Schadenfreude 301 (A Continuing Series)

Updated: At bottom.

Dan Martin, Post:

Before Saturday's game, Gerrit Cole likened this Yankees-Red Sox series to "a little bit like a heavyweight fight to see who comes out on top."

So far, it's no contest.

The Yankees have dropped all five meetings between the two teams this season . . . following a 4-2 loss at Fenway Park on Saturday night. . . .

With another sellout crowd chanting "Yankees suck" throughout the game, Nathan Eovaldi shut down the Bombers for most of the night, as the offense that looked like it was coming together in recent weeks has quieted down in Boston the past two nights.

The Yankees' bats mostly stayed silent until . . . two out in the eighth . . .

The Yankees had another chance in the ninth [but Adam] Ottavino, throwing harder than he did as a Yankee . . . [struck] out Judge [the potential tying run] on a 2-2 sinker to seal the win. . . .

Jordan Montgomery . . . was the victim of some bad luck as the Yankees again played poor defense and provided the left-hander with no run support — hurt again by a pair of double plays. . . .

[N]ow there's even more weight on Sunday's game, with the Yankees six games back of the Rays in the AL East, who lead Boston by a half-game. They also are 17-23 against the division.

"We're fighting our butts off right now,'' Boone said.

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

The Yankees came into this weekend wanting to get themselves back into the mix for the American League East. . . . More mistakes and a nearly non-existent offense led to a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at a packed Fenway Park.

It was the fifth straight loss to the Red Sox (46-31) for the Yankees (40-36) and Boston clinched their second series from the Bombers. The Yankees dropped to six games in back of the division-leading Rays and 5.5 behind the second-place Red Sox. They are a combined 5-13 against those two teams and 35-23 against the rest. . . .

Nate Eovaldi baffled the Yankees for 7.2 innings . . . He also had the benefit of the Yankees grounding into two double plays, now tied again with the Astros for the most in the majors.

Jordan Montgomery [held] the Red Sox to three runs . . . He managed to do that without much help behind him. . . .

Dan Martin, Post:

Aaron Boone has said repeatedly the Yankees' offense is getting better . . . but their issues with runners in scoring position have not diminished.

They entered Saturday's game still dead last in the American League in OPS with runners in scoring position (.630) — ahead of only the Pirates (.628) in the majors.

It hurt them again in Friday's loss to the Red Sox, when they went 2-for-9 and hitless in their last six at-bats after Gio Urshela was thrown out at the plate with no one out in the second. . . .

When taken together with the other issues facing the offense, it's easy to see why they've made mistakes on the bases, pressing for more runs. . . .

Boone has lamented their inability to take advantage of the increased traffic they've been able to create of late.

Among the culprits is Gio Urshela, with just a .551 OPS in such situations. Voit has also been unproductive in limited action, but he was unproductive in all categories before his recent return . . .

Boone also believes the offense is "ready to break through," but in order to do that, they can't afford to be the second-worst team in the majors at driving runners in. . . .

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

Brian Cashman is trying to jockey the Yankees into a position to come storming back in the race for the American League East. . . .

"[T]here's too many games where there's a lot of frustration that you're like 'Wow, how, why did that happen? 'or How did that happen?' We left too many runners on base. We've had a lot of traffic without results, missed opportunity ... where you just go home unhappy," Cashman said. . . . "I've gotta do some things on my end to help them. . . . We're open to a lot of ideas. We're ready to win . . ."

Ken Davidoff, Post:

Does the fate of the Yankees' season rest upon Sunday's series finale against the Red Sox, with $301.3-million man Gerrit Cole facing a hostile Fenway Park crowd for the first time while wearing "NEW YORK" road grays? . . .

It's time to ensure that these surprisingly successful Red Sox won't reside rent-free in the underachieving Yankees' heads as they part ways once again. . . .

[On Saturday] The Yankees . . . grounded into two more double plays, tying the Astros for the major-league lead with 74; of course, the Astros nevertheless deploy the industry's best offense, whereas the Yankees own Major League Baseball's most disappointing such unit. . . .

[I]n the eighth and ninth innings, the Yankees mounted a considerable attack . . . bringing the potential winning run to the plate in both frames. . . . [O]ld pal, Adam Ottavino, left the bases loaded in the eighth [and] he struck out Aaron Judge to end the game, thrilling another exuberant full house here. . . .

They headed to their hotel unhappy after leaving seven on base . . . 

The Bosox's three runs off Montgomery — two in the second and one in the third — came in no small part as a result of three infield hits, one in the second and two in the third, plus an unusual "sacrifice fly" [to first base] in foul territory . . . Nutty … and damaging.

Meanwhile, during Eovaldi's time in the game, the Red Sox and Yankees evenly divvied up the 10 hardest-hit balls, five apiece . . . 

Yet the Yankees are well beyond moral victories.