Domingo German shelled by Red Sox as Yankees' rough stretch continues
BOSTON — The Yankees, who had played 10 straight games decided by three runs or fewer, were in need of a laugher Friday night.
They got one, but they were the butt of the joke.
Domingo German failed to record an out in the third inning, the Yankees’ infield defense was shoddy and their bats stayed quiet until it was too late, all of which combined for an embarrassing stinker of a 15-5 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
“It wasn’t the brand of baseball that we’re used to playing,” said Josh Donaldson, who bobbled the transfer on a ground ball with two outs in the third inning that opened the floodgates. “A little sloppy defensively — or a lot sloppy defensively today. That’s not in our DNA to do that. It happens sometimes. We’ll look to rebound and play better [Saturday].”
It got ugly enough that the Yankees turned to utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to pitch the eighth inning. The Red Sox (35-35) added one more run against him in his second mound appearance of the season.
Anthony Rizzo walks to the dugout after striking out in the Yankees’ brutal 15-5 loss to the Red Sox. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
The Yankees (39-31) have now lost six of their past nine games, though not even the injured Aaron Judge could have saved them in this dud that delighted the sellout crowd of 37,086. To make matters worse, they may have to sit on it for an extra day because rain is threatening to postpone their game Saturday.
On a night when the Yankees were inexplicably charged with just two errors, Donaldson, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres all had misplays in the infield that led to runs while right fielder Jake Bauers added an errant throw.
“We didn’t play well tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Through this stretch where it’s been a little tough for us over the last 10 days, we’ve played really well, we just haven’t put a lot of points on the board. Tonight we were at least able to get some runs on the board, but overall we just did not play a very clean game.”
Domingo German throws a pitch during the first inning. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
German had arguably been the Yankees’ best starting pitcher over the past month and a half, with a 2.20 ERA in his past seven outings. The last time out, he limited the Red Sox to one run on six hits across six innings last Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
But on Friday, it all came crumbling down in a hurry. In his shortest start of the season, German got shelled for seven runs on seven hits (six of them for extra bases), two walks and one hit batter across two-plus innings. The right-hander was given a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and promptly gave it back in the bottom of the frame, with the Red Sox scoring the first two of 13 unanswered runs.
“Plain and simple, they were better tonight,” said German, who got just two swing-and-misses on 56 pitches.
Aaron Boone reacts in the dugout during the fifth inning. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Matt Krook relieved German in a 5-1 game and didn’t fare much better in his long-awaited MLB debut. He was tagged for five more runs across 1 ²/₃ innings — though he didn’t get much help behind him. He got two quick outs and appeared to have the third, but Donaldson could not get the ball out of his glove cleanly after he fielded a grounder.
Then, after Krook did not cover first base on a grounder well off away from the bag — Rizzo ranged far to his right to field it — Justin Turner capped off his monster night by crushing a grand slam to center field to put the Red Sox ahead 10-1.
“At the end of the day, I needed to finish that inning right there,” Krook said. “It would have been a big turning point for the game.”
Tanner Houck is checked on by a trainer and teammates after getting hit by a comebacker. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Turner went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs while Masataka Yoshida went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs.
The only scare for the Red Sox came in the fifth inning, when Kyle Higashioka hit an 89.7 mph line drive off the face of starter Tanner Houck. The right-hander began bleeding on the mound, but was able to walk off under his own power while holding a towel over his face. The Red Sox said he has a facial contusion.
Source: New York Post
