Bedard: After getting blown out, stunned Yankees are ripe for the taking

Trailing the Red Sox by 5.5 games in the AL East entering a four-game set in Boston on Thursday night, the Yankees had a chance to a make a statement and get New Englanders a little nervous about the Olde Towne Team's perch at the top of the standings before Labor Day.

After a 15-7 shellacking at the hands of Alex Cora's bashers — I swear I can still hear the echo of the Red Sox's 19 thwacks bouncing around an empty Fenway Park long after the final pitch — the division race may well come down to Luis Severino's start tonight against Rick Porcello.

Or at least that's what it sounded like from Yankees manager Aaron Boone after his team took a 4-0 lead after 1.5 innings and was outscored 15-3 the rest of the way.

"This is a long, arduous season, you’re going to hit these little bumps in the road where it’s difficult and you’re up against it a little bit," Boone said. "But we give the ball to one of the best in the game tomorrow in Seve. He goes out and does his thing, we’re reset and ready to go."

Yeah, but what if he doesn't?

There's no question that Severino, for a long stretch, was one of the best pitchers in the game as he went 13-2 with a 1.98 ERA in his first 18 starts of the season.

But since then, the 24-year-old is 1-2 with an 8.84 ERA in his past four starts.

Let's not forget the Yankees, overall, are a borderline disaster at this point.

On Thursday, they trailed the AAA Orioles 7-1 after three innings at home as starter Sonny Gray was booed off the mound and smiled about it. After the Yankees lost 7-5, Gray was removed from the starting rotation.

J.A. Happ, one of the Yankees' big acquisitions at the deadline, can't even make his scheduled start on Saturday against the Sox because he has, get this, hand, foot and mouth disease. He'll go on the disabled list and Boone admitted the pitching is so stretched out — thanks in large part to Jonathan Holder and Chad Green allowing eight runs and retiring two batters in the fourth inning (Saturday's likely starter, Luis Cessa, was forced to go 3.2 innings on Thursday night) — New York will have to pluck a starter from the minor leagues to pitch in the biggest series of the season to date.

Let's not forget the Yankees, who don't have a .300 in their current lineup, are already without stars Gary Sanchez (groin), Aaron Judge (wrist).

It's not hard to get the feeling that Yankees' season is close to unraveling. Boone, who seems out of his depth managing this club, was asked if he felt the need to speak to the team after what's gone on the past two days and with what's at stake.

"I talk to this team all the time, so nothing will change there," he said. "We’ll continue to compete. I have zero issue with the mindset of our guys and that we’ll be focused and ready to go.

"We’ve got Seve going tomorrow, excited to give him the ball and get him going. We’re rested for the most part at the backend, we just need to have an outing where we go deep in the game and all of a sudden change the narrative."

It's the Red Sox' job to keep the narrative right where it is.

They're already playing with house money now that Brian Johnson won a game that Chris Sale was supposed to start. The first six hitters in their lineup ripped the cover off the ball in Game 1, they certainly have a pitching advantage on Saturday with Nathan Eovaldi against a minor-leaguer (yeah, we know David Price is going on Sunday night ... first thing's first), the Red Sox are at home where they have MLB's best home record and have won 15 of 18, and they've won five of six overall.

The Red Sox schooled the Yankees on Thursday night, starting with Jackie Bradley Jr.'s dash and slide home where both the pitcher and third baseman botched the play. Twice the Red Sox stole bases when the Yankees' pitcher didn't even know what was going on. First baseman Greg Bird had a chance to turn a double play on a ground ball and wound up getting no outs. New York struck out 13 times in the game and 11 against Johnson, who gave up four runs by the time the Red Sox batted a second time.

In short, the Yankees are taking on water and looking for a lifeboat.

It's time for the Sox to sink them.