A bad series in Boston ends in the worst way.
This is one of those games where I really need to stretch my editors’ directive of minimum word count, because the less said about this weekend the better. The Yankees capped off their worst series of the year with a major stinker, going down with a whimper against the Red Sox and tying a franchise record for offensive futility. In getting swept today, they were shut out for just the third time this year, on the bad end of a 2-0 loss. They’ve scored four runs in total in the last four days and plated just one against Boston starting pitching in the entire three-game set.
Max Fried was the definition of the hard-luck loser on the day. He really only made one mistake that Rafael Devers made him pay for, and honestly you concede that Devers is going to make some kind of impact in a Yankees/Sox series. The ace went seven innings pitched, nine strikeouts, and more double plays induced than runs allowed — three to two.
That should be enough that you leave the game in line for the win, but the lineup behind him went completely silent. Aaron Judge capped off his worst series of the year by going 0-4, with three K’s and a backbreaking double play when the Yankees were threatening in the top of the eighth. The captain went 1-for-11 with the dramatic homer on Friday, but also nine strikeouts.
Aaron Judge is still the best hitter in baseball, and one series doesn’t change his status as MVP favorite, but you have to hope this weekend was an aberration, rather than evidence of a good approach that the Red Sox worked out.
As much as Judge’s bad weekend hurt the team, we’re at that lull that Paul O’Neill talks about sometimes, when everyone is hot or cold at the same time (in this case, the latter). Trent Grisham was the only Yankee to get more than one hit, and the 5-9 batters in the lineup managed zero hits until Paul Goldschmidt singled as a pinch-hitter, and two walks.
The key to this great lineup has been its depth, with the all-world Judge cleaning up traffic. The Yankees needed him to be better this series, but today was only a two-run game. A little more resistance from someone else would have gone a long way. Not to mention: stop making dumb baserunning decisions! Today was Ben Rice’s turn with the dunce cap, getting picked off second just like Jasson Domínguez on Saturday night.
To top it off, this was tied for the fewest number of runs the Yankees have ever scored in a series in Boston. You need to go back more than 120 years to match this level of offensive ineptitude against their greatest rival. I think, given back-to-back bad weekends, I’d rather the Yankees lose a slugfest than like the last three games.
The Sox scored because Devers played his park well, putting a ball just overtop the Monster:
The other run came on a Trevor Story single in the first inning after a Romy Gonzalez triple into right. I was a little worried that Fried wouldn’t have it, but he gritted through — although he had nothing to show for it by the end of the game.
There’s not much else to say, as the Yankees stunk this weekend and I would like that stinking to stop as soon as possible.
The club kicks off a four-game stint with the Angels tomorrow, and taking three of four at home against a team they handled well on the road would be a start in putting this weekend behind them. They swept the Royals in response to last week’s bad series against Boston, so perhaps that can serve as inspiration. Clarke Schmidt has the ball against José Soriano for the Monday game, with first pitch from the Stadium coming at 7:05pm Eastern.