The Red Sox season continued to unravel Monday as the team dropped its third straight to the New York Yankees, blanked 5-0. It marked the fifth time this year that the Sox had been shut out.
Eduardo Rodriguez pitched a gem, limiting the Yankees to a run over six innings while striking out nine, but the bullpen couldn't keep the game close.
The Yankees beat up on rookie reliever Darwinzon Hernandez in the seventh, scoring three times to snap a streak of eight straight scoreless appearances.
The loss officially eliminated the Red Sox from contention for the A.L. East title, which the Sox had won each of the last three seasons.
WHO: Red Sox (76-67) vs. New York Yankees (94-50)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: NY 2-1
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: NY 13-5
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (17-5, 3.81) vs. LHP James Paxton (12-6, 4.16)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLBN; WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:21 After eight straight scoreless appearances by Hernandez, he gets cuffed around for three runs on three hits in just a third of an inning, sending his ERA from 2.83 to 3.72.
9:12 That's it for Rodriguez, who won't take a step closer to 20 wins tonight. He leaves trailing 1-0, allowing a solo homer over six innings while walking one and striking out 9. He threw 117 pitches, 72 for strikes. Darwinzon Hernandez on for the seventh.
8:35 Rodriguez falls behind Austin Romine 2-and-0 then throw a four-seamer on which Romine extends his arms and hits into the right field box seats for a solo homer, giving the Yanks a 1-0 lead.
8:26 Sox cut down a run at the plate when Rafael Devers fields a grounder and throws home to erase Encarnacion.
8:15 Luke Voit hits a booming double high off the wall in left-center. Jackie Bradley Jr. handles the carom well and unleashes a strong throw to the middle of the infield, keeping Edwin Encarnacion at third.
7:40 Eduardo Rodriguez sharp early, retiring six of the first seven hitters he's faced, including four by strikeout.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Vazquez C
Travis 1B
Holt 2B
Hernandez LF
Bradley CF
YANKEES
LeMaheiu 2B
Judge RF
Torres SS
Encarnacion 1B
Voit DH
Gardner CF
Urshela 3B
Maybin LF
Romine C
WHAT'S UP: The Sox have dropped two in a row and five of their last nine....Among rookie relievers with least 25 innings pitched, three of the eight lowest ERAs are Sox relievers: Darwinzon Hernandez (second at 2.83); Josh Taylor (third at 2.91) and Marcus Walden (eighth at 3.38). Hernandez has a stretch of eight straight scoreless appearances...In his last 40 outings, Taylor has a 1.88 ERA and is unscored upon in 17 of his last 18 appearances…..Walden has a 2.45 ERA in his last 26 outings...The Sox are sixth in homers with 225, 13 away from their franchise record of 238 set in 2003...The Sox are on pace to hit .254....The Sox have at least one homer in 38 of their last 40 games, hitting 73 in that span...The Sox also lead the majors in doubles with 317. They're second in batting average (272), OBP (.343), and extra-base hits (566) and fourth in runs scored (813) and OPS (.821)….Rafael Devers leads MLB with 82 extra-base hits and is second in total bases (323), runs (116) and hits (179)….Mookie Betts could become the sixth player ever to hit 30 or more homers, 40 or more doubles, and five or more triples in three different seasons. The five who have done it -- Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein and Rogers Hornsby -- are each in the Hall of Fame...Betts has reached base in 22 straight games....Christian Vazquez is hitless in his last 11 at-bats...Sam Travis is 0-for-14...In his last four starts, Eduardo Rodriguez is 4-0 with a 1.03 ERA...Since July 1, he's 9-1 with a 2.52 ERA....The Sox are 12-1 in Rodriguez's starts at Fenway and 22-7 overall in his 29 starts...He's gone at least five innings in 23 straight appearances...Gleyber Torres is 4-for-12 with two homers in his career against Rodriguez...Aaron Judge is 2-for-17....J.D. Martinez is 7-for-15 with two homers lifetime against James Paxton....Jackie Bradley Jr. is 5-for-13.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Alex Cora spelled out the rotation for the upcoming series in Toronto, with Nathan Eovaldi going Tuesday, Jhoulys Chacin Wednesday and TBA Thursday. There's still no firm timetable for a return to the rotation for David Price.
- David Ortiz made a triumphant return to Fenway Park Monday night, throwing out the first pitch prior to the game. It was Ortiz's first public appearance since June, when he was critically injured in a shooting in his native Dominican Republic. He required a long hospital stay, but has been home for the last few weeks. After jogging to the mound, he thanked the Red Sox family and Red Sox fans for their help in his recovery, then zipped a pitch to former teammate Jason Varitek.