And if you had told me before this game that the Boston Red Sox would have a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th inning, and would blow it, I would have taken that as a sign that the Yankees would win the game.
Alas...
CC Sabathia started, and, like Luis Severino at Fenway Park last month, had his worst start of the season against the Sox. He went only 4 innings (plus 1 batter in the 5th), allowing 4 runs on 9 hits, although he didn't walk anybody.
Jonathan Holder faced 6 batters, and got them all out. Common sense -- something not found in Joe Girardi's binder, which Aaron Boone appears to have fished out of the dumpster last night -- would have said to leave him in, at least for the 7th inning.
Boone didn't leave him in. Instead, he brought in Dellin Betances. At first, it seemed to work, as he got the Sox out 1-2-3.
Then came the bottom of the 7th. With 1 out, Miguel Andujar singled to right-center. Gleyber Torres singled to right. Neil Walker lived up to his name by drawing a walk to load the bases.
Sox manager Alex Cora brought Joe Kelly in to relieve Heath Hembree. Brett Gardner worked him for a walk to force in a run and put the Yankees on the board. Aaron Judge singled Torres home. The bases were still loaded. Didi Gregorius grounded to 2nd, and the force play scored Walker. With Giancarlo Stanton up, Kelly threw a wild pitch to score Gardner and tie the score. But Stanton grounded to 1st to end the inning.
Boone left Betances in to pitch the 8th. Betances is not a 2-inning pitcher. The 1st batter he faced in the inning was J.D. Martinez, and he hit a home run.
Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. And Gary Sanchez worked Kelly for one in the bottom of the 8th. But despite a Torres single with 2 out, the Yankees did not score. Walks can kill you, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will.
Craig Kimbrel, the goat the night before (and by "goat," I mean "scapegoat," reason for losing, not "greatest of all time"), got the Yankees out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, ending the winning streak at 10 games and 17 of 18. This, after the Sox themselves had previously won 17 of 19.
Red Sox 5, Yankees 4. WP: Kelly (2-0) -- which really isn't fair, since he's the one who blew the save in the 7th. SV: Kimbrel (10). LP: Betances (1-2).
Already, there are Red Sox fans calling this game Kimbrel's redemption. Bitch, please.
Anyway, ordinarily, I would take 2 out of 3 against The Scum. But the way we lost this game was bad. And we are once again tied with them for 1st place in the AL East.
The Yankees begin a home 3-game series against the Oakland Athletics tonight.