Yankees Sweep Four Game Series From Reeling Red Sox

With less than two months to go in the regular season, it’s looking more and more like the Boston Red Sox will not get a chance to defend their World Series title in the playoffs. They’ve struggled this year, and while they have been able to stay in contention for a Wild Card berth, that’s beginning to slip away. The latest case in point: Over the August 1st through 4th four game series at the arch rival and A.L. East leading New York Yankees, the Red Sox came away empty as the Yankees swept all four games, erasing the progress they made when they took three out of four at home over the Yankees on the previous weekend.

The 7-4 win in the series finale gave the Yankees (72-39) an eight game lead in the East, not over Boston, but over the surprising Tampa Bay Rays (65-48). The loss was the eighth in a row for the Red Sox, who fell to 59-55, 14 1/2 games behind the Yankees. Boston is also 6 1/2 games out of the second and final Wild Card position, currently held by the Rays, with the Oakland Athletics just a half game behind that. The Cleveland Indians are in the top Wild Card position, but those three teams are all within 2 1/2 games of each other.

While Boston’s hitters are still pounding the ball, their pitchers are having a hard time of it. Eduardo Rodriguez is 13-5 with a 4.19 ERA, but Chris Sale is just 5-11 with a 4.68, David Price is a somewhat better 7-5 with a 4.36, and Rick Porcello is 9-8 but with a 5.74 ERA. Porcello has been having good seasons in even numbered years and bad seasons in odd numbered years, so maybe this should be expected. Boston picked up Andrew Cashner from the Baltimore Orioles in July, but he’s 1-3 with a 6.94 ERA in four starts. The Red Sox also lost closer Craig Kimbrel to free agency in the off season; the Red Sox have tried different pitchers in the role, but no one has emerged as a solid replacement.

Here’s some highlights from that 7-4 Yankees victory: