All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 10-3 loss to the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Another lopsided loss: The Red Sox haven't merely lost five straight games -- they've been blown out in most of them. Friday marked the fifth straight time that they had given up at least eight runs in a game. In the last five games, they've given up an incredible 52 runs, while being held to just 25. The Sox needed six pitchers to get through eight innings and starter Colten Brewer threw 73 pitches while recording just eight outs. The Red Sox never led in the game. True, they were facing one of the best pitchers in the game in Gerrit Cole, but in four of Cole's seven innings, the Sox went down 1-2-3 and in another inning, they sent just three batters to the plate, thanks to a caught stealing.
Verdugo only one to muster offense: Cole allowed just four hits in his seven innings, but Alex Verdugo made sure that one of them counted, turning on a curveball down-and-in in the fourth inning and golfing it into the second deck in right field to cut into what had been a 2-0 New York lead. It was Verdugo's fourth homer of the season, tying him for the team lead and extended his hitting streak to five games. Verdugo may not prefer to hit leadoff, but with Andrew Benintendi out for a stretch of time, he's getting some opportunity, and if nothing else, provides some energy at the top of the order.
Rivalry dead for now: The Red Sox are now 0-4 against the Yankees this season and have lost eight straight at Yankee Stadium dating back to last season. Since the start of the 2019 season, the Red Sox are just 1-12 in the Bronx. "It's tough,'' said Verdugo. "We all want to win and we're all competitive so when the results aren't there, it's a little bit tough.'' In the four games played between the teams in 2020, the Red Sox have led for only two innings, total. It was obvious from the start of the season that the talent gap between the longtime rivals was growing in the Yankees' favor, but the first four meetings have shown that chasm is even wider than expected.
TURNING POINT
A mental mistake by Ryan Brasier with two outs in the fifth paved the way for a big inning for the Yankees, who scored three times to break open what he been a 2-1 game at the time.
ONE UP
Austin Brice: After experiencing his first poor outing the other night against the Rays, Brice rebounded with an inning and a third of scoreless ball in relief of starter Colten Brewer, with three of the four outs coming via strikeouts.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: Martinez has shown signs of breaking out at home with two homers in the previous four games, but he struck out four times -- including three times on just 12 pitches against Gerrit Cole.
Dylan Covey: Covey is trying to earn a more significant role with the staff, but nights like this -- two innings, four hits allowed and three runs yielded -- aren't going to help him in that quest.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I'm certainly not going to go there. But we need to play better.'' Ron Roenicke, when asked if the current streak was embarrassing.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Cole won his 20th straight decision, dating back to May of 2019.
- The four-strikeout game by J.D. Martinez was the seventh of his career.
- Since the start of 2019, the Red Sox are 5-18 against the Yankees
- The Red Sox saw their streak of successful replay challenges comes to an end at five when appealing a stolen base by the Yanks.