Red Sox embarrassed by Yankees, 16-1, fall four games back in Wild Card race

Roman Anthony and Trevor Story finally returned to the Red Sox on Sunday.

The Yankees embarrassed Boston, 16-1, at Yankee Stadium, turning the rubber game of a pivotal rivalry series into such a rout that infielder Andruw Monasterio was summoned to pitch with one out in the eighth inning.

It was an ugly ending to an important weekend for the Red Sox, who dropped three of four in the Bronx and were outscored 25-3 over the final two games.

More importantly, Boston (74-63) fell four games behind New York (78-59) for the top American League Wild Card spot and lost the season series, 7-6. That gives the Yankees the head-to-head tiebreaker should the teams finish with identical records.

A weekend that began with an opportunity for Boston to potentially leave New York atop the Wild Card standings instead ended with the Yankees creating some separation.

The lone bright spot was the return of Anthony and Story, who combined for four of Boston’s hits after missing more than three months.

Anthony wasted no time announcing his return.

The 22-year-old, playing his first major league game since May 4, ripped a 101.6 mph ground-rule double on the first swing he took. He added a 109 mph single up the middle in the sixth, offering an immediate reminder that his numbers before the injury didn’t tell the entire story.

Anthony entered Sunday batting .229/.354/.321 in 30 games, but his underlying metrics were far more encouraging. After spending nearly four months recovering from a torn ligament under his right ring finger, he looked comfortable immediately.

Story, playing for the first time since May 14 after undergoing sports hernia surgery, also collected two hits. He singled in the fifth and doubled in the eighth.

His return comes with more uncertainty. Story entered the injured list with minus-3 outs above average, and his lateral movement will be worth monitoring after missing 93 games. He couldn’t make a play on an infield hit during New York’s fifth-inning rally, though otherwise appeared to move well in his return.

For all the anticipation surrounding Anthony and Story, their returns were quickly overshadowed by another difficult afternoon for Ranger Suarez.

The game unraveled in the fifth with New York already ahead 2-0, Jazz Chisholm Jr. dropped a 299-foot single into center field that Ceddanne Rafaela appeared to catch. Boston challenged the ruling, but the call stood, putting two runners aboard with nobody out.

Heliot Ramos eventually delivered the biggest blow, launching a three-run homer as the Yankees erupted for five runs and pushed their advantage to 6-0.

Yankees’ Will Warren entered Sunday having posted a 5.89 ERA and allowing a .950 OPS in August, but he dominated the Red Sox. The right-hander allowed just one run over seven innings while striking out seven.

Boston has now scored two runs or fewer in four of its last five games.

Willson Contreras’ difficult road trip continued as well. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and grounded into an inning-ending double play with two runners aboard in the sixth. Contreras, who has been managing a sore leg, was removed before the bottom of the seventh with Boston trailing 6-0.

He finished the road trip 3-for-23 with seven strikeouts.

The Yankees continued piling on against Boston’s bullpen until Tracy finally turned to Monasterio with one out in the eighth. The infielder allowed five runs on three hits, including two homers, while walking three.

According to Baseball Savant, Monasterio threw 27 sliders averaging 49.5 mph and one 40.4 mph curveball.

The blowout also punctuated a sloppy road trip in which Boston committed 10 errors. After fighting its way back into contention during a dramatic summer turnaround, the Red Sox looked nothing like that team over the final two games in New York.

Anthony and Story return to a much different clubhouse than the one they left in May. Boston eventually fell 14 games under .500 and 15 1/2 games behind the Yankees before mounting its turnaround.

Both acknowledged before Sunday’s game that they aren’t returning as saviors.

“It’s not like heroes are coming back,” Story said. “We’re not looking at it that way. These guys have put in the work and done the things and performed on the field to get us to where we’re at, and we’re just coming in to help that.”

Anthony agreed with his sentiment. 

“Yeah, I mean, he couldn’t have said it any better,” Anthony said. “Again, I give so much credit to the guys in here who have done it along the way, and all the guys that have contributed whether they’re here or not.”

Their returns came at the expense of