Maybe it's just because, this week, the Yankees were chasing the two teams that they're chasing for the lead in the American League Eastern Division. But it seems like every game they lose is more exasperating than the last.
Jameson Taillon started against the Boston Red Sox last night, and most of us figured that the Yankees would lose, because he wouldn't pitch well enough.
For 5 innings, we were wrong. He allowed 3 hits and a walk, and no runs. And Gleyber Torres gave him a boost with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 4th.
Then he proved us right in the top of the 6th. He got the 1st out, and then allowed single, double, 2-RBI single. Aaron Boone pulled him, for Jonathan Loaisiga. And he had nothing, allowing single, RBI double, before getting out of it.
It was 3-2 Scum, and, the way the Yankees have been hitting, it felt like the game was already over. In the end, though, Taillon would not truly be responsible for the result.
The bottom of the 6th saw the Yankees get hit with some bad luck. Aaron Judge drew a walk, and Gio Urshela hit a drive down the right-field line. Had it stayed in the field, Judge would have scored, and Urshela might have ended up on 3rd with only 1 out. Instead, it bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double, and Judge had to stop at 3rd. Torres hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, when that should have made it 4-3 Yankees.
Loaisiga pitched a scoreless 7th, and then, just when (presuming you have watched the Yankees this season and last) you began to wonder just how they were going to lose this game in extra innings, but Boone brought Chad Green in to pitch the top of the 8th. This was a decision on a par with making a romantic comedy and casting Meg Ryan and Bobcat Goldthwait as the leads.
And that's just what Green gave the Sox: The lead. He gave up a single, then got a strikeout and a popup, to give us all hope. Then he allowed a double, another double, and a home run. Wandy Peralta got the last out, but the damage was irreversible. As C.J. Cregg (played by Allison Janney) would have said after her infamous root canal on The West Wing, Chad Gween compwetewy impwoded. (Completely imploded.)
The Yankees got a pair of walks in the bottom of the 9th, but couldn't do anything with them. Red Sox 7, Yankees 3. WP: Garrett Whitlock (1-1). SV: Matt Barnes (14). LP: Green (0-4)
The Yankees needed to take at least 5 out of 7 this week to get themselves back in the race. Instead, they have dropped 4 of the 1st 6. They are now 31-28, 5 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, and 4 1/2 games behind the Red Sox.
The series concludes tonight, on ESPN. Domingo German starts against Garrett Richards.
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