If it's not one thing with the Red Sox, it's another.
If it's not the starting pitching, then it's been the offense. When they're not allowing too many runs, they're scoring too few.
On Sunday, as if demonstrating their ability to adapt, they unearned another way to lose: in the late innings, and just for good measure, as painfully as possible.
In an epic back-and-forth game with the Yankees, the Red Sox three times had taken the lead and three times had given it back. When Rafeal Devers homered deep into the vast expanse of empty right field bleachers in the bottom of the seventh, they were six outs away from averting a sweep and leaving New York with at least a semblance of their dignity intact.
Matt Barnes got two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth, but in bit of foreboding, walked No. 9 hitter Mike Tauchman. A stolen base and a single to right by D.J. LeMahieu later, the game was tied. But not for long. Aaron Judge, who likely wouldn't miss a very good pitch right now, exploded against a particularly bad one -- a hanging curveball, up-and-in -- and hit it 468 feet to put the Yankees ahead for good, 9-7.
468 feet for the lead.
BEAST MODE. pic.twitter.com/N31sbS6t9l
β MLB (@MLB) August 3, 2020