BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (9-15) fall behind early and watch their bats go ice cold — yet again — in a sleepy 4-1 loss to the Yankees at Fenway:
1) Ranger Suárez had gone 14 consecutive scoreless innings over his last two starts, but was punched in the mouth instantly by the Yankees in his first taste of the rivalry. A one-out walk to Aaron Judge preceded a Giancarlo Stanton double that came off the bat at 101.4 mph. Two pitches later, Amed Rosario smoked a hanging changeup over the Monster for a three-run shot.
Boston’s lineup is not one that’s capable of climbing out of an early hole right now. The game felt over with the Yankees up 3-0 and Max Fried on the mound. It effectively was.
2) There has been no inning more illustrative of the Red Sox’ offensive deficiencies than the second inning. After Andruw Monasterio walked and Jarren Duran doubled to put two men in scoring position, the Red Sox went down fast — and in ugly fashion against Fried.
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Fried needed just 12 pitches to strike out the bottom three hitters in Boston’s order — the trio of Caleb Durbin, Connor Wong and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Kiner-Falefa chased a two-strike curveball in the dirt to end the inning. All three hitters saw just four pitches.
The Red Sox have consistently failed to put the ball in play when they need to most. It was more of the same in that department.
3) The Red Sox were one out away from their second straight shutout loss when Duran laced an RBI single to plate Boston’s first run of the series in the ninth. That broke a 29-⅔ inning scoreless streak against the Yankees, dating back to last year’s postseason.
In total, the Red Sox had just five hits, including three by Duran... and just three before the ninth inning when lefty Brent Headrick came in and struggled.
Fried absolutely dominated, striking out nine Red Sox while allowing three hits and walking two more in eight shutout innings. Boston chased 20 pitches against him.
4) Suárez settled down over the next few innings but still found himself the victim of an early hook, as Alex Cora pulled him at just 71 pitches with two outs in the fifth. Suárez did not look particularly pleased with the decision Cora made to not have him face Stanton for a third time with a runner on second base in a four-run game.
In all, Suárez was tagged for four earned runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked two. Through five starts, he has a 4.00 ERA.
5) Quick middle innings plagued the Red Sox against Luis Gil on Tuesday and the fifth inning against Fried was more of the same. Kiner-Falefa lifted a lazy fly ball on the first pitch, Ceddanne Rafaela struck out and Willson Contreras popped out on the first pitch as the lefty needed just eight pitches to get three outs.
6) Duran showed signs of life offensively, putting together his best game of the year. He doubled twice the other way — both with an exit velocity of 100.3 mph — and added his third hit when he drove in Trevor Story in the ninth.
It was the third multi-hit game of the year for Duran, who entered hitting .162 with a .490 OPS and just three doubles all season.
7) Suárez’s shortened start paved the way for the major league debut of big lefty Eduardo Rivera, who was called up Wednesday despite never pitching above Double-A. As other rookie pitchers have been in losses this year, Rivera was a bright spot in an impressive showing.
The 22-year-old struck out the first batter he faced, sitting down Jazz Chisholm Jr. with a 97 mph fastball in the sixth. From there, he cruised, allowing one hit and striking out three batters in 3 ⅓ innings. Rivera might be sent down Thursday after a 41-pitch showing but he should be back in the majors at some point.
8) Stanton continues to be a problem at Fenway. He homered and doubled Tuesday and ripped two more doubles Wednesday. In his third at-bat, Cora turned to Zack Kelly to replace Suárez and Kelly got the slugger to pop out to end the inning.
9) A check-in on Boston’s home run total at home? Four, through 13 games. Willson Contreras has three and Marcelo Mayer had the big one during the home opener. That’s it.
At last check, the Sox remained tied for last in the majors with 13 total homers. Since April 4 (17 games), only three members of the club have homered (Contreras three times, Jarren Duran and Trevor Story).