Red Sox bats silenced by Luis Gil in a 4-1 loss to rival Yankees, losing ground in AL Wild Card race

Aaron Judge walked to the plate in the first inning, and with one violent swing, the Yankees’ captain crushed a 468-foot homer that gave New York a 1-0 lead and set the tone for a miserable night for the Red Sox.

Judge hammered his 47th homer of the season on the second pitch he saw from Lucas Giolito and, in the process, reached 362 homers in his 1,130th game, passing Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and taking sole possession of fourth place on the franchise's all-time list.

The blast off Judge’s bat was the longest homer the Sox allowed this season. It was also his 14th career home run at Fenway Park.

Outside of Judge’s first-inning home run, Yankees starter Luis Gil silenced the Red Sox’ bats. The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year carved up the Sox’ lineup, holding them hitless in six innings of work while walking four and striking out four batters.

It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Sox finally got their first hit. Nate Eaton belted a 380-foot solo home run to left field with two outs off Fernando Cruz to cut the Yankees’ lead down to 4-1.

Boston’s only other hit in the game came from Alex Bregman to lead off the eighth inning.

Gil (4-1) made his eighth start of the year after missing a chunk of the season with a lat injury. In the fifth inning, Carlos Narvaez received a leadoff walk from Gil, who then threw a wild pitch to move the Sox' catcher to second base. 

David Hamilton walked, which gave Boston runners on first and second base. However, Eaton popped out to the shortstop for the first out, Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging, and Jarren Duran lined out to left field to end the threat.

“Not much tonight,” Alex Cora said of his offense against the Yankees starter. “(Gil) changed speed, used his changeup a lot, and we couldn’t do much… In any game, you have to cash in. It really doesn’t matter who you’re playing. It’s something that, I think, the last few days, we’ve been lacking production with men in scoring position.”

Following the loss on Friday night, the Yankees now hold a 1 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox in the race for the American League’s top wild-card spot. This crucial series could help determine which club gets the home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Giolito was able to keep his offense in the game, allowing two runs (one earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits and one walk while striking out six. The right-hander recorded 14 swings-and-misses, according to Baseball Savant.

“He did a good job,” Cora said. “Obviously the interference put us in a bad spot there, but overall he was able to make pitches when he needed to, and 5.2 (innings) against that lineup, that’s pretty good.”

Narvaez committed his league-leading sixth catcher’s interference in the third inning, leading to a Yankees run. Judge walked with two outs and nobody on base. Ben Rice then reached on Narváez’s interference, and Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to make it 2-0. The Red Sox lead the majors with nine catcher’s interference calls, surpassing their total of seven last season.

Boston had a messy seventh inning defensively following a one-out ground-rule double off the bat of Jose Caballero. Hamilton made a diving stop on Ryan McMahon’s grounder to second base, but his throw home bounced, and Narváez couldn’t handle the throw. The Yankees went up 3-0 before adding another run on the board courtesy of an RBI single by Rice.

The Sox are feeling the loss of both Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu in its lineup. The skipper isn't using the loss of players as an excuse and was pretty transparent as to why his club struggled on Friday night. 

“We couldn’t do much,” said Cora. “We put pressure early in the game with the walks, but didn’t cash in. In any game, you’ve got to cash in. It’s something that, the last few days, we’ve been lacking production with men in scoring position. We just have to be better.”

The Sox dropped to 81-67 and will look to pull back within a 1/2 game of the Yankees on Saturday afternoon. Boston will send righty Brayan Bello (11-6, 3.12 ERA), and he will oppose Max Fried (16-5, 3.02 ERA).

Bello has been a Yankee killer in his career, owning a 1.95 ERA in 10 starts. In his last start versus New York on August 22, he went seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits with one walk and five strikeouts in a 1-0 victory.