Schadenfreude 309 (A Continuing Series)

Yankees - 000 100 020 1 - 4  4  1
Red Sox - 000 000 102 2 - 5 10  0

 

In the first game of a four-game series at Fenway, the Yankees had almost as many blown saves (3) and blown leads (3) as base hits (4). The Yankees blew leads of 1-0, 3-1, and 4-3.

Dan Martin, Post:

In a season filling up with horrendous losses, Aaron Boone called the Yankees' latest defeat "another gut punch."

How many more can they take?

The Yankees' crushing 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox on Thursday night was unique. Reliever Brooks Kriske, who had previously appeared in 10 major league games, threw four wild pitches in the 10th inning to set up Hunter Renfroe's game-winning sacrifice fly.

That came after Chad Green . . . with the . . . Yankees one out away from a fifth straight win, allowed a two-out, two-run double to Kiké Hernandez in the ninth.

"I'm still pretty sick to my stomach right now," said Jordan Montgomery . . . [who] watch[ed] as the Yankees lost for the fifth straight time in one of his starts.

After Hernandez tied it in the ninth, the Yankees took the lead back in the top of the 10th . . .

But Kriske entered in the bottom of the 10th and threw a wild pitch that sent Boston's free runner, Rafael Devers, to third. . . .

[A] second wild pitch brought Devers home to tie the game before Kriske walked Bogaerts, bringing up J.D. Martinez.

Bogaerts moved to second and third on Kriske's third and fourth wild pitches of the inning, before Martinez whiffed.

But Renfroe followed with a fly ball to right to win it. . . .

According to the YES Network, the four wild pitches in an inning are the most in franchise history.

As the inning got worse for Kriske, the Yankees were handcuffed by the MLB rule that mandates a pitcher must face a minimum of three batters unless he finishes an inning, so Kriske couldn't have been removed. . . .

Boone said he believed Kriske had the "swing-and-miss stuff" to be able to get out of the jam. . . .

With the loss, the Yankees dropped eight games back of first-place Boston, and the Red Sox remained a game ahead of the Rays . . .

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

The Yankees have found different ways to lose this season, but there's been nothing as wild as Thursday night's gut-punch loss.

Brooks Kriske threw four wild pitches and gave up two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Yankees crumbled to the Red Sox, 5-4, at Fenway. . . .

The Red Sox (59-38) have won six straight at Fenway against the Yankees (50-45).

The Yankees dropped to eight games behind the division-leading Red Sox in the American League East race. They also dropped to four games out in the race for an AL Wild Card spot.

Kriske is just one of six pitchers in the modern era to throw four wild pitches in an inning, the last being R.A. Dickey in 2006.

The Red Sox scored two runs off Kriske without a hit in the 10th. Rafael Devers, who started the inning on second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on another. After a walk to Xander Bogaerts, the Red Sox shortstop got to third on the wild pitches and then scored the winning run on Hunter Renfroe’s walk-off sacrifice fly.

"It's not fun," Kriske said. . . ."It sucks to be the guy who blows it." . . .

As Kriske was melting down, Justin Wilson was throwing in the bullpen to get hot in a hurry. But once Kriske started the inning, he had to face three batters and that was all the Red Sox needed. . . .

Kriske was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.

Ken Davidoff, Post: 

It makes perfect sense in this senseless Yankees season that, just as they seemed to be coming together karmically, their bullpen is unraveling in a way we haven't seen for the entirety of their 28-year run of finishing above .500. . . .

Chad Green coughed up a two-run advantage in the ninth inning and Brooks Kriske melted down historically in the 10th, handing the Red Sox a 5-4 victory . . .

[A]t some point, the Yankees likely will need to put together again their once-vaunted relief corps, which has turned to jelly . . .

Thursday marked Green's second ninth-inning implosion during this [recent] stretch . . . Kriske followed his first big league win Wednesday night with a thoroughly humiliating performance, becoming the first Yankee to throw four wild pitches in one inning.

"It was just one of those nights I wasn't executing," said Kriske . . .

(Narrator: "It was not 'just one of those nights.' It was a night for the ages.")

As for why Kriske found himself trying to protect a one-run lead in the 10th … sorry, I'm not gonna blame Boone, who has more than met his quota of 2021 late-inning blunders, for this one. . . .

What the Yankees really could use is some more blowout wins . . . That seems ambitious for the moment, though, with three more here in New England and then three games at Tropicana against the Rays. . . .

Right now, the prognosis is more uncertain than certain during this highly unpredictable Yankees campaign.

From Doug Kern:

Enrique Hernandez: First Red Sox batter to hit any multi-run double when down to team's final out against the Yankees since Troy O'Leary off John Wetteland, July 17, 1996. 

Yankees: Second time in team history blowing 3 saves in the same game.  Ray Burris, Jim Kaat, and Ron Davis at KC, June 9, 1979 (L 8-9).

Brooks Kriske: Second pitcher in live-ball era to uncork 4 wild pitches while giving up 0 hits. TEX Bobby Witt did it in an 8-walk start on April 17, 1986.

Brooks Kriske: Second pitcher in Yankees history to uncork 4 wild pitches in a game.  Freddy Garcia at BAL, April 10, 2012 (ND 5-4).

Last time Yankees had ≤ 4 hits at Fenway but still scored 4+ runs: September 26, 2004 vs Curt Schilling (L 4-11).

* * *

Misplaced optimism on Thursday morning:

Yankees have no excuse not to make playoffs