Yanks strike for big hit while Red Sox come up empty

NEW YORK – Sometimes, for all its complexities, the game of baseball comes down a pretty simple variable: the ability to get a hit in the big spot.

On Saturday, the Yankees did, and, in what has become a season-long habit against New York, the Red Sox did not. Repeatedly.
Tied 1-1, the game turned in the sixth inning.  Drew Pomeranz had allowed only one run through the first five innings and went back out for the sixth with his pitch count in the low 90s. In short order, he walked leadoff hitter Didi Gregorius, then yielded a single to center to Chase Headley, who had smacked a solo homer in the second for the first Yankee run.

Pomeranz attempted to get a four-seam fastball in on the hands of Matt Holliday, but saw it get too much of the center of the plate, from where Holliday launched deep into the left field seats for a three-run homer. That gave the Yanks some separation, and ultimately, a 5-1 victory over the Red Sox.

“I beat him (inside) a few times (in the past), I think,’’ said Pomeranz on the approach to Holliday. “I think it was a pretty good pitch but it what was he was looking for and put a good swing on it.’’

John Farrell defended his decision to stay with Pomeranz to start the sixth, and, later, to pitch to Holliday. The plan was designed to have Pomeranz pitch to Gregorius, then keep the switch-hitting Headley on the right side, then Holliday and the left-handed hitting Greg Bird.

But the move backfired.

“I thought he was still in good shape,’’ Farrell said. “I talked to him after the fifth, when he came out, and he still felt good. In a matter of six or seven pitches, he had the walk, the base hit and then the three-run homer. But I thought he was still in good shape going out for the sixth.’’

Meanwhile, the Red Sox were unable to do much at all against Masahiro Tanaka, who expertly commanded his trademark split-finger fastball. It took until the fourth inning before the Sox had so much as a single (Andrew Benintendi) against him. Through seven-plus innings, the Sox hit the ball hard about three times, and twice, those resulted in deep outs off the bat of Hanley Ramirez

“We couldn’t get anything going offensively,’’ conceded Farrell.

The Sox were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and for the season, are a woeful .148 against the Yanks in such situations. In Yankee Stadium, the results are even worse (.118). In this series, the Sox are hitless 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

“I have no idea what the answer to that is,’’ shrugged Mookie Betts. “It’s not like we’re not trying. We’re going out and doing what we can. It may just be the accumulation of some hard-hit balls that go right at people, mixed in with some not-very-good at-bats.’’

The bug has even bitten Betts, who, not long ago, was hitting over .400 with RISP. That number prompted Farrell to move Betts out of the leadoff spot to take advantage of the outfielder’s ability to come through with men on base.

Instead, Betts has seen a reversal of fortune and is cooled off to the point where he’s now down to .372.

“Mookie continues to work to gain some consistency in terms of timing at the plate,’’ said Farrell. “There’s at times, pitches we’ve seen in the past where he’s turned on a little bit more that might not be there right now. But still, (he’s a) key component to our offense.’’

Since being moved out of the top spot, Betts is hitting just .226 with no homers and nine RBI in 24 games.

Asked if Betts might benefit from a few days off – as Benintendi did last month, and, the Sox hope, Bogaerts might soon – Farrell didn’t indicate that was being contemplated.

“I haven’t gotten to that point,’’ Farrell said. “He impacts the game in so many different ways. The defensive side is a key component and when he does get on base, he’s a threat, obviously. ‘’

For now, however, there aren’t enough baserunners, or nearly enough hits to enable them to score.