Final: New York Yankees 8, Red Sox 2 - Red Sox unable to hit against Carlos Rodon in disappointing rubber match loss

Trevor's Game Notes:

Glaring Flaws: Boston's 8-2 loss against the New York Yankees showcased exactly what the Red Sox lack in their team: righty hitting and bullpen depth. Facing off against Lefty Starter Carlos Rodon, Boston produced minimal offense despite having 7 righty batters in the lineup. The Red Sox scored their only 2 runs of the game in the Bottom of the 4th off back-to-back solo home runs from Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong. 

Rafael Devers hit a triple after the consecutive homers, but the offense couldn't execute with runners in scoring position. 

With runners on the corners in the 7th inning, Alex Cora elected to pinch hit Dom Smith in exchange for Jamie Westbrook. With Masatake Yoshida, Wilyer Abreu and David Hamilton sitting on the bench, Cora decided to take a more defensive approach by choosing Smith, as Romy Gonzalez would shift to 2nd base. Smith would strike out and the Bottom of the 7th became the last glimpse of hope for the Red Sox to make a comeback. 

Tanner Houck started the game allowing 3 runs in the 1st inning. Aaron Judge started the scoring with an RBI single followed by a 2-run RBI hit from Gleyber Torres. Houck ended his start allowing 4 total runs in 6 innings. 

In the 7th inning, the Red Sox already depleted bullpen took over, starting with a rocky outing by Cam Booser. The rookie reliever wasn't able to complete the inning, with Greg Weissert coming out of the pen to finish the inning allowing the 5th run of the game. Weissert continued his bullpen outing into the 8th inning where the Yankees extended their lead adding on 2 more runs. At this point, the Red Sox looked defeated, as Romy Gonzalez and Rafael Devers both committed errors in this inning. 

Boston continues their homestand with a series against the Seattle Mariners tomorrow at 7:10 p.m.

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WHO: Red Sox (55-48) vs. New York Yankees (61-45)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: 5-3 (3-2/2-1)
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Tanner Houck (8-6, 2.71) vs. LHP Carlos Rodón (10-7, 4.42)
TV/RADIO: ESPN WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran (L) CF
Rob Refsnyder (R) LF
Connor Wong (R) C
Rafael Devers (L) 3B
Tyler O'Neill (R) RF
Romy Gonzalez (R) 1B
Danny Jansen (R) DH
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) SS
Jamie Westbrook (R) 2B

SP Tanner Houck

YANKEES

Alex Verdugo (L) RF
Juan Soto (L) LF
Aaron Judge (R) DH
Austin Wells (L) C
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) CF
Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
Ben Rice (L) 1B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Oswaldo Cabrera (S) 3B

SP Carlos Rodon

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox are 2-6 in their 8 games since the All-Star break, after going 10-3 in their previous 13 games.

Boston was defeated in game 2 of their weekend series against the Yankees in a back and forth extra innings thriller. With 2 outs, Kenley Jansen allowed an RBI double to Trent Grisham that brought home the tying run. Chase Anderson would allow 3 runs in the 10th and the Red Sox weren't able to come back from the deficit. 

Last night was Boston's 3rd time playing extra innings in the club's last 7 games. The Sox lost all 3.

The first 2 games of this series featured a combined 35 runs scored, 57 hits, 23 pitching changes, and 17 half-innings that either tied the score or changed possession of the lead.

Tyler O'Neill last night recorded his MLB-leading 5th multi-HR game this season, the 10th of his career. He became the 1st Sox player ever to record as many as 5 multi-HR games in their first 75 games of a season (source: Elias).

The Red Sox designated backup catcher Reese McGuire for assignment Sunday after acquiring catcher Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays for three prospects Saturday. “It think it’s more about the roster actually than the position,” manager Alex Cora said about Boston’s decision to trade for Jansen and move on from McGuire. 

Danny Jansen will serve as the DH vs. the Yankees on Sunday with left-handed hitting DH Masataka Yoshida beginning the game on the bench. “We’ve got a right-handed bat (in Jansen) that we do believe fits into this stadium,” Cora said. “Pull hitter that hits the ball in the air. And when Connor’s not playing, we are not so left-handed. It gives us options." Alex Cora said Wong “will catch the majority of the games.”

The Red Sox claimed Relief Pitcher Yohan Ramirez off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodger. Ramírez, 29, has tossed 43 2/3 innings this year between the Mets, Orioles and Dodgers, frequently bouncing around due to his out-of-options status. In that time, he has a 5.98 ERA, 22.1% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 44.4% ground ball rate. 

Boston also DFA'd Chase Anderson after his performance last night.