All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Yankees, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Seabold rocked, then hurt: Connor Seabold's start wasn't nearly as good as his last. Seabold fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, allowed another run in the second and then two more in the third. He consistently fell behind hitters, putting himself in dangerous counts and allowed a three-run homer to Josh Donaldson. Seabold lamented that he wasn't able to throw any of his pitches consistently for strikes, and made a few mistakes by leaving his changeup over the middle of the plate. He felt some soreness in his forearm, prompting his removal from the game in the third, but after the game, Seabold didn't appear too concerned with the injury.
Sox do some damage again: For the second straight night, the Sox hit the ball hard against an accomplished starting pitcher. On Thursday, they hung five runs on Gerrit Cole, and Friday night, they banged around Nestor Cortes for four runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings, forcing the Yankees to go to their bullpen early. After spotting the Yanks a 9-2 lead, the Sox chipped away with two in the fourth and another in the sixth. But too often, they failed to take advantage of some scoring chances. In the fourth, with two runs already in, they had Christian Vazquez up with the bases loaded, but the catcher struck out to strand three. Then, in the sixth, having scored another, they filled the bases one more time only to have Trevor Story pop-up, leaving another three runners aboard. For the game, the Sox left 12 and were just 2-for-9 with RISP.
Devers chosen as AL starter: Just as the game began, Major League Baseball announced that Rafael Devers had been chosen as the starter at third base for the American League All-Star Game, to be held at Dodger Stadium on July 19. It marked the second straight year that Devers was voted by fans to be the starter at third. "Of course I'm super happy to be elected to be the starting third baseman,'' said Devers. "I want to thank the fans who voted for me and put me in that position. That's a position that every player wants to be in.'' Devers, who missed two games earlier in the week with some back soreness and a tight hamstring, came out of the game in the fourth inning with a lower back strain that was tweaked when he chased a foul pop-up near the stands. Alex Cora said Devers would remain out of the lineup Saturday night in an effort to get the back situation under control
TURNING POINT
For the second straight night, a big defensive miscue did in the Red Sox. In the series opener, Franchy Cordero dropped a routine infield popup, leading to a run. On Friday, the problem came in right field in the third inning when Christian Arroyo couldn't track a fly ball hit by Joey Gallo. The play happened at dusk, and once the ball went above the ballpark lights, Arroyo lost it, gesturing wildly as the ball fell about 40 feet behind him, near the warning track. Two baserunners scored and only a strong relay throw from Trevor Story prevented Gallo from racking up a three-run inside-the-park homer.
TWO UP
Rob Refsnyder: Getting a start against a lefty starting pitcher, Refsnyder had a huge night, collecting hits in each of his four plate appearances (three singles and a double), tying a career-high for hits in one game.
J.D. Martinez: Martinez seems to be slowly emerging from a long slump. He had three hits and reached base four times, the eighth game he's done so this season.
TWO DOWN
Xander Bogaerts: It was a rough night at the plate for Bogaerts, who was 0-for-4 in addition to being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning. He stranded four baserunners.
Alex Verdugo: After a torrid stretch on the recent road trip, Verdugo has cooled considerably of late, and took an 0-for-4 Friday night.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Just about everything. If I had to sum it all up in one word, I'd have to say 'bad.' '' Connor Seabold, asked what he would have liked to have done differently.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox have lost four straight and six of their last eight.
* The Red Sox began the season 18-3 in games in which they hit multiple homers, but have lost their last four such games.
* Rob Refsnyder improved his average to .462 (12-for-26) against lefties this season.
* Trevor Story has hit five homers in his last nine games at Fenway.
* Jackie Bradley Jr. became the second Red Sox position player to pitch in a game this season. Kevin Plawecki was the other.
UP NEXT
The teams play the third game of the series tonight at 7:15 p.m., with RHP Kutter Crawford (2-2, 5.04) going for the Red Sox, opposed by LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-2, 3.19)