All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 17-13 loss to the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Porcello bows out early: In his Red Sox career, Rick Porcello has been effective against the Yankees. Last year, as an example, he tossed a complete-game one-hitter against them. But he gave up five runs last month against them, and was shelled in Saturday's outing, putting up one of the worst outings of his career -- allowing six runs while recording just one out. Porcello made a handful of mistakes with his location, some with his changeup and others with breaking pitches and paid the predictable price. Worse, he missed chances to put some Yankees away. "I didn't execute two-strike pitches and they did what they do. I have no excuse other than I failed to execute those pitches. That's what I came down to. I take full responsibility. There's no excuse for it, it was an unacceptable performance, especially with where we are and the need for pitching to go deep into the game against a team we're chasing.'' Porcello surrendered four straight extra-base hits to the last four hitters he faced.
Chavis shines on international stage: There wasn't a lot of positive in this one for the Red Sox, but Michael Chavis was the exception. He belted a two-strike, two-out homer in the first to help key the Red Sox quick response in the bottom of the first, and then, in the seventh, as the Sox were clawing back a second time, hit another three-run homer. Like the first one, this one came after two were out and after he had strikes against him. "Good at-bats,'' said Alex Cora. "We've been talking about him controlling the strike zone and not expanding and he got some pitches that he could drive and put good swings on then. He stayed in the middle of the field, too, so that was a good sign.''
Injuries pile up: In addition to losing the game, the Red Sox lost some players over the course of the game. Xander Bogaerts felt cramping his calf as he tried to score from first on a double to right by J.D. Martinez, barely making it to third base. He was replaced at the top of the next inning by Eduardo Nunez. After the game, Cora was hopeful that the problem was merely the result of sweltering conditions -- temps were in the low 90s with excessive humidity -- and that Bogaerts would be recovered enough to play in the series finale Sunday afternoon. Three other Red Sox position players battling leg injuries were all removed over the course of the game as a precaution -- Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers and Brock Holt, the latter of whom had a hamstring injury suffered last Sunday.
TURNING POINT
It seems strange to cite something in the first inning in a game that featured 30 runs, but the inability of Michael Chavis to successfully chase down a foul pop-up by Luke Voit proved to be huge. There's an enormous amount of foul ground at London Stadium and Chavis probably didn't know much more room he had, taking his eye of the ball for an instant to check his surroundings. The ball dropped out of his glove as a result, and given another life, Voit doubled, delivering the first run for the Yankees. Instead of recording the second out of the inning, the Yankees went on to score five more times, chasing starter Rick Porcello and setting in motion a game in which the Red Sox would need to run through seven more pitchers.
ONE UP
Jackie Bradley Jr.: Bradley continued his offensive upsurge, with hits in each of his first four at-bats, including a homer to straightaway center to lead off the sixth.
TWO DOWN
Mike Shawaryn: The righthander, who has helped out of the bullpen, had the worst appearance of his young major league career, allowing eight runs in just 1.1 innings, watching his ERA jump from 3.18 to 8.53.
Mookie Betts: In a game where seemingly everyone hit, Betts had six plate appearances and just one hit -- a single to lead off the first.
QUOTE OF NOTE:
"Hopefully not.'' Alex Cora, asked if British fans left feeling this was a typical MLB game.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- This game was the first in 30 years in which both teams scored at least six runs in the first inning.
- Each team batted around in their batting order twice.
- The six runs in the first inning for the Red Sox was a season high.
- The 30 runs combined came one run shy of the most numbers of runs scored in a Red Sox-Yankee game, set in 2009.
- Michael Chavis set a career best with six RBI.
- The first inning included 92 pitches and took 58 minutes to complete.