Gary Sanchez snapped a 3-3 tie with a two-run homer in the fifth and the Yankees bullpen locked it down for the rest of the way, sending the Red Sox to a 5-3 defeat, their fourth straight loss and fourth loss in as many tries against the Yankees this season.
Sandy Leon drove in two runs with two singles and the Sox got a solo homer from Xander Bogaerts, but were otherwise 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Rick Porcello failed to get through the fifth inning. New York starter Domingo German, meanwhile, was lifted in the fourth, but six Yankee relievers blanked the Sox the rest of the way.
WHO: Red Sox at New York Yankees
WHEN: 7:15 p.m.
WHERE: Yankee Stadium
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: New York 3-0
SERIES TO DATE: New York 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Rick Porcello (4-4, 4.41) vs. Domingo German (9-1. 3.43)
TV/RADIO: Fox/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:05 Hard-hit single to right could have resulted in an out at first as Betts charged the ball. But Chavis didn't think to cover first for the throw that likely would have gotten Morales.
9:07 Porcello throws a slider off the plate -- the pitch was clearly a ball -- Gary Sanchez lunges and is powerful enough to hit it out to right-center.
8:59 Wasted opportunity for the Red Sox, who get the leadoff man on and have second-and-third with one out, and can't score. Familiar story: they're 2-for-10 with RISP with seven baserunners stranded over the first five innings.
8:46 Rick Porcello has settled into a nice groove, having retired the last eight after allowing six hits to the first 10 hitters he faced.
8:39 That's it for German, who is lifted with two out in the fourth, as Chad Green comes in. That's the luxury of having the deep bullpen that the Yankees have -- no second-thoughts about going to a reliever this early.
8:36 Just the way the Red Sox drew it up, no doubt: two run-scoring singles from Sandy Leon, who came into the game 1-for-16. That's Leon's third multi-RBI game this season and second in the last week.
8:22 Bogaerts clears out a change up in and the Red Sox get back to within a run.
8:00 Porcello appeared to get too much of the plate with a two-seamer and D.J. LeMahieu drives a single up the middle, scoring two.
7:57 Gio Urhsela with a nice at-bats, slicing a single the other way, scoring Gleyber Torres to tie the game.
7:41 Sandy Leon, with just eight RBI on the season, sends a single through the middle of the infield, scoring Xander Bogaerts from second.
7:38 Michael Chavis continues to show a hole in his swing with high heat. Can't catch up to fastball up in the zone and strikes out for the first out.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Martinez DH
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Holt 2B
Chavis 1B
Bradley CF
Leon C
YANKEES
LeMahieu 2B
Voit 1B
Hicks CF
Sanchez C
Torres SS
Morales DH
Frazier RF
Urshela 3B
Gardner LF
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox dropped the series opener Friday, 4-1 and have lost three straight and five of the last seven...Friday's loss left the Sox with a 6-13 record in the first game of series.....Boston is just 7-19 in their last 26 games in New York and have dropped seven of the last eight series....Rafael Devers has hit safely in his last 11 games, the longest of his career and the second-longest active streak among all A.L. players....Oakland's Ramon Laureano has a 13-game streak...Devers has at least one extra-base hit in nine of those 11 games...For the month of May, Devers hit .351 (40-for-114) with eight homers, 24 RBI and a 1.021 OPS...He led the AL in hits and go-ahead RBI (eight) and tied for the league lead in runs scored (25)....He also was tied for fifth in homers, tied for fourth in RBI and tied for second in extra-base hits (16)….Jackie Bradley Jr. is 7-for-12 in his last four games and has reached safely in the last 11 games, hitting .350 with a 1.210 OPS....In that stretch, he's raised his batting average 50 points and his OPS 191 points....In his last 18 games, Xander Bogaerts is hitting .370 (27-for-73) with 14 RBI and 20 runs scored...Bogaerts needs just 17 more starts at shortstop to tie Rico Petrocelli (762) for seventh most in the club's history...In the last 37 games Mookie Betts is slashing .329/.441/.527 with 11 doubles and six homers. He has more walks (29) than strikeouts (22) in that span and has scored 32 runs...Andrew Benintendi is just 2-for-12 in his last four games...Brock Holt has hit safely in all three games he's started since coming off the IL....Michael Chavis is hitless over his last eight at-bats....J.D. Martinez is 0-for-11.....The Sox are 7-1 in Rick Porcello's last eight starts...In that span, Porcello is 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA, while limiting hitters to a .210 batting average...Since joining the Red Sox, Porcello is 7-5 with a 2.54 ERA....He's allowed zero or one run in six of his last seven starts against New York....Porcello has pitched through the sixth inning in all but one of his last seven starts....Aaron Hicks is 4-for-32 (.125) with eight strikeouts lifetime against Porcello while Kendrys Morales is 9-for-44 (.205) with eight strikeouts....Brett Gardner is 16-for-56 (.286) with two homers off Porcello....Benintendi is 2-for-2 against Domingo German while Martinez is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Earlier Saturday, the Red Sox placed first baseman Steve Pearce (lower back) on the 10-day DL and recalled 1b Sam Travis. Both Boston first basemen are on the IL now with back injuries, with Mitch Moreland sent there earlier this week. In the interim the Sox have Travis, Michael Chavis and Brock Holt available for first base.
- Alex Cora announced Saturday afternoon that he's restoring Mookie Betts to the leadoff spot and dropping Andrew Benintendi to second -- the combination that worked well last season. Cora had made the switch in the offseason, hoping to provide more RBI opportunities for Betts. But that hasn't worked as anticipated, so it's back to Plan A. "I just talked to Mookie and told him he's going to lead off for the rest of the season,'' said Cora. "I just told him and he was cool with it. (The decision) was not that tough. There were certain things that we were able to do offensively last year with the combo that we weren't able to do (this season).''