Red Sox offered the Yankees help they didn’t need

Not exactly breaking news here, but the Yankees are a really good baseball team.

And typically, when playing against a club of their caliber, opponents will be punished for every mistake and missed opportunity.

The three key turning points Friday night in the Bronx all went against the Red Sox. A shocking base running blunder by Kevin Pillar, an inopportune double play hit into by Michael Chavis and a co-sponsored surrender by Colten Brewer and Christian Vazquez added up [...]

Not exactly breaking news here, but the Yankees are a really good baseball team.

And typically, when playing against a club of their caliber, opponents will be punished for every mistake and missed opportunity.

The three key turning points Friday night in the Bronx all went against the Red Sox. A shocking base running blunder by Kevin Pillar, an inopportune double play hit into by Michael Chavis and a co-sponsored surrender by Colten Brewer and Christian Vazquez added up to a 5-1 defeat.

Boston scratched and clawed to win its last two games against the Mets, but stepping up in class like this requires something more polished. The Yankees didn’t seem to shift out of second gear and still dispatched the Red Sox with relative ease.

"The missed opportunities probably come up a lot more often," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. "When you have chances and you don’t score runs against that type of a team, most of the time you’re in trouble."

Which leads us to the top of the third inning. Chavis belted a leadoff homer and back-to-back singles with one out gave Boston a chance to further unsettle New York starter Jordan Montgomery. J.D. Martinez sent a soft liner to shallow right field, one caught by Aaron Judge coming in.

Pillar inexplicably strayed off the bag at first, perhaps assuming Judge would casually throw in to second or third base. Instead the right fielder fired quickly behind Pillar to first and caught him off the bag. The inning-ending double play was followed by a D.J. LeMahieu single and a Judge homer to right-center that erased a 1-0 lead.

"Obviously you can’t mistakes too often on the bases, and we have," Roenicke said. "Pillar didn’t realize he was throwing behind him there. You just have to be more aware and get back there."

The Red Sox put the first two men on in the fourth and loaded the bases with one out when Montgomery booted a soft grounder back to the mound by Alex Verdugo. The left-hander composed himself quickly against Chavis, who blasted one 410 feet to left in his first at-bat. He sent a two-hopper to third that went 5-4-3, ending the threat, and Gio Urshela followed with a solo homer to right-center leading off the bottom half.

"We’re being carried by the bottom of the order," Martinez said. "When the heart of your order and your big sluggers aren’t going out there and driving in runs, the doubt kind of creeps in."

Aroldis Chapman continues to recover from COVID-19, and there might have been a chance for Boston to manage something in a two-run game with three outs to go. Instead the Yankees doubled their lead when Brewer walked the leadoff man in the eighth and Vazquez allowed pinch runner Tyler Wade to reach third base on a passed ball. That set up Brett Gardner to crush one into the second deck in right, a two-run homer that settled the result.

"I kind of want to say we’re on the fence," Martinez said. "I feel like if we come out tomorrow and we start swinging it, our confidence goes through the roof."

Boston managed just five hits against Montgomery, Chad Green, Adam Ottavino and Jonathan Holder. Xander Bogaerts drew a one-out walk in the ninth, the only Red Sox hitter to reach safely over the last three innings. Boston’s best chances had already come and gone, and New York had already administered the bulk of the discipline.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @BillKoch25