The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox by a 4-0 margin on Friday night, continuing their season-long woes against their biggest rivals.
The Yankees are now 0-7 against Boston in 2021. They've been outscored in those games 40-17, or by more than three runs per contest. It's worth noting that the Yankees also lost their final contest against the Red Sox in 2020, meaning they've technically dropped eight consecutive games to Boston. (New York was 9-1 against the Red Sox overall in 2020.)
The Red Sox, for their part, can credit the victory in part to left-handed starter Eduardo Rodríguez. He delivered 5 ⅔ shutout innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while punching out eight batters. Relievers Hirokazu Sawamura and Tanner Houck then combined to allow a hit and a walk over the ensuing 3 ⅓ innings.
Offensively, the Red Sox were paced by second baseman Christian Arroyo, who drove in two runs on his sixth home run of the season. Designated hitter J.D. Martinez also homered, his 19th on the campaign.
The Yankees and Red Sox were originally slated to kick off the second half on Thursday night, but that game was postponed because of New York's COVID-19 issues. The Yankees had six players test positive, including outfielder Aaron Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela, and backup catcher Kyle Higashioka. Add in Luke Voit's knee causing him to be placed on the injured list on Friday, and New York's lineup featured unfamiliar names like Chris Gittens and Trey Amburgey.
The Yankees are now 46-44 on the season, stationing them eight losses back of the first-place Red Sox. New York is scheduled to play the Red Sox and the second-place Tampa Bay Rays nine more times between now and the July 30 trade deadline. It stands to reason those games will go a long way in dictating how aggressive general manager Brian Cashman is in making additions.
