Red Sox Show Yanks Are In Tailspin

Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports

BRONX, NY — Manager Alex Cora said after his Red Sox annihilated the Yankees 12-1 Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, “They (Yankees) have a good team. For us, every win is satisfying.” But for the Yankees every win now will be important.

It’s officially a tailspin, the Yankees in a meltdown. They have lost three consecutive to their rivals in the four-game series. And have lost eight consecutive to the Red Sox this season (1-8), dropping 1-½ games behind in the American League Wild Card race.

They have been outscored 48-22, not symbolic of this historic Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in the Bronx or up at Fenway Park. It’s the Yankees now stinking up the joint, though 7-4 in their last 11 after a 5-0 road trip against the Cardinals and Rays.

However when you put this in perspective, time may be running short with 33 games remaining. Manager Aaron Boone alludes to this being, “A really crappy weekend.” And it’s rather dismal with teams they have to beat, 4-15 against the Red Sox and AL East division leading Toronto.

You can sense there is a sense of urgency, even as the Yankees schedule is closing in on a remaining schedule with teams they can easily handle. Then again their inconsistency has caught up to them as Boone comprises a different lineup as the days pass.

“We’re not running out of time,” said Boone. “But if we don’t do better, then it’s going to fizzle out and we’re not going to get where we want to be.”

This series included four errors Friday night, shabby play on the infield and throwing to the wrong base as Max Fried had a rebound start. On Saturday, Will Warren was not effective as the Red Sox scored five runs with seven hits in his four innings of work.

The Red Sox in these three games are the better team looking to play in October. Trevor Story, the possible AL Comeback Player of the Year doubled, homered, and had three RBI. The Yankees ran into Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet (14-5, 2.38 ERA) who added his credentials to the AL CY Young Award list.

The Yankees looked helpless as Crochet allowed five hits, one run, a walk with 11 strikeouts. He got Aaron Judge to swing in the third inning and recorded his 200th strikeout of the season. And in the seventh inning, José Caballero swung and missed.

That was his 500th career strikeout. As the Red Sox said, Crochet is “a beast.”

“That’s why we call him Beast,” said Carlos Narváez, the former Yankees catcher. “We talked about this game three or four days ago. He’s always prepared, and you see the big dominance today and I’m proud of him.”

In perspective, though, the Yankees don’t have this type of ace on the mound. Warren shows potential, while Fried is attempting his return to form. Cam Schlittler, the rookie righty has provided length and consistency, and Luis Gil, the 2024 AL LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year, has slowly worked his way back into the rotation.

“Everybody’s got to play a little better, pick it up a notch, go out there and take care of business tomorrow, ” said Judge. “There’s nothing we can do about the past 100 something games we’ve played. We’ve got to focus on what we can do now. That’s all we can do.”

He struck out twice and flew out to deep right against Crochet and said the right flexor strain that put him on the injured list is not affecting his play and at-bats. Though the Yankees during this final stretch need Judge to be healthy and again guide their offense.

It’s been that type of week for the Yankees, win some and lose to their rivals in this important but not crucial series. The Yankees look to avoid a sweep Sunday night (ESPN telecast on Sunday Night Baseball) with Carlos Rodón (13-7) on the mound who could be their ace and stopper. Four more games remain with the Red Sox at Fenway Park next month.

A four-game sweep and it would be the first for the Red Sox since August 2-5 in 2018 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox in this rivalry swept five games in the Bronx way back in July of 1939.

“We’ll come here tomorrow with the same expectation, just play good baseball and see what happens,” said Cora.

And for the Yankees to avoid a sweep it’s a bullpen that also needs to rebound. Newly acquired Paul Blackburn allowed a season-high seven runs in 3.1 innings, which further epitomized their struggles along with a league leading 17th error from shortstop Anthony Vople.

“They’re a good team,” Giancarlo Stanton said about the Red Sox. “So are we, but we have to execute in those games. We’ve got to execute in the division. And we haven’t done that.”

Stanton, with a fourth inning home run (16th in 2025) was the only bright spot and has been the Yankees consistent hitter as Judge continues in the DH role.

The Yankees certainly need more to avoid a sweep and not allow the Red Sox to widen their lead in the division and wild card chase.

As Judge said, it’s focus. But the reality is the Yankees are showing they need to go on a run. That can begin with a win Sunday night.

Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and contributor at LatinoSports.com –  X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso

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