The New York Yankees expected this series for weeks, even months. Now that the Boston Red Sox are competitive again after a down 2020 season, the rivalry takes on even more relevance, more so if we consider that they are currently ahead of the Bombers in the standings as of Saturday morning.
That’s why Friday’s 5-2 loss against the Red Sox is so disappointing. The offense, once again, was almost non-existent except from a home run by Aaron Judge and another run scored by Gio Urshela. There were no extra base hits aside from Judge’s blast, and Miguel Andujar, perhaps the Yankees’ hottest hitter, didn’t play.
“I can’t put my finger on it. Guys are working their tails off,” said infielder DJ LeMahieu, according to MLB.com. “Individually, collectively, we just haven’t put a great week or a great month together yet. We’re all frustrated.”
The Yankees had another ugly showing against Boston
In fact, the Yankees swung and missed more often than any game this season. They struck out 15 times, and have scored two or fewer runs in eight of their last 11 games.
“We had a few opportunities to do damage, but we hit into a few double plays,” said infielder Gleyber Torres about what has been a common occurrence this year. “It was a tough night for us. We really didn’t do too much.”
“We’re not helping our pitchers like we know we can,” LeMahieu said. “And it’s not one guy. It’s all of us.”
Such is the Yankees’ luck this season that before Judge’s blast, Giancarlo Stanton grounded into a double play.
Rougned Odor, Clint Frazier, Gary Sanchez, and Brett Gardner, the Yankees’ 6, 7, 8, and 9 hitters, didn’t collect any hits, going 0-for-15 with 10 strikeouts, four by Sanchez.
“We expanded the zone a little too much down there,” Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought Fraz got a couple of good swings off; Gardy hit a ball hard to first. For the most part, it was a little bit of expanding the zone down there and it led to some of the strikeouts.”