Matt Barnes Plays Pivotal Role for Red Sox in 6-3, Skid-Snapping Victory Over Phillies

Matt Barnes recorded five crucial outs in the seventh and eighth innings of the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday to snap a nine-game losing streak. That being said, getting those five outs was no easy task.

Coming into the afternoon on three days rest, the right-hander was dispatched in the top of the seventh with his side up 4-3 and the tying run in scoring position for Philadelphia as the heart of Philadelphia’s order was due to hit.

Barnes got his first opponent, the vaunted Bryce Harper, to fan on four pitches, with the fourth pitch being a 1-2, 84 mph curveball down and in. He then got his next opponent, the ever-dangerous J.T. Realmuto, to whiff on another 2-2, 85 mph curveball below the strike zone.

“I was able to make some quality pitches that fortunately went my and the team’s way,” Barnes said during his postgame media availability. “It was definitely awesome.”

Impressive work there for sure, but Barnes’ job was not yet done, as he came on for a clean inning in the top of the eighth as well.

There, with his side now up 5-3, the 30-year-old again struck out another man in Phillies leadoff hitter Phil Gosselin, but he needed seven pitches to do so.

The next man up for Philadelphia, though, was by far Barnes’ toughest opponent and someone he had faced plenty of times before in ex-Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius.

In their first head-to-head matchup this season, Barnes got ahead in the count at 0-2, but proceeded to sprinkle in a ball every once in a while as Gregorius continued to foul off a plethora of pitches.

Fastball after fastball. Curveball after curveball. It did not matter for Gregorius, as he fouled off a total of nine pitches from Barnes, with the ninth and final one being followed by a ball four that was up and in.

When all was said and done, Gregorious had won this battle against Barnes and was awarded first base after an exhausting 14-pitch at-bat.

“It was 14 [pitches], huh?” Barnes said with a chuckle. “I mean, it’s a battle, man. It’s a battle. You got to just continually try to execute good pitches. I executed a decent 3-2 pitch, a fastball about a ball off [and] in. Credit to him for putting together an at-bat like that. It’s exhausting for not only me but him as well.”

Once again, Philly looked like they could be threatening as the tying run was now at the plate in Alec Bohm. Fortunately for Boston, Barnes, with the help of shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin, was able to extinguish that threat by getting the rookie third baseman to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

“In a two-run game, one wrong pitch could be a two-run homer and we’re in a totally different spot in the game,” the UCONN product added. “I was able to make a quality pitch. I got to the 3-2 count to Bohm and wanted to throw a quality breaking ball in the zone to him. He put a decent swing on it, fortunately Lin made a great play with the backhand and him and [Jose] Peraza were able to turn the double play for us.”

The Red Sox went on to top the Phillies by a final score of 6-3 following a scoreless ninth inning from Brandon Workman, and Barnes, despite needing 38 pitches to do so, took home his fourth hold of the season as a result.

Rafael Devers Homers, Puts Together Second Straight Three-Hit Day as Red Sox Halt Losing Streak With 6-3 Win Over Phillies

At long last, the Red Sox have put an end to their nine-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Phillies at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Kyle Hart made his second start of the season for Boston, and although he did not pitch particularly deep into this game, he did look better than he did in his major-league debut last Thursday.

Working 3 2/3 innings in this one, the rookie left-hander yielded two runs, both of which were earned, on two hits and four walks to go along with five strikeouts on the afternoon.

Both of those Philadelphia tallies came right away in the top half of the first, when after putting the first three hitters he faced on, Hart gave up an RBI single to Phil Gosselin and a run-scoring sacrifice fly to Didi Gregorius.

Other than that, though, Hart did manage to sit down nine of the next 12 Phillies who came up to the plate against him before Philly’s lineup flipped back over a second time with two outs in the fourth. At that point, Hart’s day was over.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 73 (39 strikes), the 27-year-old hurler turned to his slider and four-seam fastball 66% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing five whiffs with the combination of pitches while topping out at 90.2 mph with the heater.

Hit with the no-decision due to the length of his outing while lowering his ERA to 11.12, Hart’s next start, if he does get one that is, would likely come against the Blue Jays in Buffalo sometime next week.

In relief of Hart, right-hander Austin Brice got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen with one out to get in the top of the fourth, and he got that out by getting Andrew McCutchen to pop out before working a scoreless fifth inning as well.

From there, Ryan Weber tossed a shutout sixth and allowed one run on one hit while only recording the first out of the seventh before making way for Matt Barnes, who fanned two in that frame and danced his way around a one-out walk in a laborious, yet clean eighth inning.

With a three-run lead to protect at that point, Brandon Workman was dispatched for the top of the ninth, and the Sox closer got the job done by retiring the only three Phillies he faced in order to secure the save and the 6-3 win for his side.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against veteran right-hander Jake Arrieta for the Phillies, who was making his sixth career start at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Down by a pair of runs before even taking their first at-bats, the Boston offense got things going in their half of the third.

There, a two-out double off the bat of Kevin Pillar brought Rafael Devers to the plate for a second time, and the resurgent third baseman took full advantage of that opportunity by clubbing a two-run, 419-foot homer to dead center to even things up at two runs apiece.

In the fourth, a leadoff walk of Mitch Moreland would later come back to haunt Arrieta, as the Phillies starter allowed the first baseman to score on a sacrifice fly from Jackie Bradley Jr. 3-2 Boston.

In the fifth, the Sox took advantage of some poor fielding from Philadelphia when after Alex Verdugo extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a one-out double, Kevin Pillar plated his fellow outfielder by reaching first base thanks to a fielding error committed by Rhys Hoskins. 4-2 Boston.

Fast forward to the seventh, and Devers struck once more, this time collecting another RBI on a hard-hit double to left off reliever Ramon Rossothat brought in Verdugo from second and made it a 5-3 contest.

And in the eighth, Bradley Jr. provided some insurance by driving in Moreland from third on another run-scoring double off Rosso. Bradley Jr.’s second RBI of the day put the Red Sox up 6-3, which would go on to be Wednesday’s final score. Losing streak over.

Some notes and observations from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

Rafael Devers’ last two games: 6-for-9 (nice) with one homer, four RBI, and three runs scored.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll head off on another road trip and kick off a four-game set against the Orioles in Baltimore starting on Thursday night. The 12-2 O’s took two out of three from the Sox to begin the 2020 season.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the start for Boston in the series opener, while fellow righty Asher Wojciechowski will do the same for Baltimore.

Eovaldi is coming off his worst outing of the year in which he surrendered eight runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Yankees, but he did hold the O’s to just one run over six innings in a winning effort back on Opening Day.

Wojciechowski, meanwhile, has yet to face the Red Sox this season. The 31-year-old has made three starts at Camden Yards so far this year and owns a 5.40 ERA in those outings.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and WEEI. Red Sox looking for their second straight victory.

Red Sox Claim Right-Hander Andrew Triggs off Waivers From Giants, Designate Left-Hander Stephen Gonsalves for Assignment

The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Andrew Triggs off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. In order to make room for Triggs on the 40-man roster, left-hander Stephen Gonsalves was designated for assignment. The club made this transaction official earlier Wednesday.

Triggs, 31, was designated by San Francisco last Wednesday, 10 days after he yielded three earned runs on three hits and three walks in just 1/3 of an inning in his 2020 debut on August 2.

Prior to the 2020 season, Triggs, a three-time draftee out of the University of Southern California, made 45 appearances (27 starts) for the Oakland Athletics from 2016 through 2018.

In those 45 outings over the course of three seasons with the A’s, the Tennessee native posted a 4.53 ERA and 4.12 FIP over 163 total innings pitched.

Obviously capable of both pitching out of the rotation and bullpen based off his track record, Triggs owns a lifetime 4.28 ERA and .693 OPS against as a starter, and a lifetime 6.39 ERA and .839 OPS against as a reliever.

Last season, Triggs made just three appearances with Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas before getting released in August. That in turn led him to sign a minor-league deal with the Giants in January, but his tenure there clearly did not last all that long given Wednesday’s news.

Per Statcast, Triggs is a three-pitch pitcher, as he primarily works from a three-quarters arm slot and has a sinker, slider, and curveball in his arsenal.

With this roster move made, Triggs is now on the Sox’ 40-man roster and has been optioned to the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket.

Gonsalves, meanwhile, was removed from Boston’s 40-man roster nearly four weeks after he was originally claimed off waivers from the Mets. The 26-year-old had been working out at McCoy Stadium, and he will likely clear waivers unless he piques another club’s interest.

Red Sox Activate Christian Arroyo, Option Marcus Walden To Pawtucket, and Designate Mike Shawaryn for Assignment

Before taking on the Phillies on Wednesday, the Red Sox made a series of roster moves, activating infielder Christian Arroyo off the COVID-19 related injured list, optioning right-hander Marcus Walden to the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket, and designating right-hander Mike Shawaryn for assignment to make room for Arroyo on the 40-man roster.

There is certainly a lot to unpack here, so let’s start with Arroyo.

The 25-year-old was claimed off waivers by Boston from the Indians last Thursday and was immediately added to the club’s 60-man player pool. However, due to the intake process related to COVID-19 testing, Arroyo could not be added to the Sox’ major-league roster right away and was instead placed on the injured list on Monday retroactive to August 14.

Because he was out of minor-league options at the time he was DFA’d by Cleveland, Arroyo had to be added to Boston’s 28-man roster, which was unable to happen until Wednesday.

A former first-round pick of the Giants back in 2013, Arroyo has only appeared in 71 big-league games between San Francisco and the Tampa Bay Rays dating back to 2017, and he owns an OPS+ of 66 in the majors, so he has not exactly lived up to the former top prospect hype quite yet.

With Boston, though, the Florida native should be able to play all around the infield and will likely make his team debut against the Orioles this weekend.

Walden, meanwhile, was optioned to Pawtucket less than 24 hours after yielding three earned runs to the Phillies in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 13-6 loss.

Since the calendar flipped to August, the 31-year-old has posted a dismal 16.50 ERA and 1.357 OPS against over his last seven appearances and six innings of work, which is very surprising when you consider how valuable he was out of the Boston bullpen in 2019.

—

As for Shawaryn, the 25-year-old was designated and essentially removed from the Sox’ 40-man roster in order to make room for Arroyo, as previously mentioned.

Once one of the top pitching prospects in the Boston farm system, Shawaryn had been a member of the Red Sox’ taxi squad when the club was in Tampa Bay earlier this month.

The New Jersey native was coming off a rookie campaign in 2019 in which he posted a 9.74 ERA and 6.31 FIP over 14 relief outings and 20 1/3 innings pitched.

If Shawaryn clears waivers, he will presumably be outrighted back to Pawtucket.

—

With all these moves being made on Wednesday, the Red Sox’ 40-man roster is now at full capacity, although they do have an opening in their 60-man player pool that will likely be filled by top prospect Triston Casas, who was at Fenway Park on Tuesday.

Red Sox Lineup: J.D. Martinez Out, Xander Bogaerts Gets Start at DH in Series Finale Against Phillies

After being removed in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s loss to the Phillies, J.D. Martinez is out of the Red Sox’ starting lineup in their series finale against Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon.

The Boston slugger had gone 1-for-2 with an RBI double before getting lifted from Tuesday’s contest on account of feeling dizzy and later being deemed dehydrated.

Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke sounded optimistic that Martinez would be back in the fold on Wednesday, but that is obviously not the case now, as Xander Bogaerts will get the start at DH and bat cleanup while Tzu-Wei LIn will get the start at shortstop and bat eighth.

In his seven-year major-league career, Bogaerts as only served as designated hitter one time, which actually came against the Giants last September.

The 27-year-old went 2-for-4 with three RBI in that contest, and he will look to do something similar against Philles right-hander Jake Arrieta, someone he has only reached base twice off of in nine career plate appearances.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up against Arrieta and behind rookie left-hander Kyle Hart on Wednesday afternoon:

First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN, MLB Network, and WEEI.

J.D. Martinez Removed From Tuesday’s Game Due To Dehydration; Slugger Could Be Back in Red Sox Lineup for Wednesday’s Series Finale Against Phillies, Ron Roenicke Says

J.D. Martinez had to be removed in the fifth inning of Tuesday night’s loss to the Phillies due to dehydration, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said during his postgame media availability.

Per Roenicke, Martinez “came out of the game [Tuesday] because he was a little bit dizzy.”

The slugger had reached second base on an RBI double in the third inning, but that was right around the time he started to feel worse.

“He felt a little weird before the game,” Roenicke said. “And then we hit the double and ran to second it took him a few pitches before he was clear and not dizzy.”

After getting back to the Red Sox dugout at the conclusion of the third inning, Martinez was examined by team trainers and deemed “dehydrated,” resulting in the 33-year-old getting lifted for Jonathan Arauz the rest of the way in an eventual 13-6 loss for Boston.

“That’s why we got [Martinez] out of the game,” the Sox skipper added. “I expect him to be fine [Wednesday], but I’m not sure there, either.”

In their series finale against the Phillies on Wednesday, the Red Sox will be facing off against veteran right-hander Jake Arrieta, someone Martinez has not all that well as he is just 2-for-11 in his career against the Philadelphia starter.

We should find out if Martinez will indeed be in the Boston lineup at about 9:30 a.m. eastern time Wednesday , so stay tuned for that.

Red Sox Falter in Sixth Inning, Fall To Phillies 13-6 as Losing Streak Grows To Nine Consecutive Games

Another night, another venue, another opponent, and another loss for the Red Sox on Tuesday. This one came in 13-6 fashion at the hands of the Phillies at Fenway Park, marking the Sox’ ninth consecutive defeat to drop them to 6-18 on the year.

Zack Godley made his fourth start and fifth overall appearance of the season for Boston in this one, and he looked significantly better than he did in his last time out against the Rays on Wednesday.

That being the case because over four innings of work, the right-hander held the Phillies to just one run on four hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with four strikeouts on the night.

Philadelphia’s lone run off Godley came in a laborious top half of the fourth, when with one out in the frame the Sox starter allowed three straight base runners to reach, with the last of those three, Jay Bruce, plating Didi Gregorius on an RBI single to right field.

Fortunately, Godley was able to dance his way around any more trouble, as he retired the final two hitters he faced to end his outing on a somewhat more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 84, 49 of which were strikes, the 30-year-old hurler turned to his cutter and curveball 83% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing six swings-and-misses with the combination of pitches. He also topped out at 91.1 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he went to just three times.

Hit with the no-decision on account while lowering his ERA on the season to 6.87, Godley likely did enough here to earn himself another start, which would presumably come against the Orioles on Sunday.

In relief of Godley, Phillips Valdez got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin things in the fifth, and he served up a solo homer to Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins in an otherwise clean frame of work.

From there, left-hander Josh Taylor made his second appearance in as many days after getting activated from the COVID-19 related injured list on Monday, and he was only able to record the first two outs of the inning while allowing the Phillies to come back and knot this contest up at four runs apiece.

With that, Heath Hembree was dispatched to get out of the mess Taylor had created, but the right-hander was only able to dig a bigger hole for his side by serving up a 409-foot three-run blast to Bryce Harper and a run-scoring base hit to Gregorius before getting the hook in favor of Colten Brewer.

Brewer did manage to end things in the sixth without yielding anything else, but he did give up a leadoff home run to Phil Gosselin in the seventh, which put the Phillies up 10-4 an inning after they had been trailing 4-2.

Marcus Walden did not fare much better in the eighth, as he could not sneak a two-out, 1-1, 91 mph cutter past Jay Bruce, who deposited that pitch just over the wall in center field for another three-run home run. 13-5.

Ryan Brasier, meanwhile, faced five hitters in the ninth but did not give anything up to keep the deficit for his side at eight runs. It did not make all that much of a difference in the end, but still.

All in all, the Boston bullpen combined to allow 12 earned runs on 12 hits (four home runs), and two walks over five innings pitched on Tuesday. Not exactly what you want.

On the other side of things, a Red Sox lineup absent of Christian Vazquez and Jackie Bradley Jr. was matched up against someone making his first ever start at Fenway Park in the form of Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin.

Getting the scoring right away on Tuesday, Rafael Devers got a nice day at the plate started with a one-out single off Eflin in the first and was almost immediately driven in by Xander Bogaerts moments later. 1-0 Boston.

Fast forward to the third, and the top portion of the Sox lineup struck once more, as Alex Verdugo led things off with a wall-ball double to left, and Devers plated him on an RBI double of his own.

J.D. Martinez proceeded with yet another run-scoring two-base hit, and just like that, the Red Sox had themselves a 3-0 lead.

In the fifth, after the Phillies had tacked on two runs of their own, Bogaerts provided what looked to be important insurance at the time with a sacrifice fly off new reliever Blake Barker that brought in Verdugo from third.

Bogaerts’ second RBI of the night put the Sox up 4-2, but as it would later turn out, that would be the last lead they held on Tuesday as the Philadelphia offense went off the rest of the way.

Mitch Moreland got a run back on a run-scoring single in the seventh, and another on a run-scoring double in the ninth, but it would not be enough as 13-6 would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

Some notes and observations from this loss:

J.D. Martinez was removed from this game in the fifth inning due to dehydration.

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

Michael Chavis struck out five times in his five plate appearances on Tuesday.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will close out this brief two-game interleague series and homestand against the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon.

Left-hander Kyle Hart will make his second start of the season for Boston, while veteran right-hander Jake Arrieta will get the ball for Philadelphia.

Hart, 27, is coming off a rough major-league debut against the Rays at Fenway last Thursday in which he surrendered five earned runs on seven hits and four walks in just two-plus innings pitched in an eventual loss.

The Red Sox are sticking with the rookie southpaw for at least one more start despite that shaky debut though, so perhaps that will give him a boost ahead of his first career interleague outing.

Arrieta, meanwhile, has posted a 4.02 ERA and 3.37 FIP through his first three starts and 15 2/3 innings of the 2020 season.

In six career appearances (five starts) at Fenway Park, the 34-year-old owns a lifetime 4.45 ERA and .755 OPS against over 30 1/3 total innings pitched.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN, MLB Network, and WEEI. Red Sox looking to avoid extending their losing streak to double digits.

Red Sox Lineup: Alex Verdugo Leading off in First of Two Against Phillies as Boston Looks To Put End To Eight-Game Losing Streak

After getting swept in two consecutive four-game series for the first time since 1932, the Red Sox open up a quick two-game interleague set against the Phillies at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Right-hander Zack Godley will be making his fourth start and fifth overall appearance of the season for Boston, and he will be opposed by Philadelphia right-hander Zach Eflin.

Godley has been somewhat inconsistent in his time with the Sox, as he has allowed zero, five, zero, and eight runs through his first five outings of the year. The 30-year-old hurler does have a solid track record against the Philles though, coming into the week with a lifetime 1.53 ERA and .528 OPS against in four career appearances (two starts) and 17 2/3 innings pitched against his opponent in this one.

Eflin, meanwhile, has made just two starts this season for Philadelphia in which he has given up a total of six runs (four earned) over 10 innings of work. The 26-year-old out of Orlando will be making his first ever start against the Red Sox and first ever start at Fenway Park on Tuesday.

Here is how the Red Sox will be lining up to begin things in the first of two against the Phillies:

Among the notable things to point out here, Christian Vazquez is not in the lineup after departing early from Monday’s game against the Yankees due to a sore right heel, while Jackie Bradley Jr. is on the bench for a third straight night with Tzu-Wei Lin starting in center in place of him.

Also worth noting, Alex Verdugo is leading off against a right-handed pitcher while Kevin Pillar slides down to the six-hole. The two outfielders are the only hitters in this Red Sox lineup who have faced off against Eflin before. They are a combined 4-for-9 with one home run and two RBI, which all belong to Pillar, off the Phillies starter.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. eastern time on NESN and WEEI. Red Sox going for their first victory in nine days.

Could Red Sox Really Entertain Idea of Trading Xander Bogaerts Before August 31 Trade Deadline?

Statistically speaking, Xander Bogaerts has been one of the best shortstops in baseball over the last three seasons. On top of that, the two-time All-Star is by all accounts a clubhouse leader and is on a relatively team friendly contract after signing a six-year, $120 million extension with the Red Sox last spring.

With all that being said, could the Sox actually consider trading one of their cornerstone players just six months after dealing Mookie Betts to the Dodgers? Well, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, it is at least somewhat of a possibility given the circumstances.

Those circumstances being that in Bogaerts’ current contract, the 27-year-old will receive a full no-trade clause once he reaches seven years of major-league service time next month.

On top of that, Bogaerts can also opt out of his deal at the end of the 2022 season, which as Rosenthal notes, could very well happen considering the fact that the likes of Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, and Trevor Story are all slated to hit free agency the winter before and in turn could reset the market for shortstops.

Considering these two pieces of information, if Boston were to ever trade Bogaerts, doing so before this year’s August 31 trading deadline would likely be the best time seeing how the Aruba native could be moved with virtually no restrictions.

Of course, the idea of trading Bogaerts really is quite ludicrous, to be frank. The idea that the Red Sox would want to trade a player they consider “extremely important” does not make all that much sense.

Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy may have said in a radio interview last week that no Boston players are “untouchable” ahead of the trade deadline, but he did also say, “There are certainly guys who have grown up in the system that we’d like to keep with the Sox for a long, long time.”

Bogaerts, as well as third baseman Rafael Devers, certainly fit that description. And despite what Rosenthal says, I do not feel the Red Sox are “almost obligated” to shop around the shortstop.

Red Sox Serve up Four Home Runs in Yet Another Defeat To Yankees To Extend Losing Streak To Eight Consecutive Games

In their final game at Yankee Stadium in 2020, the Red Sox fell to the first-place Yankees by a final score of 6-3 on Monday, which extended their losing streak to a season-worst eight consecutive games.

Martin Perez made his fifth start of the season for Boston in this one, and he came into the week having made just one career start in the Bronx prior to Monday.

Only able to work the first three innings due to a 1 hour and 22 minute rain delay, the left-hander yielded three runs, all of which were earned, on two hits, three walks, and one hit batsman to go along with one lone strikeout on the night.

All three of those New York tallies came in the bottom half of the second, when after plunking Tyler Wade, the Yanks’ No. 9 hitter, with two outs, Perez served up an RBI double to Aaron Hicks and followed that by serving up a 428-foot two-run to Luke Voit on a 2-2, 83 mph changeup right down the chute moments later.

Those three consecutive mistakes put Perez’s side in an early three-run hole, and his evening would unknowingly come to a close after a scoreless third inning due to that aforementioned inclement weather.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 58 (30 strikes), the 29-year-old hurler turned to his cutter and changeup a combined 58% of the time he was on the mound Monday, inducing three swings-and-misses with the combination of pitches while also topping out at 93 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 10 times.

Hit with his third losing decision of the year while also raising his ERA to 4.07, Perez will look to rebound in his next time out, which should come against the Orioles in Baltimore on Saturday.

In relief of Perez, left-hander Josh Osich got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen following that 83-minute rain delay, and he surrendered a pair of leadoff homers to Thairo Estrada and Voit in the bottom halves of the fourth and fifth innings.

From there, fellow southpaw Josh Taylor made his 2020 debut after getting activated from the injured list and needed just nine pitches to toss a scoreless bottom of the sixth, while Austin Brice gave up another solo shot to Aaron Hicks in the seventh and Heath Hembree fanned a pair in a perfect eighth inning.

Hembree’s impressive work kept Boston’s deficit at three runs, but it would prove to not be enough in the end.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a fairly familiar foe in Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery, whose 2020 debut came against Boston back on July 31.

The 27-year-old had a no-hitter going through his first 3 2/3 innings on Monday, but a string of three straight two-out hits in the fourth from J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, and Christian Vazquez broke that up, with Vazquez plating Martinez on an RBI single that was just out of the reach of Gleyber Torres.

As it would almost immediately turn out, Vazquez’s 12th RBI of the season came at just the right time as the Yankees ground crew began to roll the tarp onto the field almost as soon as Vazquez had reached first base safely.

The Red Sox headed into a lengthy weather delay with two outs and runners on the corners in the fourth, but they could not do anything with that opportunity once the rain lifted.

That being the case because after Michael Chavis drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases, Alex Verdugo was the victim of a swinging strikeout at the hands of Luis Avilan to extinguish the threat and end the inning.

Verdugo did redeem himself in the top of the sixth, though, when with two outs and Vazquez at second, the outfielder drove the catcher in on a run-scoring double off reliever Michael King. 5-2 New York.

Fast forward all the way to the ninth, with the Yankees up 6-2, vaunted fireballer Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance of the season out of the New York bullpen. Perhaps taking advantage of some of Chapman’s expected rustiness, the Sox made somewhat of a comeback attempt with Jose Peraza ripping a one-out triple and Jonathan Arauz scoring him on an RBI double down the left field line.

That pushed the Red Sox’ deficit to three runs at 6-3, but alas, that would go on to be Monday’s final score after Kevin Pillar and Rafael Devers struck out back-to-back to end the game.

Some notes and observations from this loss:

The Red Sox have lost their last 11 games at Yankee Stadium.

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

From The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

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Next up for the Red Sox, they will return to Fenway Park and open up a two-game interleague series against the Phillies beginning on Monday night.

Right-hander Zack Godley will get the start for Boston, while fellow righty Zach Eflin will do the same for Philadelphia.

In four career appearances (two starts) against the Phillies, the 30-year-old Godley owns a lifetime 1.53 ERA and .528 OPS against over 17 2/3 total innings pitched.

Eflin, meanwhile, will be making his first career start against the Red Sox and his first career start at Fenway Park.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. eastern time on NESN and WEEI. Red Sox looking to finally to put an end to this dreadful skid, maybe?