The Yankees starter walked five Red Sox batters on Friday night. The Red Sox scored zero runs. That’s the whole story, and it’s an ugly one.
Cam Schlittler was not sharp. He walked five, put traffic on base constantly, and gave Boston every opportunity to cash in. They left ten men on. In a different game—in almost any other version of this game—five free base runners are enough to win. Tonight they weren’t, and the way the Red Sox wasted them made it worse than just a bad night at the plate.
Ceddanne Rafaela had two baserunning blunders that each one capable of changing the score. The double play off the Abreu fly ball in the 5th was painful. Getting thrown out at home with the bases loaded in the 7th was a gut punch. Both mistakes killed rallies that could have given this team the lead. Rafaela stood up and took credit for both after the game, which is the right way to handle it. It still doesn’t change the math. The Sox had the opportunities and didn’t convert, and Rafaela’s legs cost them at least one run they desperately needed.
On the pitching side, it’s hard to ask for anything more. Patrick Sandoval was everything you want from your fifth starter in a tight road game—kept the Yankees in check, gave the offense time to work, left with the team still in it. Only one run allowed, but he eliminated most every threat otherwise. The bullpen was even better. Greg Weissert, Tyron Guerrero, and Wyatt Olds threw combined under 30 pitches and nailed the Yankees to the wall. New York finished with three hits. Three. The Red Sox pitching staff held the Yankees to three hits all night and still lost.
That’s because one of those hits went over the fence. A solo shot in the third from Paul Goldschmidt, one swing, one run, final score. That’s baseball sometimes—empirically bad game, one moment, and it’s over.
1-0 losses are the worst kind. The pitching was fine. The defense was fine, except for two specific moments from Rafaela. The offense just couldn’t score. Five walks and ten men left on base and nothing to show for it. The Yankees don’t need much when your offense goes quiet like that.
Three more games in this series. Shake it off. Even with the horrific pitching matchups on paper.
Everything you can ask from a starting pitcher in a 1-0 game. Held the Yankees to minimal damage, kept the offense in a position to win, and gave the bullpen a manageable situation to work with. The result isn’t on him.
Three hits. The Yankees offense combined for three hits all night. All the arms Tracy used out of the pen, they were outstanding—and they’re the reason this game stayed 1-0 instead of becoming something uglier.
The double play off the fly ball. Thrown out at home with the bases loaded. Two baserunning mistakes in one game, each one directly killing a rally that could have changed the outcome. He said the right things after the game—owned both of them completely. But in a game decided by a single run, those two moments are the loss.
Schlittler walked five Red Sox hitters. Five. And the team scored zero runs. You can’t be handed that many free runners and go home with nothing. The 10 men left on base isn’t a number, it’s a verdict.
Can there be none? In a game that was so unremarkable, I can’t pick one for the life of me.
