New York Yankees Reaction: A-Rod Homers But Yanks Can’t Avoid Sweep

The offense woke up on Sunday Night for the New York Yankees but they were unable to hold off the Boston Red Sox as they get swept in three games. 

• New York Yankees: 7 (8-15)
• Boston Red Sox: 8 (15-10)
• American League, FINAL, Box Score
• Fenway Park, Boston, MA

By Christian Kouroupakis

The New York Yankees have lost their fifth straight ballgame in an 8-7, back-and-forth affair with the Boston Red Sox.

New York sent Nathan Eovaldi to the hill with the hope he could build on a stellar outing against the Texas Rangers, but his team would receive the opposite as he surrendered six runs on ten hits in five innings of work.

Offensively the Yankees finally got the bats going behind their designated hitter, Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez drilled a two-run home run to left-center in the third inning and then ripped a two-run double in the fifth inning to the same spot.

The slugger’s double gave the Yankees a brief lead that they let up an inning later thanks to a Travis Shaw two-run bomb to right field that knotted the contest up at six apiece.

The big hit came in the bottom of the seventh off the bat of Christian Vazquez. Facing Dellin Betances with a runner on first, he lifted a two-run tiebreaking bomb off the first pitch he saw to give Boston an 8-6 lead in an eventual 8-7 win.

The victory for the Red Sox moves them into sole possession of first place in the American League East and marks their first sweep of the Yankees since September of 2013.

Final: Red Sox 8, #Yankees 7 pic.twitter.com/1uB2SbZ4do

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 2, 2016

Biggest Strength… A weakness?

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Dellin Betances surrendered a go-ahead two-run home run to Vazquez that led to the Red Sox win.

The 6’8″ right-hander has now allowed a home run in three consecutive outings and his ERA that usually sits close to 0.00 is now at 3.09.

The bullpen was built to be this team’s strong suit but allowed ten runs in the three-game series against their rivals and have allowed the third-most home runs in the American League.

The Price Is Right:

Out of all pitchers, the five-time all-star and former CY-Young award winner is the pitcher the offense breaks out off of. Baseball is weird, isn’t it?

David Price entered today’s ballgame 13-7 with a 4.04 ERA in 30 starts against the Yankees, but there were some instances where the Bombers tattooed the left-handed ace.

On Apr 22 of last year, when Price was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, for eight runs on ten hits. Tonight, the Yankees smashed him for six runs on eight hits including three walks and a home run.

Perhaps this is the confidence boost this offense needs. If they can hit one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, they could hit anyone.

Little Bit Of History:

A-Rod’s home run in the top of the third inning was not only the fifth of the season and the 692nd of his career, but it was his 29th at Fenway.

That bomb ties him with Joe DiMaggio for the fifth-most dingers by a visiting player at Fenway Park. Mickey Mantle (38), Babe Ruth (38) and Harmon Killebrew (37) are ahead of him on the historic list.

A-Rod’s HR was his 29th at Fenway, tying Joe DiMaggio for the fifth-most by a visiting player. Mantle (38), Ruth (38) & Killebrew (37) lead.

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) May 2, 2016

What’s Next:

The Yankees will head to Baltimore to face off against the first-place Orioles to kick-off the final series of this nine-game road trip on Tuesday night.