D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks each knocked in two runs each, sending the New York Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox, who lost for the third straight time.
Chris Sale was charged with all four runs over six innings. He recorded 10 strikeouts but dropped to 1-7 for the year.
The only Red Sox run came in the second when8 belted a solo homer.
WHO: Red Sox at New York Yankees
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Yankee Stadium
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: New York 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (1-6, 4.19) vs. JA Happ (4-3, 5.09)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:30 Strong inning from Ryan Brasier, who's trying to work on some mechanical issues after a poor outing against Cleveland last week. Brasier faced four hitters and struck out two.
9:06 That'll do it for Sale, who goes six and allows four runs on seven hits. Sale walked one and fanned 10, but wasn't as sharp as some recent outings.
8:43 LeMahieu again solves Sale, hitting this one a little better than the first. Big run-scoring double in the third, and now, a solo homer in the fifth.
8:38 Poor baserunning on the part of Eduardo Nunez, who's picked off second base to take the Red Sox out of the inning.
8:35 Sandy Leon's at-bats have been better of late, but not reflected tonight: two plate appearances, two strikeouts.
8:25 As they did the last time they faced him, the Yankees have managed to run up Sale's pitch count early. He's at 75 pitches after four innings, probably limiting him to just two more.
8:04 Strong at-bat by Aaron Hicks, who works Sale for seven pitches before lining a single to left, scoring two.
7:58 Sale leaves a slider up and pays for it -- run-scoring double for D.J LeMahieu, giving the Yankees two in scoring position with one out.
7:51 J.D. Martinez looked oddly out of sorts in each of his first two at-bats against J.A. Happ -- swinging at pitches out of the strike zone.
7:40 Steve Pearce replaced at first base by Michael Chavis. Pearce must have felt something with the swing his took in the top of the second.
7:32 The torrid month of May continues for Rafael Devers, who hits his ninth homer this month with a titanic shot to right.
7:26 Chris Sale's slider looks particularly lethal tonight -- good tilt, biting downward. Three hitters, three strikeouts.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Pearce 1B
Nunez 2B
Bradley CF
Leon C
YANKEES
LeMahieu 2B
Voit 1B
Hicks CF
Sanchez C
Torres SS
Morales DH
Urshela 3B
Maybin RF
Gardner LF
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox begin a seven-game road trip tonight having lost two in a row and are just 7-8 in their last 15 games...The Sox tied a season high with four homers Wednesday night...They've now hit 52 homers in the last 27 games, the third-most in baseball in that span...After failing to score as many as nine runs in any of their first 24 games, but have since done so 10 times in their last 32 games, including Tuesday night....The first six games between the teams this season will be played in the Bronx...The Sox lost a two-game series at Yankee Stadium last month...The next series will come at the end of June, when the Sox and Yanks play a two-game set in London for which the Red Sox will officially be the home team...The Red Sox are just 7-18 in their last 25 games in the New York and have lost seven of their last eight series there....During their current 18-10 stretch, the Red Sox lead all of MLB in average runs per game (6.52), batting average (.282) and OBP (.363)...They're also second in OPS in the stretch at (.857)….Jackie Bradley Jr. continued with his hot stretch Wednesday night, going 3-for-4...He's reached base in each of his last 10 games, during which he's hit .324 with nine extra-base hits and an OPS of 1.202...In that 10-game stretch his nine extra-base hits are the most of anyone in the game...Rafael Devers has a 10-game hitting streak and is hitting .391 in that span (18-for-46) with four homers, three doubles, a triple, 10 runs scored and nine RBI...In his last 30 games, Devers is hitting .364 with a 1.019 OPS....In his last 27 games against the Yankees, Andrew Benintendi is hitting .346 with five homers, 24 RBI and an OPS of .988....He's hit safely in 23 of those 27 games....Xander Bogaerts has posted multiple hits in each of his last three games...He's hitting .377 (26-for-69) in his last 17 games with an OPS of 1.078 with 14 RBI and 20 runs scored....In his last 36 games, Mookie Betts has compiled a slash line of .336/.445/.538 with six homers and 11 doubles. He's walked (28) more times than he's struck out (22) and has scored 32 runs...He leads the AL with 45 runs scored this season....In the month of May, Chris Sale has a 2.23 ERA while allowing opposing hitters a .140 batting average and a WHIP of .0.74...He's allowed four hits or fewer in each of his last six starts...He leads all MLB pitchers with strikeouts in May with 56 and has struck out 10 or more in five of his last seven starts....He's 6-5 with a 1.87 ERA in 18 career games against New York...Among Yankee regulars Gary Sanchez is 3-for-20 with eight strikeouts and Gio Urshela is 2-for-12...Meanwhile, Aaron Hicks is 8-for-25 (.320) in his career against Sale...Steve Pearce is 11-for-35 with six homers lifetime against Happ....Betts is just 7-for-37 (.189) against J.A. Happ and Bradley is 3-for-22 (.126) with seven strikeouts.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- The Red Sox placed RHP Hector Velazquez on the 10-day IL with a lower back strain and recalled RHP Mike Shawaryn to take his spot on the roster.
- After Thursday's rainout, the Sox have adjusted their rotation and will have Rick Porcello pitch Saturday and David Price Sunday. Meanwhile, Eduardo Rodriguez will be available out of the bullpen tonight and is likely to be the starter Tuesday in the first game in Kansas City.
- Nathan Eovaldi, who threw a simulated game Friday afternoon, will need at least one minor league rehab assignment before being activated and re-joining the rotation.
- Despite the bullpen's issues of late, Alex Cora dismissed out of hand the notion that Eovaldi could pitch in relief. Cora said Eovaldi re-signed with the Sox with the understanding that he would be a full-time starter. Also, Cora noted: "That fifth game is really important to us...Having the rotation, having guys go deep in games, that's how we operate here.''
- Tyler Thornburg, placed on the IL with a hip strain last week, threw on flat ground and was working on his mechanics, according to Cora.