Six outs away from winning their ninth straight, the Red Sox instead saw their bullpen suffer an eighth inning implosion, turning a three-run lead into a two-run deficit in a 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees.
The first six hitters of the inning all reached against Addison Reed and Joe Kelly, as the Sox saw a 19-inning scoreless streak by their relievers come to an inglorious end. Aaron Hicks floated a two-run homer just inside the right field foul pole off Reed. Following a single, a wild pitch and a walk, Reed gave way to Kelly, who yielded run-scoring singles to Didi Gregorius and Todd Frazier and a sacrifice fly from Ronald Terreyes.
Before the inning was out, the Yankees sent 11 men to the plate. The loss brought the Yankees to within 3.5 games of the first-place Sox, who dropped to 3-7 against New York this season.
In the top of the ninth, Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded with no out and Andrew Benintendi's sacrifice fly to the warning track scored Jackie Bradley Jr. from third, but on the throw in from outfielder Aaron Hicks, third baseman Todd Frazier cut the throw and tagged Eduardo Nunez attempting to advance to third.
The Sox had gotten six shutout innings from Eduardo Rodriguez and two homers -- a two-run shot by Hanley Ramirez in the first and a solo blast by Benintendi in the fifth -- to create a 3-0 lead.
But the Red Sox' offense dried up after that, with only two hits over the final four innings.
GAME NO.: 115
WHO: Red Sox (65-49) vs New York Yankees (60-53)
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Yankee Stadium
TV: NESN
RADIO: WEEI (93.7 FM)
PITCHERS: Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 4.08) vs. Jaime Garcia (0-1, 9.64)
BOX SCORE: MLB Gameday
SERIES TO DATE: Yankees lead 6-3, with two series wins -- one home, one away -- and a split of a four-game series at Fenway last month.
WHERE THINGS STAND: The Sox are the hottest team in the game, with eight straight wins and 10 in their last 12. They lead the Yankees by 4.5 games in the A.L. East. This is the first of three series over the next four weekends between the rivals.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: It's far too early to think about the Sox doing enough damage to pull away in the division. Even a series sweep would give them a 7.5 game lead with seven weeks to play, and there would be seven games between the two remaining. Still, the Red Sox can make life difficult for the Yankees simply by winning the series and adding to their current lead. Despite some big moves in July (Garcia, Todd Frazier, David Robertson), the Yankees have scuffled some in recent weeks, with a 15-12 record since the All-Star break.
STAT OF NOTE: The Sox have been successful in 14 of their last 15 stolen base attempts and 34 of their last 40 (85 percent) dating back to June 26.
LINEUPS:
RED SOX
Nunez 2B
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Ramirez 1B
Young DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Bradley Jr. CF
YANKEES
Hicks LF
Sanchez DH
Judge RF
Gregorius SS
Frazier 3B
Cooper 1B
Ellsbury CF
Torreyes 2B
Romine C
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- David Price had what John Farrell his "best throw day'' since going on the DL last month. Price long-tossed from a distance of 120 feet, then later shortened up the distance and spun some breaking balls for the first time. "That was the goal, the design for today,'' Farrell said. "We'll see how he is (Saturday) and that will determine what in the throwing program will be next.''
- Carson Smith is expected to throw an inning in relief for Pawtucket Saturday. Smith has made two appearances to date -- one with Portland and one with Pawtucket. "He's come out of those feeling fine, as far as his arm goes,'' reported Farrell. "I think, more than anything, he's getting back into pitching shape, so there's going to be some general soreness that he's going to experience. He hasn't pitched in a game for a year and a half (following Tommy John surgery). We're going to need the rehab time here to get him back in full swing.''
- On one hand, it's hard to criticize someone who has thrown four shutout innings and allowed just one hit. One the other, there's something very frustrating about watching someone need almost 20 pitches per inning. Eduardo Rodriguez represents both ends of that equation. He was sleep-inducing in the first inning, with two walks and a glacial pace. Since then, he's been a tiny bit more efficient and has worked a little quicker. It's baffling that Rodriguez doesn't attack hitters more with the stuff he has. He challenged Aaron Judge with a runner on second and two out and got him to swing through a 94 mph four-seamer. If only he could bring that approach more often.
- When Mookie Betts was taken out of the leadoff spot in Tampa, it was with the stated intention of trying to bring him to the plate with more runners on base. But perhaps an unstated goal was to get him going a bit. He's had three good at-bats tonight -- a walk in the first, a sharp single to left in the third and a rocket of a lineout in the fifth.