After a postponed game due to Covid concerns, the New York Yankees started their third series of the season against the Boston Red Sox. The hope going into the game was to win a game against their age-old rival finally. Unfortunately, it was not to be had. The Yankees now have lost every game played against the Boston team; they are 0-7. They haven’t been close games either; the Red Sox have outscored the Yankees by 3 or more runs in each of those games. The dismal pitcher was made even worse last night when they were shut out 4-0.
The Covid concerns we spoke about are six New York Yankee players going onto the Covid list that will keep them away from the team for at least 10 days. A challenging season just got even more challenging. The Yankees are 9 games behind the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox and 5 games back from the second wild card slot. In addition, the Yankees can’t win consistently against East division teams. They are 17-25 against their East rivals with only a slight advantage over the East cellar Baltimore Orioles.
Jordan Montgomery gets no run support again
Jordan Montgomery is the poor luck kid. Montgomery pitched a clean first inning, starting the game going 1-2-3. Then, in the second inning, with two on, Hunter Renfro ground out, but that brought Xander Bogaerts in for the first Red Sox run. Then, later in the inning, with Rafael Devers on second, Christain Arroyo hit a two-run homer to center field, and at that point, the game was over.
Giving up three runs is not a huge deal if your lineup is hitting and putting runs on the board, but that’s not the case with the Yankees. They didn’t get their first hit until much later in the game and only racked up 3 at the end of the game. After last night’s game, Montgomery is tied for most games in a row with no run support. After giving up the three runs, he pitched well into the sixth inning as he found control of his curveball and not allowing another hit.
Yankees continue not to hit
Last night the Yankees played without Aaron Judge, Luke Voit, and Gio Urshela in the lineup. Judge and Urshela out on the Covid list, and Voit out on the 10 days with a bruised knee. The Yankees only got 3 hits in the game. You could blame the lack of hitting on the patched-up lineup, but this is a problem that has plagued the Yankees all season long. Against the Boston pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez the Yankees only got two hits, two outs into the sixth inning. They managed one more hit of Houck in the eighth, and that was it. In the end, they went 0-3 with men in scoring position and leaving 6 Yankees on base.
Closer Aroldis Chapman is still not right
The New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman and his new splitter went 18 games at the beginning of the season without allowing a run. Since then, his 0.00 ERA has risen to 4.55. Regardless of his splitter, his missile fastball is his put-away pitch, and he has lost control over it. In his last four games, he has given up 9 runs, allowing walks and home runs. In his last two games, his ERA is 13.50. He has pitched so badly that manager Aaron Boone has been afraid to use him, sitting him for ten games.
Last night in a no-pressure situation, Boone decided to send him out in the ninth with the Yankees behind by four runs. Chapman got out of the inning without giving up a run but obviously struggled. He walked one while taking 23 pitches to get out of the inning. Unfortunately, he did not gain any more trust from Aaron Boone. Boone also has fewer options with Nestor Cortes Jr., Wandy Peralta, and his best reliever Jonathan Loaisiga on the Covid list.
Notes: Backup catcher Kyle Higashioka is also on the Covid 10 day. Rob Brantly is serving as the backup catcher until Higashioka returns. With so many Yankees missing from the game Trey Amburgey and Hoy Park both made the Major League debuts but were not impactful. First baseman Chris Gittens was also called up for the game.