Red Sox - 000 101 001 - 3 8 0 Yankees - 030 110 10x - 6 5 2The time of game for Monday's loss to the Yankees was only 2:46 (tied for the quickest Red Sox game of the season), but because the evening also included a rain delay of 83 minutes, a total of four hours and nine minutes passed from the first pitch to the last, making Boston's eighth consecutive loss one of the most drawn-out defeats of the year.
The Red Sox have been swept in consecutive four-game series by the Rays and Yankees. They are 1-12 against Tampa Bay and New York this year and 5-5 against everyone else (Orioles, Mets, Blue Jays). Since clinching the 2018 ALDS in New York, the Red Sox are 1-15 at Yankee Stadium, including losses in their last 10 games.
Boston is now 6-17, 10.5 GB. Only one Red Sox team has ever gotten off to a worse start. The 1932 Red Sox were 4-19 through 23 games. ... The 1996 team was also 6-17 and the 1906 club was 6-16-1.
Luke Voit hit two home runs, a two-run shot in the second off Martín Pérez (3-2-3-3-1, 58) and a solo shot off Josh Osich in the fifth. Thairo Estrada also went deep against Osich and Aaron Hicks homered off Austin Brice.
The MFY had five hits and six runs and Hicks and Voit, the top two hitters in the lineup, combined for four hits, four runs, and five RBI.
The rain interrupted the game right after the Red Sox scored their first run, on consecutive two-out singles from J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, and Christian Vázquez. When play resumed, Michael Chavis walked, but Alex Verdugo struck out, leaving the bases loaded.
The Yankees increased their lead on Estrada's leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth and Voit's shot leading off the fifth.
Boston waited until there were two outs before scoring in the sixth, also. Vázquez singled, Chavis was hit by a pitch, and Verdugo hit a ground-rule double to left. But the Red Sox squandered a chance for more, as José Peraza left runners at second and third.
In the ninth, Peraza tripled with one out and scored on Jonathan Araúz's double, off Aroldis Chapman. But, again, the Red Sox could not take further advantage. Chapman, pitching in his first game since recovering from SARS-CoV-2, fanned both Kevin Pillar and Rafael Devers to complete New York's four-game sweep.
Pillar, CFI'm resisting putting "G23: Yankees x, Red Sox x" as the title of this post to save myself a little time later on.
Devers, 3B
Martinez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Vázquez, C
Chavis, 1B
Verdugo, RF
Peraza, LF
Araúz, 2B
"We've got good leaders on this team, and they called for it," outfielder Kevin Pillar said after Sunday's 4-2 loss. "We just talked about … stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Stop putting the added pressure on us as individuals, especially the guys who have gotten off to a good start, thinking that there's not enough time to turn the season around. You're putting a lot of pressure on every single at-bat. You're taking at-bats to the field. Not getting caught up in what's happening across the league as far as COVID(-19) is concerned, if it's going to get shut down, or when it's going to shut down. Just really coming to terms that we've done a tremendous job as an organization not having any positive tests." ...Pillar is making excuses, to a point, because the pandemic is forcing every team to act differently, to go their separate ways after games and not celebrate big wins as they may have done in the past. But as McCaffrey acknowledges, not everyone can easily brush those changes aside.
"We had quite a few players talk," Pillar said. "We just kind of wanted to open the floor up to everyone and get some frustration out, vent a little bit and try to get on the same page collectively — something we really haven't been able to do. With our configurations at home, it makes it that much more difficult to just come back, pick up guys. Even when we were able to win some games at home, everyone just goes their separate ways. There's not a sense of camaraderie and unity and celebrating achievements. We've had first major-league hits and everyone goes their separate ways. It's been difficult to collectively enjoy some good moments that we've had here."
Even after their most recent win, which came Aug. 9 on a Mitch Moreland walk-off homer, the excitement couldn't pour over into the home clubhouse at Fenway. ...
Some will call it excuse-making, but every team handles adversity differently. ...
The Red Sox have noticed their opponents finding ways to win and making baseball feel like more baseball.
"They're making it as normal as possible," Pillar said. "And I think that was the message we were trying to get across was let's make this as normal as possible."
Missing the talents of Chris Sale, David Price, Rodriguez, Mookie Betts (and others) is obviously a huge loss. No team could be expected to contend after losing their top three starters and an MVP outfielder. I don't know if running simulations of the 2020 season with the current roster would show an expected 6-16 record after 22 games, but things probably wouldn't be much better. 9-13, perhaps? And is that really much of a difference?
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