things are going well. But for the last six weeks, the Yankees have played .500 ball. ...
"We're not in the best situation, obviously," Boone said ... "But the bottom line is we're still in position here to potentially have a special season." ...
[T]he last six weeks have ... opened up another real possibility, one that should be unsettling for an organization that has geared-up to win a championship. The Yankees have shown signs that they're capable of being massive disappointments. ...
After beginning the season 9-9, they reeled off 41 wins in 54 games ... However, in their last 36 games, the Yankees are 18-18. ...
[M]uch of the last six weeks have been defined by mistakes of carelessness. They've been guilty of lapses in focus and effort. Already, this four-game set against the Red Sox has showcased those weak moments. ...
[Boone has] been particularly careful to avoid uttering even the light criticisms of his players. True to form, he's insisted that a turnaround is coming. ...
[T]he storm clouds are gathering.
Plenty went wrong for the Yankees over perhaps their worst three-game stretch of the season going into Saturday's game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. ...
Among the most striking issues, though, were the faulty fundamentals displayed in the field by Miguel Andujar, Jonathan Holder and especially Gleyber Torres.
The rookie second baseman ... hasn't been the same since coming back from the disabled list.
Whether it's going 6-for-30 with 10 strikeouts in 34 plate appearances in nine games since returning from the strained hip that cost him three weeks last month, the baserunning gaffe he made against the Royals last Saturday, a pair of defensive misplays against the Orioles on Wednesday or failing to knock down Mitch Moreland's single to right-center that scored a run Friday, Torres has struggled.
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