He lost his bid for a ideal game when Alex Rodriguez hit a weak grounder for an infield hit.New York’s second hit was a single up the middle by Starlin Castro to open the sixth and it drew some sarcastic applause from fans.
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Otherwise, they might end up rare sellers at the August 1 trade deadline. NY was launching rockets left and right against Eduardo Rodriguez in the early going, and while the Red Sox were well-placed to prevent any real damage, it was not an auspicious sign for Eduardo Rodriguez given how badly things have gone for him this season.
The Yankees (44-46) are under.500 after the All-Star break for the first time since 1995.
“You feel that you have three more innings and a good shot to score more runs”, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “This is probably as important a game as we’ve had in July in a long time”.
Nathan Eovaldi allowed two hits over 1 1/3 innings in his third relief appearance before his scheduled return to the Yankees’ rotation Tuesday against Baltimore. Boston chipped away at the big lefty by reaching base mostly on soft, well-placed contact and a couple of NY errors until a home run in the sixth by Sandy Leon.
“It’s not necessarily a change in my thinking”, Girardi said of starting Rodriguez on Friday. “Just the result is not coming”.
Little surprise that, during this stretch of bad starts, both Sabathia and Girardi have agreed that the cutter has occasionally been the problem. The 35-year-old has allowed 27 runs in his past five starts after yielding just 18 over his first 11. Catcher Sandy Leon played hero once again, giving the Red Sox some major cushion with a three-run homer in the sixth inning.
“First base is a lot more challenging than I think people give it credit”, he said.
The bullpen has already thrown far too many innings. Carlos Beltran had a two-run single, and Brian McCann hit an RBI grounder as first baseman Hanley Ramirez bounced his throw to second, eliminating the possibility of an inning-ending double play.
Jackie Bradley Jr. tied a season high with three hits, and Boston’s 6-through-9 hitters went 7 for 16 while 1-through-5 went 3 for 21. Girardi added that Rodriguez “looked fairly comfortable” at first base Friday.
– Boston actually wasn’t hitting the ball hard Saturday, but it made every blooper count.
Leon also helped Rodriguez (2-3), his Venezuelan countryman, hold NY to a run on four hits over seven innings after the Red Sox recalled the left-hander Friday. Tanaka is 4-2 with a 4.79 ERA and 37 strikeouts in his career against the Red Sox. “Obviously, if he can do it, it gives us more flexibility”.
Rodriguez opened the season on the disabled list with a knee injury, then posted an 8.59 ERA in six starts before being demoted to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Rodriguez was rolling through his outing, but the Red Sox weren’t generating strong offense against Yankees starter CC Sabathia.
He gave up a solo home run to Brett Gardner with two outs in the third. He went six innings and allowed three hits and three runs, flummoxing the Yankees with knucklers and fastballs.
Rodriguez hit 96mph with his five of his four-seamers, something he had yet to do consistently this season. Rodriguez was 0 for 3 with a walk Saturday and is 1 for 7 in the series.
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The Red Sox trade for Drew Pomeranz, the Sox reportedly will sign 12th-overall pick Jason Groome, and Russell Westbrook turns up in Celtics trade rumors.
