The Yankees’ late comeback was in vain as the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep

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The Yankees’ late comeback was in vain as the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep

I personally don’t believe in “June Swoon.” I believe the Yankees play really poor baseball for about 30-50 games every summer, but I don’t subscribe to it being a June thing, so I think it’s weird if a loss or two makes people immediately say “June Swoon” without the big picture.

But the end of summer is real, and it often starts at Fenway Park. In each of the past four seasons, the Yankees have started their summer demise with a bad series loss in June in Boston. Now, those swoons usually bleed badly in July and August, but they start sometime in late June. Here is a statistic I found yesterday that is really strange:

The Yankees at Fenway Park as of 2019:
June: 1-15
Every other month: 23-15

That doesn’t really make sense, especially when the Sox haven’t finished with a decidedly better record since their last World Series title in 2018. Unfortunately, they cannot win here this month. So it goes.

The first hour plus was exclusively Peacock due to the non-major golf tournament riding the NBC airwaves, which is a great sign of MLB’s new relationship with the network. If you didn’t watch it, you missed it early. Sonny Gray won the series for the injured and battered Yankees with seven hitless innings, and despite Carlos Rodón’s passing game and good bullpen work, it looked like another loss of sleep.

And of course, they show life. They took advantage of Boston’s mistakes and went back to the mats, taking a 4-2 lead in the 10th. However, Fernando Cruz grounded out and allowed three runs, losing the back-breaker in extras. They did well in both ends to tie it in the ninth and take the lead, but Boston’s struggling offense put together some good at-bats and swings to beat the Yanks, 5-4.

Gray started things off for the BoSox with a strong first inning, winning a long battle with established leadoff hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. before quickly retiring the next two batters. Rodón walked Wilyer Abreu with two outs, but responded by striking out Willson Contreras to lead off the first.

The second and third were very similar. Gray went 1-2-3 in both innings, and Rodón held serve. After another shutout inning by the former Yankee in red and white, the Sox finally got to Rodón. An error by Oswaldo Cabrera at third and a swinging bunt that moved the runners over allowed Caleb Durbin to drive home a two-run double to center field to open the scoring.

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Things almost got out of hand for the All-Star lefty, but Rodón bounced back to score Tsung-Che Cheng. Meanwhile, the Yankees continued to be unable to touch Gray, mustering only Amed Rosario’s walk and two outs in the fifth over the next two innings. Rodón pitched a scoreless fifth inning, continuing his strong streak, but the offense was giving him away. nothing.

If you’re looking for a defining sequence, the top of the sixth ended with Gray hitting Chisholm with a check that turned on a ball in the dirt. The home plate umpire, Todd Tichenor, didn’t even overrule the third base umpire, ruling that he walked himself. Replays showed that he probably doesn’t even swing, let alone wander around so he doesn’t question the umpire. Chisholm argued and was ejected. It’s not fun.

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Paul Blackburn got the ball to relieve Rodón and showed him how it’s done, retiring the team in a seven-pitch sequence against the same batters who gave Rodón a leadoff inning. Gray continued in the seventh, officially going on the clock, while Blackburn again worked well.

Finally, someone entered the base. Rosario, who had the only walk against Gray in two strong at-bats, lined a single into center to break up the no-hit bid after 7.1 innings. Chad Tracy pulled the plug on his starter, inserting Tayron Guerrero to face Cabrera and Austin Wells, both of whom went down in relief. Wells had a couple of long fly balls today, but he hit them dead center instead of getting them off the Green Monster about 15 feet to right. Rats.

David Bednar needed some work with a recent uncompetitive ninth inning, so he went out there and threw a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. Former Yankee and recent enemy Aroldis Chapman pitched in the ninth, and as he did, he made it interesting.

José Caballero started it off with a single to left field before a walk to Anthony Volpe set the stage. Chapman, playing his third game in four days, was tipping badly and fell behind Ben Rice 3-0. When he made a flyout after that, his defense decided to throw out the rest of the game, striking out Caballero and moving Volpe to third on a circus play.