Things went from bad to worse for the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon in their last game before the All-Star break. The New York Yankees won the final two games of the weekend three game series with a 13-2 win, after a 14-1 pasting of Boston on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox enter the break not having any series wins over any of the American League East teams (0-11), and may of lost pitcher Chris Sale for the season in his second start of 2022 with a fractured finger in the first inning. They are 12-26 overall vs AL East foes.
New York (64-28) jumped on Sale in the bottom of the first. DJ LeMahieu doubled and then Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch. After Anthony Rizzo grounded out, Gleyber Torres reached on a fielders choice on a throwing error to first by Boston third baseman Rafael Devers that allowed LeMahieu to score. Matt Carpenter followed with an RBI groundout, and then the unfortunate end to the day for Sale came with Aaron Hicks batting. Hicks hit a line drive right back at the left hander, deflecting off his pitching hand and into short right field to extend the lead to 3-0. Sale immediately put his pinky finger in the air to show his dugout and left the mound and didn’t return. The Red Sox got back into the game in the top of the third when Jackie Bradley Jr. reached with a one out single against Gerrit Cole, and then Jeter Downs hit his first major league homerun a two-run shot on a 1-1 pitch to left field. That was the end of the offense though, and New York would put it away with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. LeMahieu, Judge, and Hicks had RBI singles, Matt Carpenter a two-run double to right, Isiah Kiner-Falefa an RBI sacrifice fly, and Tim Locastro added a two-run homerun to left. Boston finished the final week of the first half with a 1-6 road trip to Tampa Bay and New York, and were outscored by 33 runs.
Downs had two hits for Boston, and Sale (0-1) took the pitching loss charged with three runs (two earned) in 2/3 of an inning. Ryan Brasier and Jake Diekman were lit up in the big fourth inning for New York, both allowing four earned runs out of the bullpen. LeMahieu and Locastro each had three hits for the Yankees, while Judge and Hicks had two a piece. Cole (9-2) allowed two runs on four hits with no walks and 12 strikeouts in a dominant 7.0 inning performance to notch the win. It was revealed that Sale has a fifth finger (pinky) fracture, and an immediate timeline for how long he could miss wasn’t released. Manager Alex Cora said he will see a specialist in Boston tomorrow, but wouldn’t rule him out to pitch again this season. The Sox are now 48-45, and two games behind Toronto for the final American League wildcard playoff spot. They return to action Friday night against those Blue Jays at Fenway Park, where they will play 13 straight games against teams that are over .500 (Toronto, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Houston).
