SPECIAL: Halfway There – 8/29/26
The Yankees have scored one run or fewer in each of their last three games. Sure, Paul Goldschmidt’s third-inning solo shot held up in yesterday’s final result, but after a 6-0 shutout loss against Boston in the first game of today’s doubleheader, the four-game series is tied 1-1.
Cam Schlittler wasn’t his best self yesterday, but he struck out eight batters in 5 2/3 innings. With help from Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar, plus a stellar defensive play by Cody Bellinger, nabbing Ceddanne Rafaela at the plate in the seventh inning, the Yankees secured a 1-0 victory.
But today, Wilyer Abreu’s first-inning, two-out, two-strike solo home run was the first stone of a six-run mountain the Yankees couldn’t climb. The Red Sox flipped the script, securing their own shutout win, six times the size of the Yankees’ the night before.
“We played poorly today,” said manager Aaron Boone. “Simple as that. We’ve got to turn the page in a hurry here and go out and try to grab one of these doubleheader games today, but we need to play better. And part of that is offense.”
The Yankees, who scored at least seven runs in three straight games last week, bottomed out on Thursday. Since then, they are 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position. On Wednesday, things felt like they were turning around at the plate. Now, the entire team has reverted.
Carlos Rodón needed 88 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings today, surpassing his pitch count while attempting to escape his own mess in the fifth inning. With two outs and runners at the corners, Ali Sánchez couldn’t glove a low slider. The passed ball helped Boston take a 2-0 lead.
As Sánchez ran after the loose ball and Adley Rutschman slid home, Rodón barely missed the tag at the plate. YES Network microphones caught him screaming “No!” several times, but it wasn’t because he thought he tagged Rutschman out.
Rodón already dealt with a pitch-com issue in the first inning. He claimed he couldn’t hear Sánchez while pitching to Abreu, which led to the home run.
This time, Rodón seemed to think the dugout had called a timeout before Rutschman crossed home plate. But that would not have changed the outcome.
“My job is to prevent runs, and the offense is going to take care of their business when they’re out there,” said Rodón, who walked a batter and hit another, loading the bases after Rutschman scored. “For me, I’m just sticking in my lane, just trying to keep the game close and keep us ahead.”
In the fourth inning, when the Yankees were only down one run, they nearly got on the board. After Amed Rosario reached first base on a throwing error and advanced to second on a passed ball, Heliot Ramos launched a fly ball over Rafaela’s head in center field.
Rafaela picked the ball up quickly, though, and fired it to the cutoff man. Third base coach Luis Rojas emphatically waved Rosario home, but he got a slow start after thinking Rafaela might have caught the fly ball. As a result, Rosario got tagged out at home.
“When you’re looking at the center fielder, the way he was reading the ball, he had a read on one side, and then he turned the other way,” Rosario recounted through Marlon Abreu. “It’s a difficult read there, but at the end of the day, I’ve just got to get myself in a better position.”
The Yankees also had a chance to score in the third inning. José Caballero led off the frame with a single. After he advanced to second base on an error, Spencer Jones and Sánchez both struck out swinging before Goldschmidt popped out, ending the inning.
After Rodón left the bases loaded in the fifth, Yerry De los Santos bailed him out. But the bottom of the frame was yet another quiet one against Jake Bennett, Boston’s 6-foot-6 lefty, who gave up three hits while striking out seven batters in six innings.
Justin Topa got through the sixth inning unscathed, as did Ryan Yarbrough in the seventh and eighth. But in the top of the ninth, Yarbrough walked Caleb Durbin before Rutschman and Andruw Monasterio singled for a 4-0 lead. Then, Nick Sogard doubled, and three batters later, Rafaela singled, putting the Red Sox ahead 6-0.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees went down in order against Jovani Morán, capping off a quiet four-hit, walk-free afternoon. Tonight, they must bounce back and guarantee a series split. The Yankees must win at least two games this weekend, and they’re halfway there.
Tonight, at 7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT), LHP Max Fried (4-4, 2.81 ERA) will return to the Yankees to start the second game of the doubleheader (FOX, FOX Sports). For the Red Sox, LHP Alec Gamboa (1-0, 1.31 ERA) will toe the slab.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
DH Ben Rice (L)
RF Heliot Ramos (R)
1B Luis García Jr. (L)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
SS George Lombard Jr. (R)
LF Spencer Jones (L)
C Austin Wells (L)
3B José Caballero (R)
SP: LHP Max Fried (4-4, 2.81 ERA)
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
