Schadenfreude 231 (A Continuing Series)

George A. King III, Post:

Compared to the way the night unfolded, sending J.A. Happ to the disabled list and dispatching Sonny Gray to the bullpen before the sun set qualified as good news.

In the first of four crucial games against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Yankees were overmatched Thursday night on the way to a 15-7 loss that was witnessed by 37,317 who were treated to a three-homer game by Steve Pearce.

The Yankees flushed an early four-run lead, watched CC Sabathia issue four walks in three innings and make a throwing error, Jonathan Holder give up seven runs without registering an out and help botch a rundown play in an eight-run fourth inning. ...

The blowout loss followed a dismal effort Wednesday when the Yankees were beaten by the putrid Orioles and dropped the Yankees 6.5 lengths back of the AL East-leading Red Sox. ...

The 15 runs given up by the Yankees are the most they've yielded this season. The previous high was the 14 scored by the Red Sox on April 10 at Fenway. ...

Holder ... has developed into a solid reliever this year, but seven runs and five hits without getting an out was miserable. ...

"I didn't have my stuff."

Joel Sherman, Post:

Third-base coach Phil Nevin ripped into the Yankees during a matinee sleepwalk Wednesday against the Orioles. ...

[T]here were no excuses Thursday night. The competition rose and the Yankees fell even farther. They did not look as if they belonged on the same field as the Red Sox — much less in discussion to win the AL East. The Red Sox beat the Yankees and the Yankees beat the Yankees, and together that resulted in a 15-7 Boston triumph. ...

The Red Sox opened a 6.5-game lead in the AL East — their largest since Sept. 29, 2013. The Red Sox won their last World Series that year.

They are on pace to win 112 games this year and prior to this series Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had said, "You wonder what [the Red Sox] record would be if they weren't playing us. Because when we go head-to-head, we do some damage against them and it doesn't seem like anybody else is capable."

That quote did not age well. The Yankees opened a series more critical to them than the Red Sox by playing like the Mets — clearly inferior to an opponent, and worsening matters with inattentive, inept play. ...

Jonathan Holder made three bonehead defensive plays, allowed Boston to run at will and faced seven batters without retiring one in a pitching performance from the Jose Reyes collection — just worse because, you know, Holder's an actual pitcher.

Miguel Andujar cost the Yankees by delivering two throws lethargically and Gleyber Torres did not run hard out of the box on a ball that probably is a hit if he does.

And what was not self-inflicted was inflicted by the Red Sox. They had 10 extra-base hits, including three homers by Steve Pearce, who along with Ian Kinsler are minor acquisitions playing major roles. A big Yankee acquisition, Zach Britton, was slow to cover first base in the eighth inning — humiliation on top of embarrassment. ...

Luis Severino, who has not gone beyond the fifth and has an 8.84 ERA in his last four starts, goes Friday.

Dan Martin, Post:

Suddenly, Jose Reyes is only the second-worst New York reliever this week.

At least the Mets shortstop got some outs in his pitching debut against the Nationals on Tuesday night. Jonathan Holder's Thursday night was worse. He faced seven batters in the third inning of a 15-7 loss to the Red Sox and all seven reached base and scored.

According to baseball-reference.com, Holder became the first Yankee to face seven batters and not record an out since Bob Kammeyer in 1979. Kammeyer surrendered eight runs in an appearance and never pitched in the majors again.

Dan Martin, Post:

CC Sabathia ... had nothing on a hot night at Fenway Park ...

The Yankees' rotation already is in a bit of disarray thanks to the demotion of Sonny Gray to the bullpen and the loss of J.A. Happ for at least a start when the lefty was placed on the disabled list with hand, foot and mouth disease, so Sabathia's rough night only added to their woes. ...

It was Sabathia's shortest outing of the season ...

And it was also Sabathia's fourth consecutive shaky start.

In those starts, the 38-year-old has gone just 18.1 innings, given up 13 earned runs, walked 11 and struck out 16.

Ken Davidoff, Post:

After witnessing this Back Bay shellacking, does there seem a more ludicrous notion right now than that of the Yankees having gained ground on the Red Sox at the non-waiver trade deadline?

The Yankees won the headlines and the plaudits in the past week with their imports. Then, their biggest game of the season to date went sideways because of a guy the Red Sox acquired ... in June.

Remember Steve Pearce? If you didn't recall his layover with the 2012 Yankees, you surely will remember him now. ...

Second baseman Ian Kinsler, who joined Boston this week, added three singles, two runs scored, two RBIs, a stolen base and strong defense. At this rate, the Red Sox's other in-season import, former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi, will throw a perfect game against his old pals when he takes the mound Saturday afternoon.

Yet in a Red Sox season replete with excellence ... they're on pace to finish 112-50 ... this stood out. For the eight-run, eight-hit fourth inning that wiped out a 4-2 Yankees advantage (that began as 4-0), prompting rookie manager Alex Cora to call it "probably our best offensive inning of the season." ...

The Red Sox remain in their zone of doing little wrong. They were proactive in getting Pearce ... more than a month ahead of the deadline, and he has rewarded them with a .318/.389/.583 slash line and eight homers in 132 at-bats. ...

He fits great on this Red Sox team, and at 35, he hit a new peak on Thursday. He made the Red Sox look smart and the Yankees silly. ...

Validation for Pearce, vindication for the Red Sox. Only humiliation for the Yankees.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

It took 107 games, but we are about to find out precisely what the rookie manager of the Yankees is made of [after this preposterous meltdown Thursday]. ...

The Sox were crisper, more confident, and by the time they hit their stride they looked every bit like a team on pace to win 111 games.

Coupled with the unforgivable effort the Yankees turned in the day before — a performance so poor that during a brief rain delay third-base coach Phil Nevin decided to go all Andy Sipowicz bad cop on the team in the dugout — it's fair to say the Yankees are certainly at a crossroads, though not yet bad enough for the dreaded closed-door meeting. ...

Can they muster a second wind to get after the Sox? Can they rediscover the swagger they had for so much of the first three and a half months of the season? Can they make any kind of statement with the three games they have left in this city this weekend? ...

Now it's Boone's time.

Coley Harvey, ESPN:

Like an out-of-control snowball tumbling wildly down a mountain, the New York Yankees cascaded toward a 15-7 blowout loss to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday thanks to an avalanche of mental errors and moments of uninspired, lackluster play.

The Yankees' starting pitcher, C.C. Sabathia, wasn't very good. Their bullpen was even worse. Their defense was, at times, questionable. And oh, by the way, they still have three more games this weekend against the best team in baseball. ...

Friday's game at Fenway Park could show a lot about where the Yankees are headed.

After back-to-back stinkers Wednesday against the last-place Baltimore Orioles and Thursday against the league-leading Red Sox, the Yankees need to snap out of it if they want to stay within sight of their longtime rival. ...

But no matter the deficit, the Yankees have to turn the page on all that has gone wrong in this recent downturn. Manager Aaron Boone believes that will happen ...

Through July 24, [Holder] had been a steady bullpen piece, owning a 1.76 ERA across 41 innings. Across his 2.2 innings since, he has a 30.38 ERA, according to ESPN Stats & Information.