Schadenfreude 300: (A Continuing Series)

Dan Martin, Post:

So far this season, the Yankees are not ready for prime time.

While they've won their share of games and series against mediocre teams . . . when it comes to the Red Sox and Rays, the Yankees have been at a loss.

The trend continued in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, their fourth defeat in four meetings with their rivals this season. . . .

Domingo German had his third subpar outing in a row, giving up three first-inning runs. . . .

[A] ninth-inning rally fell short. . . . Gio Urshela and Miguel Andujar led off with singles, but Clint Frazier struck out and DJ LeMahieu grounded into a double play to end it.

Making the night worse, Zack Britton was forced from the game with a hamstring injury in the bottom of the eighth. He walked off the field immediately after a 2-2 pitch to Hunter Renfroe. . . . 

But the Yankees' troubles began earlier, as German got in immediate trouble again. . . .

[He] has given up 15 runs — 14 earned — in just 12¹/₃ innings over three starts. . . .

German barely made it through the first inning Friday.

He gave up back-to-back singles to start the game before Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run double with one out. Hunter Renfroe added an RBI double . . . which led to the Yankees to send Luis Cessa out to the bullpen to start warming up.

The Yankees tied it in the second . . . [and] were in position to take the lead in the third with two on . . . before the struggling Gleyber Torres grounded into a double play. . . .

Garrett Whitlock — whom the Red Sox plucked from the Yankees in last year's Rule 5 draft — tossed a pair of scoreless innings.

To make matters worse, Adam Ottavino, a huge disappointment in his two years in The Bronx, retired the side in order in the eighth.

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

It felt big. A packed Fenway Park on hand to honor retired World Series champion Dustin Pedroia. . . . Friday night felt like the biggest game the Yankees have played in since 2019.

But it was the small things that did them in. An overly aggressive send killed an offensive rally in the fourth and a pitchers fielding error were the turning points . . .

It was the fourth loss this season to the Red Sox (45-31) and the Yankees (40-35) third loss in their last 10 games. The Bombers ended Friday five games behind the division-leading Rays and 4.5 behind the second-place Red Sox. . . .

It may be June, but the Yankees have dug themselves a hole in the American League East. . . .

The Yankees had a chance to tie [the game] in the fourth when Gio Urshela led off with a double. Miguel Andujar chipped a sharp ground ball into right field and third base coach Phil Nevin aggressively sent Urshela . . . with no outs. Hunter Renfroe, who has a tremendous arm . . . nailed him at the plate. It was the Yankees' 31st out on the bases and their major league leading 15th at home plate and Urshela's seventh.

Nevin said he . . . did not expect the right fielder to even make a throw . . . 

That seemed to kill the Yankees offense as they didn't get a runner in scoring position again until the ninth inning, when . . . DJ LeMahieu grounded into the team's 73rd double play of the season. . . .

Ken Davidoff, Post:

In a sense, the Yankees looked like a new and improved baseball club Friday night . . . compared to the imploding mess that got swept by the Red Sox earlier this month in The Bronx. . . .

[D]espite a sleeker sheen, the Yankees lost their fourth straight 2021 matchup with the Sawx, 5-3, because a quartet of decisions — two Friday, two last offseason — bit them. You can't whiff on too many little things and expect to thrive in this American League East, where the Yankees now reside five games behind the leading Rays and 4½ behind the Bosox. . . .

German committed a curious misplay of a Rafael Devers comebacker in the third inning . . . [He] couldn't snare the ball as it first came down, then couldn't pick it up on his first attempt. Nevertheless, the right-hander still appeared to have time to throw out Devers . . . German held onto the ball . . .

[In the fourth with no outs] third base coach Phil Nevin chose to send Urshela home, even though the third baseman hadn't played the previous two games due to a right shin injury and anyone could see that he was running gingerly. . . .

Garrett Whitlock, a Rule 5 selection by the Red Sox from the Yankees' list of unprotected players last December, tossed a pair of shutout innings . . . He owns a 1.49 ERA in 21 games totaling 36¹/₃ innings.

Adam Ottavino, whom the Yankees salary-dumped on the Red Sox last January, recorded a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts (Giancarlo Stanton and Luke Voit). 

Ignore the New York Post's betting tips . . . or you will lose all your money.

Ken Davidoff, Post:

To honor one of their all-time greats, the Red Sox brought in an all-time terrible Yankees acquisition.

Jacoby Ellsbury, wearing a Red Sox jersey, joined [a] salute [to] Dustin Pedroia, who formally retired earlier this year . . .

Ellsbury, who left the Red Sox for a seven-year, $153-million deal with the Yankees following Boston's 2013 championship season, didn't play after 2017 and put up numbers representative of his Red Sox run only in 2014. . . .

"Me and Ells were tight," Pedroia said . . . "He meant a lot to me. His family does, too. He's a great guy."

Ellsbury couldn't be tracked down for comment.

Jeez.

The New York sports media sure had a different view of Ellsbury when he left Boston and agreed to play for the MFY.

"Sorry, Sox!", the Daily News cackled.

Ehhh, don't worry about it.

Even on the day the news was announced, Bill Madden of the Daily News knew what was up: 

Jacoby Ellsbury's Yankees Deal Won't Look Good In A Few Seasons

How long until the Yankees are regretting giving Jacoby Ellsbury a 7-year contract? . . .

I'm just not sure what the Yankees are trying to prove here. Now they've agreed with Ellsbury on a $21.8 million per year deal that will almost certainly be another financial disaster three or four years down the road, while giving them another "legs" player in the outfield when what they really needed there was a power bat. . . .

Whatever, this reckless, show-their-financial-might signing by the Yankees makes no sense, other than being another example of the Yankees' intention of buying their way out of a situation in which their player development department has been bankrupt for years.

It was actually a disaster less than two years down the road!