Red Sox offense stalls in 4-0 loss to Yankees; Luis Gil silences Boston bats

The Red Sox offense looked lifeless Tuesday night, getting shut out for the second time this season while managing just four hits against Yankees starter Luis Gil in a 4-0 loss.

Gil dominated the Red Sox lineup, allowing just two hits while walking three and striking out eight over 6 1/3 innings. Giancarlo Stanton led the Yankees' offense, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.

Both Gil and Red Sox starter Connelly Early were sharp through the first five innings. Early was tagged for a solo homer by Stanton in the second that clanked off the light tower, while Gil kept Boston’s bats quiet throughout that stretch. Stanton’s homer was a 369-foot blast that left his bat at 111.5 mph. His second-inning homer was his eighth career home run in 40 games at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox left-hander ran into trouble in the sixth, issuing back-to-back walks to open the inning. Stanton then barreled a changeup from Early, driving it off the Green Monster for a two-run double to extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0.

Early followed by walking Cody Bellinger, his third free pass of the night, prompting Alex Cora to turn to the bullpen.

“Did good until he lost it there,” Cora said. “Command was an issue in that inning but the outing besides that it was a good one.”

Early’s final line: three runs allowed over 5 1/3 innings on five hits, with three walks, a hit batter, and four strikeouts. He generated nine swings and misses and threw 57.6% of his pitches for strikes, according to Baseball Savant.

The outing also snapped a streak of eight consecutive starts to begin his career in which he allowed two runs or fewer, tying Dave Ferriss (1945) for the longest such run by a Red Sox pitcher (min. 20 innings) in the Live-Ball Era.

After using seven relievers on Monday following Sonny Gray’s injury, Cora turned to rookie Jack Anderson to finish the sixth. Anderson nearly escaped with an inning-ending double play, but Randal Grichuk beat it out to keep the inning alive.

He then allowed a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to load the bases with two outs, setting up a tense at-bat against José Caballero. Anderson was hit with back-to-back pitch clock violations to fall behind 2-1, but regrouped and struck out the Yankees' infielder to strand the bases loaded and keep it a 3-0 game.

Boston’s offense went down on just five pitches in the sixth, but Gil finally showed some cracks in the seventh. He issued back-to-back one-out walks, giving the Red Sox their first real scoring opportunity, before Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to the bullpen.

The Sox couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Andruw Monasterio, pinch-hitting for Marcelo Mayer, flew out to right, and Caleb Durbin struck out to end the inning. Durbin briefly extended the at-bat by winning an ABS challenge to turn an 0-2 count into 1-1, but failed on a second challenge in an attempt to stay alive.

Gil finished with two hits allowed over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, walking three, striking out two, and hitting a batter. It marked the eighth time in his career he’s tossed at least six scoreless innings, and the sixth time he’s done so while allowing two hits or fewer. With the win, Gil improved to 3-1 with a 0.80 ERA in six career starts at Fenway Park.

“We didn’t hit the ball hard,” Cora said. “We swung a lot, it was fast in the middle innings for (Gil), efficient if you want to call it, and that’s it. We didn’t put pressure on him.”

Reigning American League Gold Glove winner Ceddanne Rafaela flashed the leather in the eighth, making an acrobatic catch at the center field wall to rob Stanton of extra bases.

The Yankees kept the pressure on, however, adding another run on an RBI double by Grichuk to push the lead to 4-0. Boston never seriously threatened from there, falling to 9-14 with the loss.

Boston is averaging 3.87 runs per game and ranks 24th in the majors in runs scored (89). The Sox are tied with the Giants for the fewest home runs (13).

“Our identity is just try to do our best to put the ball in play, work at-bats, don’t chase, ball strike it, swing at good pitches and that made the difference,” Durbin said. “We just didn’t do a good job at that today.”

Boston was shut out for the second time this season; the last time they were shut out was last week on the road in Minnesota. It was the fifth time the Sox were held to four or fewer hits. They also have fallen to 1-14 when their starting pitcher fails to toss six innings, compared to 8-0 when they go at least six frames. 

The struggles up and down the lineup are glaring. Durbin is hitting just .155, Jarren Duran is at .162, Trevor Story sits at .189, Mayer at .196, and Roman Anthony at .225.

“When you’re young, you try to seek results day in and day out, and as young players, you just want results and want to win so badly. It’s part of baseball," said Willson Contreras of the younger players on the roster after the game. "But just knowing it’s a long season, I know we want to win more and produce a little more but we have to be patient and trust the process. It’s a long season. It’s April and the season ends in October. We just have to build that confidence up again but at the end of the day we need to find a way to get better.”

The Red Sox and Yankees continue their three-game series on Wednesday, featuring a matchup of left-handers. Max Fried (2-1, 2.97 ERA) takes the mound for New York, while Ranger Suárez (1-1, 3.22 ERA) gets the start for Boston.