Yankees drop series with 4-1 loss to Red Sox

The Red Sox took down the Yankees 4-1 to clinch the series and give them an opportunity for a sweep tomorrow. Gerrit Cole took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against Jake Bennett. 

Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice and Amed Rosario went three up, three down in the top of the first inning. 

Masataka Yoshida led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot to give the Red Sox a 1-0 advantage. 

In the top of the second inning, Cody Bellinger worked a leadoff walk. But Jasson Dominguez popped out, then José Caballero and Max Schuemann both struck out to strand Belli.

Anthony Seigler sent a solo home run into the Green Monster seats in the bottom of the second inning to make it 2-0. 

Cole gave up back-to-back singles to kick off the bottom of the third inning. Then, with Cole ahead in the count 1-2, he tried sneaking a fastball by Willson Contreras, and he crushed a two-run double off the Green Monster to make it 4-0. 

Schuemann got the Yankees on the board in the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run for their first hit of the game to cut the deficit to 4-1. 

Cole navigated around a one-out base knock in the bottom of the fifth and recorded his fourth strikeout of the ballgame to work a shutdown inning. 

With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cole surrendered a single to end his day. Brent Headrick took over and picked up a pair of strikeouts to end the frame. 

Coles final line: 5.1 innings pitched, seven hits allowed, four runs, walked one, and struck out five on 89 pitches. He threw his fastball 29% of the time, the knuckle curve 21%, the changeup 18%, the slider 18%, and the sinker 13%. Cole topped out at 99.6 mph, sitting at 97.2, and had six swings and misses. 

Rosario led off the seventh inning with an infield single, Belli followed with a single of his own to bring the tying run to the plate. However, Dominguez, Caballero and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all struck out to waste a prime scoring opportunity. 

Headrick came back out for the bottom of the seventh and picked up a strikeout, then Camilo Doval replaced him and picked up the final two outs of the inning. 

Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Goldy were retired in order in the top half of the eighth inning. 

Paul Blackburn got the call for the bottom of the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 inning on just four pitches with some help from a nice barehanded play by Volpe.

The Yankees showed absolutely no fight in the top of the ninth inning as Aroldis Chapman retired the side in order to clinch the series for the Red Sox. 

The Yankees will look to avoid being swept tomorrow with Carlos Rodon on the mound, facing off against former Yankee Sonny Gray. First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET on NBC. 

My thoughts on the game: Just another pathetic game from the Yankees all around, as they continue to play uninspiring baseball over the last week and it is becoming so frustrating to watch. Cole struggled in the first few innings but settled in a bit and nearly went six innings. But he has to be better; this was his last start in June, where he posted a 6.12 ERA this month, the second worst in any month of his career. The lack of swing-and-miss stuff from Cole is concerning. Headrick was great, as he has been all season long; his ERA is down to 1.62 and deserves to be in Philadelphia for the All-Star game. Doval had a good outing today. Blackburn worked a clean inning. Schuemann accounted for the Yankees' only run today with his first home run of the season. For the second straight game, the Yankees could muster together just three hits, as they are making one of the worst teams in baseball look like the 1998 Yankees. Just another terrible game. The Yankees need to turn it around fast because the schedule is not easy in July and August. On to tomorrow, the Yankees need a good start from Rodon or else they will probably get swept.