Yankees seventh inning rally isn't enough as Boston snaps their eight game winning streak

The New York Yankees came into Thursday night having won 17 of their last 18 games but the Boston Red Sox would rain on their parade in the Bronx, after the Yankees tied the game up in the seventh, and lost it in the eighth.

Photo Credit: Kathy Willens | AP

C.C. Sabathia took the mound for the Bombers, but delivered his first clunker of the year. Sabathia gave up a run in the first inning on a Hanley Ramirez ground out and two in the third on a Ramirez single and J.D. Martinez ground out.

They say lightning doesn’t strike three times but Ramirez sure did. He got the best of Sabathia for the third time in the fifth inning, this time a solo home run to give the bad guys from Boston a 4-0 lead.

After a brief rain delay, Sabathia was taken out but it seemed as though the lineup got the rest that they needed. In the seventh inning, the Yankees would load the bases with one out and set their sights on tying the game – and they did.

Brett Gardner drew a one out walk and Aaron Judge delivered an RBI single. The Yanks would score their next two runs without getting a hit. Didi Gregorius hit into a fielder’s choice and with Giancarlo Stanton at the dish, a wild pitch was thrown by Tyler Austin’s sparring partner, Joe Kelly.

All of a sudden there was a 4-4 game in the eighth inning. It seemed like magic, but the air was taken 
out of the stadium quick when Martinez hit a solo-shot off of Dellin Betances in his second inning of relief. The game would end by a score of 5-4, and the Yankees eight game winning streak came to an end.

The Good

The Yankees are proving to be an impossible team to put away. Their lineup provides depth that not many other teams have and life is made very difficult for pitchers.

After coming from behind in the late innings to beat the Cleveland Indians last week, the Yanks almost did it twice to the Red Sox. This team looks to be playing with extreme confidence and rightfully so.

The Bad

The starting rotation has still not been as good as they need it to be. That should be solved overtime by the front office adding a starting pitcher. For now, the team will continue to win games because of their lineup.

Didi Gregorius has fallen into a deep slump after winning AL Player of the Month for April. Gregorius is 0 for his last 24 and his average has slipped to .280 from .333. 

Tyler Austin is also slumping at the moment and might be the odd man out when Brandon Drury returns to the team.

Winning Pitcher: Joe Kelly (2-0, 2.60 ERA) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Losing Pitcher: Dellin Betances (1-2, 5.63 ERA) 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Save: Craig Kimbrel (10)

Notables:

Red Sox

Hanley Ramirez: 2-4 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 HR (5)

J.D. Martinez: 1-4 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 HR (9)

Yankees

C.C. Sabathia: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Aaron Judge: 1-2, 1 RBI, 3 BB

What’s next?

The Yankees will look to continue their reign of dominance when the Oakland Athletics come to town tomorrow. Sonny Gray will face his former team, and the Oakland A’s have yet to announce a starting pitcher.

Article by: Greg Patuto

Follow @GregPatuto Follow @BronxBomberBall