Say goodbye to the yellow uniform tops and the powder blue caps.
The Red Sox saw their seven-game winning streak end in emphatic fashion as the New York Yankees jumped on them for seven runs in the first three innings and cruised to an 8-3 shellacking, The win moved the Yankees to within a game of the Sox in the race for the top wild card spot in the American League.
Nathan Eovaldi was shelled for seven runs in his shortest outing of the year.
Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole held the Sox off the board until Rafael Devers cranked a three-run homer in the sixth, Cole's final inning of work.
WHO Red Sox (88-55) vs. New York Yankees (86-67)
WHEN: 7: 10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 10-6
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (10-8, 3.58) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (15-8, 3.03)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
YANKEES
LeMahieu 3B
Rizzo 1B
Judge RF
Stanton DH
Gallo LF
Torres 2B
Urshela SS
Gardner CF
Higashioka C
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Schwarber 1B
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Verdugo LF
Renfroe RF
Vazquez C
Iglesias 2B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B7: Fenway temporarily comes alive as the Sox get two on and send pinch-hitter Bobby Dalbec to the plate in favor of Kyle Schwarber vs. lefty Wandy Peralta, but Dalbec goes down swinging, stranding two.
T7: Martin Perez has his fifth pitch clubbed into the CF bleachers by Gleyber Torrese
B6: Rafael Devers just lofted a flyball into the RF box seats for a three-run homer, and this one just got a little more interesting.
T6: The velocity has been a little better for Barnes tonight -- he's been 94-95 mph with his fastball, up a tick or two from his last outing. His final pitch of the inning is a called third strike, registering at 96 mph.
T6: It's come to this for Matt Barnes -- a mop=-up sixth inning assignment in the middle of a blowout.
B4: First hit of the night for the Red Sox -- an opposite-field, line drive double for J.D. Martinez.
T3: Brutal misplay by Kyle Schwarber, who allows a routine pop-up near the mound to drop a foot behind him, leading to yet another run.
T3: That's all for Eovaldi, who lasts 2.2 IP, his shortest outing of the season. Hirokazu Sawamura on.
T3: Not a good night for Eovaldi. After recovering with a quick, seven-pitch 1-2-3 inning in the second, he's getting pounded again here in the third. Following a double high off The Wall to Anthony Rizzo and a walk to Judge, he has a cutter, down and in, driven into the home bullpen and the Yanks' lead is quickly doubled.
T1: Rocky first inning for Nate Eovaldi, who allows three runs on four hits. Not a lot of soft contact, either. He'll need to make some adjustments. He's yet to get a swing or miss or any of his pitches.
T1: Three straight hard hits from the Yankees, topped by a double to straightaway center by Aaron Judge and the Yankees grab a quick 1-0 lead.
WHAT'S UP: At 88-65 (.575), the Red Sox rank 3rd in the AL and 6th in the majors in win percentage. The Sox are 23 games above .500, matching their season high (also 62-39 and 63-40). Since 8/20, the Sox are 7-2-1 in series and 19-11 (.633) in games...They are 13-6 (.684) in September. .... The Red Sox own the AL’s longest active winning streak (7 games), their 3rd-longest of the season (9-0 from 4/5-14, 8-0 from 6/25-7/2). The only other teams with 3 winning streaks of 7+ games this season are the Dodgers and A’s. The only other seasons since 1950 in which the Sox had 3 win streaks of 7+ games were 1978, 1990, and 2018....The Red Sox have scored 6+ runs in each of their last 7 games, their longest streak since April 2018... They have had a longer streak only 5 times in franchise history, most recently an 8-game stretch in August 2005. This is only the 6th time the Sox have ever won as many as 7 consecutive games and scored 6+ runs in each of them (1st time since 1990)...They have had a longer streak only once (10 straight in July 1975). ....The Red Sox are 6-1 in their Nike MLB City Connect Series uniforms...They wore them in each of their last 5 games, as well as on 4/17 and 4/18 (Game 1). The uniforms adopt colors that honor the spirit of Patriots’ Day weekend, featuring “Boston” in a stencil font across the chest paying tribute to the Boylston Street finish line...The numbers ‘617’ (Fenway’s area code) appear within a racing bib, honoring one of the city’s most iconic annual sports traditions. ....The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (324) and XBH (551) and rank 4th in runs per game (5.2), 3rd in AVG (.262), 2nd in SLG (.452), and 3rd in OPS (.781). The Sox rank 9th in MLB with 205 HR...They have homered in 26 of their last 28 games; in that time (beginning 8/23), they rank 3rd in MLB with 48 HR. The Sox lead MLB with 38 HR with at least 2 runners on base (35 three-run, 3 grand slams). ....In their last 40 games (beginning 8/8), the Sox lead the majors in AVG and OPS with runners in scoring position (.314/.936)...In their 113 games prior, they ranked 17th in AVG and 18th in OPS with RISP (.252/.744). The Sox are slugging an MLB-best .441 against relief pitchers. ....The Sox lead the majors in 2-strike RBI this season (320), 43 more than any other team. With 2 strikes, the Sox also lead MLB in XBH (201)...They lead MLB in HR hit in counts of 0-2 (18) and 1-2 (27). The Sox lead MLB in runs scored with 2 outs (322)... With RISP & 2 outs, they lead the majors in OPS (.841).....The Red Sox entered today with MLB’s largest increase in win % from 2020 (.400) to 2021 (.575). Boston’s .426 win % in 2012 (69-93) is the club’s lowest ever prior to a postseason campaign. Under the current 10-team playoff format, which began in 2012, the Red Sox have never played in the Wild Card Game...They won the AL East in each of their 4 Postseason appearances during that time (2013, ‘16-18). The Sox have reached the Postseason without winning the division 7 times (1998-99, 2003-05, 2008-09). 7 teams have won the World Series without winning their division, including 2 that played in a Wild Card Game (2014 Giants and 2019 Nationals). ....In home games, the Red Sox lead MLB in runs per game (5.9), AVG (.282), and OPS (.832)...Their .628 win % at home ranks T-2nd in the AL and T-4th in MLB. The Sox started the season 10-11 at home but are since 39-18 (.684), including 30-12 (.714) in their last 42 since 6/14...They have won their last 6 home games. In their last 22 home games (beginning 8/11), the Sox have scored 173 runs (7.9 per game) and hit 39 HR....The Red Sox have 46 come-from-behind wins, most in the majors (Rays-45). ... Beginning 9/8, the Red Sox own the lowest ERA in the majors (2.67; 32 ER/107.2 IP)...In those 12 games, Sox pitchers allowed 1 or 0 HR 10 times (2 HR twice). This is the Sox’ 3rd-lowest ERA over any 12-game span in 2021 (2.27 from 6/24-7/5, 2.62 from 6/23-7/4). In their last 12 games, the Sox own MLB’s lowest bullpen ERA (1.79; 10 ER/50.1 IP). ....The Red Sox are 13-2 in the last 15 games started by Nathan Eovaldi or Chris Sale (11-1 in last 12)... In 7 starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, Sale is 5-0 with a 2.57 ERA (35.0 IP, 10 ER, 8 BB, 39 SO). Eovaldi leads qualified AL pitchers in WAR (5.5) and BB/9.0 IP (1.66)...In his last 8 starts, he has a 2.27 ERA (12 ER/47.2 IP) with 64 SO and 8 BB....Red Sox outfielders lead MLB with 42 assists, their most in a season since 1987 (47)...Only 2 others teams have as many as 30 (TEX-33, MIA-31). Hunter Renfroe leads MLB with 16 OF assists; Alex Verdugo has 9 and Kiké Hernández has 8...Hernández ranks T-3rd among CF in defensive runs saved (14)....The Red Sox have used 56 players this season, tied for their most in franchise history (also 2012). The Sox have used 33 pitchers, their most in franchise history...That does not include 4 position players who have pitched (Araúz, Arroyo, Gonzalez, Plawecki). ...The Red Sox feature 6 players who have hit 20+ HR this season...They join the Blue Jays as the only teams featuring 3 players with 90+ RBI.
NOTES:
* For the second straight game, Kyle Schwarber was at first and Bobby Dalbec was on the bench to begin the game Friday. Facing Gerrit Cole, Alex Cora chose Schwarber's ability to hit high velocity rather than Dalbec, who has been more effective against breaking balls. Cora also likes what he's seen from Schwarber at first base. "I know everybody talks about that play in Seattle (when Schwarber made a costly error),''' said Cora, "But he's been solid. He's moving around and getting used to it. He's been really good. We're very pleased with the progress and we feel comfortable putting him at first base.''
* Garrett Whitlock (pectoral strain) is improving, though he hasn't done any throwing since being place on the IL Tuesday. "We'll map it out (on a throwing program) as soon the medical staff feels like we can move ahead with the next step.''
* Cora was asked about getting support for A.L. Manager of the Year. "It would be great, but I'm not thinking about that. I think there's a lot of good managers in the big leagues who've done an amazing job with the group that they have. There's (Kevin Cash) with Tampa, Tony (La Russa) with the White Sox, A.J.(Hinch) with Detroit...If my name is mentioned, that would be great, but really, I'm just happy to be back and happy to be leading this group to where we're at and hopefully we can accomplish the goals we set at the start of the season.''
* Matt Barnes has seen his season go sideways in recent weeks, with his last few appearances poor. "We've got to keep working with him,'' said Cora. "Obviously, there's a few things that need to get better, starting with pounding the strike zone, That was something he did early in the season. We believe when he's right, he's one of the best relievers in the big leagues. I think velocity has to do with it. We saw a few 92-93 mph in the last one. The gap between the fastball and his other pitches is not as big as it was earlier in the season. He has a few things, mechanically, that aren't there yet. But at the end of the day, he needs to get back to being aggressive in the strike zone and being ahead in the count.''