Yankees’ rally falls short in fifth straight loss to Red Sox

The Yankees couldn't get a big hit again in their 4-2 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday night at Fenway Park, their fifth consecutive loss to their AL East rival.

BOSTON — Before Saturday’s game, Gerrit Cole likened this Yankees-Red Sox series to “a little bit like a heavyweight fight to see who comes out on top.”

So far, it’s no contest.

The Yankees have dropped all five meetings between the two teams this season and it will be up to Cole to prevent a second straight sweep at the hands of their rivals following a 4-2 loss at Fenway Park on Saturday night.

“We definitely don’t like losing to these guys,’’ DJ LeMahieu said. “We’ve got a lot more games against them this year. Hopefully we turn the tide on them. [Sunday] is a big game for us. … They’ve outplayed us for five straight games.”

With another sellout crowd chanting “Yankees suck” throughout the game, Nathan Eovaldi shut down the Bombers for most of the night, as the offense that looked like it was coming together in recent weeks has quieted down in Boston the past two nights.

The Yankees’ bats mostly stayed silent until LeMahieu got the Bombers on the board with a solo homer with two out in the eighth to end Eovaldi’s night.

Hirokazu Sawamura came in and walked Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton to load the bases. He was lifted for Adam Ottavino, who got Luke Voit to ground out.

The Yankees had another chance in the ninth when LeMahieu came up with two on and two out against Ottavino and singled in Rougned Odor from second.

Ottavino, throwing harder than he did as a Yankee, rebounded to strike out Judge on a 2-2 sinker to seal the win.

“He’s not out there to prove people wrong,’’ Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Ottavino, who the Yankees traded to Boston after two subpar seasons in The Bronx. “He’s out there to get people out. … The last pitch was a great pitch.”

Though Eovaldi’s counterpart, Jordan Montgomery, wasn’t bad, he was the victim of some bad luck as the Yankees again played poor defense and provided the left-hander with no run support — hurt again by a pair of double plays.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with no one out in the second and Kiké Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the first run. Bobby Dalbec then hit a foul pop down the first base line. Voit made an off-balance catch, but Devers tagged up and scored on the play to make it 2-0.

Faced with runners on the corners, Montgomery got a grounder to second from Renfroe, but after a shifted LeMahieu raced over to field it, he hesitated with the throw and Renfroe beat it out. It was ruled a hit and Bogaerts scored to make it 3-0.

“We’ve got to score first,’’ Judge said. “That’s the big thing. They’ve put the pressure on us. … We’ve got to flip the switch and put the pressure on them.”

The Yankees had two on and one out when LeMahieu led off the sixth with a slow chopper toward third that Devers couldn’t handle. It was ruled a hit. Judge singled through the right side of the infield before a Sanchez double play ended the threat.

Albert Abreu gave up a run in the seventh to put the Yankees in a 4-0 hole they couldn’t climb out of.

As for Cole, he will be matched up against left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez in the series finale on Sunday afternoon

“While maybe the season can’t be made or broken in three games in late June, there’s certainly some weight to the series,’’ Cole said.

And now there’s even more weight on Sunday’s game, with the Yankees six games back of the Rays in the AL East, who lead Boston by a half-game. They also are 17-23 against the division.

“We’re fighting our butts off right now,’’ Boone said. “Some things didn’t go our way tonight. We’ve got to fight to make things happen and push to make things happen against these clubs.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Dan Martin

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