COVID-strapped Yankees ruled out by Red Sox

Even with six players on the COVID-19 injured roster, a handful of new players on the roster and a season gone by, Gerrit Cole said the Yankees’ attitude ahead of Friday night’s game against the Red Sox was ” as usual “.

The Yankees then came out and played like that, losing another game to Boston, 4-0, in the Bronx.

If you keep the score, they’ve lost six players to COVID-19, lost all seven games to the Red Sox, and are nine games behind Boston in the AL East, in fourth place. And they are only two games out of 0.500 (46-44).

Playing without Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela after being placed on COVID-19 IL on Friday, the Yankees used a motley roster to start the second half of the season, and it was about as productive as their regular roster. had been in the first half.

“We’re in a hole,” manager Aaron Boone said after the latest loss. “We have to play some really good baseball to get back into this game. We have to have this focus by walking around the stadium every day. Rinse and repeat.

Friday presented a different challenge, as the Yankees had to pitch Chris Gittens and Trey Amburgey, who was making his MLB debut.

After Gittens walked in with two strikeouts in the seventh and the Yankees tried to get back into the game, they used Greg Allen and Hoy Jun Park – who was also making his MLB debut – as pinch hitters.

Allen came up with a single, but Park failed.

Jordan Montgomery started strong, needing just eight shots to pull off a perfect first inning.

But after Giancarlo Stanton hit a double play late in the first, Montgomery opened the second by putting Xander Bogaerts on and giving up a brace from Rafael Devers, which Brett Gardner couldn’t crush down center-left.

Bogaerts scored on a short Groundout by Hunter Renfroe. After Christian Vazquez flew to the warning lane on the left, Christian Arroyo scored in the center right to make the score 3-0.

This resulted in a chorus of boos from the crowd as Montgomery needed 36 shots to get out of the inning.

With their offense in shambles, it wasn’t the start of the game the Yankees expected from Montgomery, even though the southpaw didn’t allow another hit on the six innings exit.

Their biggest problem came in attack, as they were stopped by left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who pitched 5 ² / ₃ innings without a goal.

After DJ LeMahieu’s first single in the first, the Yankees didn’t get another hit until Rougned Odor doubled up with two strikeouts in the sixth to end Rodriguez’s night.

The Yankees pulled off their first threat against Rodriguez with two strikeouts in the fifth.

Gittens walked and Amburgey was third, but Bobby Dalbec couldn’t handle Devers’ throw and was charged with a mistake.

With runners in the corners, Tim Locastro pulled out holds to end the round.

The Yankees only managed three hits and were shut out for the second time in five games.

“It’s tough,” said Montgomery. “We are losing Judge, we are losing Gio. We’re coming back from the All-Star break after a pretty good run in Seattle and Houston. Losing these bats is difficult. We have to go out there, keep playing hard and bounce back as best we can. “

Regardless of who is – or isn’t – in the lineup, Boone knows time is running out.

“We have to find a way,” Boone said. “Tonight begins with the offensive. We have to be able to put together something to give ourselves an opportunity.

Instead, the Yankees fell behind in the division and certainly didn’t look like a team ready to run. That’s especially true with six of their next eight games scheduled against the Red Sox, who had lost four of five before the break but played like a first-place team on Friday.