G112: Yankees 9, Red Sox 2

Red Sox - 010 010 000 - 2  5  0
Yankees - 100 701 00x - 9 14  0

The idea of going into hibernation from baseball until next April grows more attractive with each passing day.

Chris Sale (3.2-9-8-0-4, 76) imploded in the fourth inning on Saturday afternoon. With two outs in the fourth, the Yankees had runners on first and second in a 1-1 game. And then: single, single (2-1), Alex Cora ejected, single (4-1), home run (7-1), double, Colten Brewer pitching/Sale ejected, single (8-1), fly out.

As Ian Browne reported:

Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Sale both became incensed by home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook's strike zone. J.D. Martinez was also angered in the first inning when he was called out on strikes on a pitch that looked low and out of the zone. Cora was ejected during a mound visit with Sale earlier in the fourth inning. And when Sale walked off the mound after being removed from the game, he also gave Estabrook an earful and was ejected.

The afternoon marked not just a low point for Sale, but also the Red Sox, who have lost as many as six in a row for the first time since 2015. ... Boston now trails by a whopping 12.5 games ...

Mike Estabrook blew two 'strike three' calls in the first four innings. Both calls went against the Red Sox. When confronted by his clear incompetence, Estabrook threw Cora and Sale out of the game in an act of cowardice. ... And the chances of Estabrook being called on the MLB carpet for either his blown calls or his unwarranted ejections are about as good as the 2019 Red Sox winning the AL East.

I'm extremely frustrated over the Red Sox's performance and that is undoubtedly at least partially clouding my vision, but this is one of those times when I really wonder what is the point of following baseball if what the players actually do (beat out a hit, steal a base, throw a strike) is so often negated or ignored and the on-field officials are allowed to create their own reality?

Estabrook called Martinez out on strikes on pitch #7, ending the top of the first inning with Rafael Devers on second.

Sale threw pitch #3 to Gio Urshela on an 0-2 count. It should have been called strike 3, with the Yankees having a man on first with two outs. Instead, Estabrook said the pitch was a ball. Urshela later singled and scored as New York broke the game open.

Chris Sale / Domingo Germán

Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, DH
Benintendi, LF
Holt, 2B
Moreland, 1B
Bradley, CF
León, C

First game of a day-night doubleheader. Brian Johnson, activated from the IL and named as the 26th man, will start the second game. Until then, he'll be a fly on the wall.

11.5 GB. ... The Red Sox have not been this far out of first place since the end of the 2015 season.

AL Wild Card: CLE/TBR –, OAK 0.5, BOS 4.0, TEX 7.0, LAA 7.0.