All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Winckowski pays for wildness: In Josh Winckowski's first start in the big leagues, he bemoaned his poor control and vowed to fix it. He made good on that promise, too -- until it came back to haunt him again Thursday night. Winckowski issued five walks in five innings of work and two of those walks eventually came around to score runs for the Yankees. Winckowski gave up five of the six runs on consecutive pitches in the third inning. The first four came on a grand slam by Josh Donaldson, and that was immediately followed by a solo homer from Aaron Hicks. Of the five walks, two were to No. 9 hitter Joey Gallo, who came into the game with a .157 batting average. Beyond the walks, Winckowski couldn't command his sinker, leaving too many up in the zone, including Donaldson's grand slam.
Devers does it again: All five of the Red Sox runs were produced by Rafael Devers. After drawing a walk in the first inning, Devers got the Red Sox on the scoreboard in the third with a two-run homer into the bullpen. In his next turn at bat, he homered into the center field bleachers for a three-run shot, bringing the Sox back to within a run. They got no closer. Devers has always hits Gerrit Cole well. He homered off him the first time they met this season, on Opening Day, and Devers also had three homers in 12 plate appearances against Cole in the 2021 season. Said Cole: "He's just been able to hit everything ... I mean, you're supposed to fail seven out of 10 times this gig. I don't know what the deal is.''
Remainder of lineup falters: If it hadn't been for Devers, the Red Sox might have been shut out -- and that's not hyperbole. The other eight starters -- and one pinch-hitter -- combined to go 3-for-28 against the Yankees. The only other hits were singles from Kevin Plawecki and Trevor Story and doubles from Franchy Cordero. Put another way: Devers reached base in three of his four plate appearances; in the five nnings in which Devers didn't hit, the Red Sox sent the minimum number of batters to the plate, including four 1-2-3 innings. The Red Sox are, again, getting almost nothing from their other key members in the lineup.
TURNING POINT
The winning run in the game came as a result of a muffed infield pop-up in the fifth inning. With two out and Aaron Hicks at third, Winckowski got Alex Trevino to hit a pop-up to the right of the mound. First baseman Franchy Cordero came in to make the play, but overran it some and couldn't recover, with the ball falling in behind him, as Trevino scored from third. Cordero is still learning the position, but that play has to be made 10 out of 10 timees.
ONE UP
Red Sox bullpen: It came too late to impact the outcome, but the Sox got four nearly perfect innings from their relievers, with just one baseriunner allowed to go with five strikeouts.
TWO DOWN
Jarren Duran: Duran was overmatched against Gerrit Cole, striking out swinging in all three matchups, then made it a four-K night when he went down on strikes against Wandy Peralta.
J.D. Martinez: The struggles continue for the veteran slugger, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and one walk.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I'm open to suggestions.'' Gerrit Cole on Rafael Devers, who has six career homers off him.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* John Schreiber racked up his 17th consecutive scoreless outing and has not allowed a hit in six of his last seven appearances.
* Kevin Plawecki scored two runs for the first time in a game this season.
* Rafael Devers had his second multi-homer game of the season and the 12th of his career.
* The Red Sox are 9-19 against teams from the East and 36-19 against all other opponents.
UP NEXT: The series continues Friday night with the Red Sox sending RHP Connor Seabold (0-1, 8.31) to the mound and the Yankees going with LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-2, 3.19) at 7:10 p.m.