About Last Night: Red Sox Win 1-0

About Last Night: The Yankees Were Beaten by the Red Sox Yet Again 1-0

By Tim Kabel

August 23, 2025

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The third-place Yankees continued to throw away any momentum they gained from their recent winning streak. After winning five games in a row against the Cardinals and the Rays, the Yankees opened a series on Thursday against an actual Major League Baseball team. They have lost the first two games of that series and in eight meetings against the Red Sox this year, the Yankees have won one single, solitary game. That is not exactly the way to put yourselves into contention for the postseason.

Quick Stats – 

·       Brayan Bello pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and only allowed a total of four base runners last night.

·       The Yankees never had a runner in scoring position.

·       The Yankees and Red Sox will face each other five more times this season, but the Red Sox have already clinched the season series. They have a record of 7-1 against the Yankees so far this year.  

·       The Yankees were shut out for the ninth time this season.

·       The Yankees had three or fewer hits for the ninth time this season. Last year they did that six times.

·       On August 22, 1996, the Yankees claimed Luis Sojo off waivers.

Big Story – 

The Yankees continued their ineptitude against the American League East, and particularly, the Red Sox last night. The Yankees won their first game against the Red Sox this season on June 6, but have not won since. Perhaps the enormity of the day, being D-Day, inspired them to victory back in June. Who knows? Regardless, they have not won since against Boston. Even if the Yankees win all the remaining games against the Red Sox, they will still lose the season series. Does anyone believe they will win all five of those games?

By winning last night, the Red Sox jumped over the Yankees in the playoff race and are now in second place in the American League East and ahead of the Yankees in the Wild Card race. Despite the Yankees fancy 5-game winning streak against mediocre teams earlier this week, they are 5 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays in the American League East and 1/2 game behind the Red Sox. In the Wild Card race, the Yankees hold the second spot and are a half game ahead of the Mariners.

The Yankees are 69-59 and have 34 games to play. It is reasonable to believe that the Yankees or any other team, would need to win approximately 90 games to make the playoffs. That means the Yankees would need to win 21 of their remaining 34 games.

The Yankees had a losing record in June. They had a losing record in July. They currently have a losing record in August. They do finish the month with games against the Nationals and the White Sox. So, it is possible the Yankees could have a winning record in August. However, they begin September with 12 games against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers, and Red Sox. Their final 13 games are against the Twins, Orioles, and White Sox. Seven of those games are against the Orioles, a team that always gives the Yankees a lot of trouble.

Is it possible for the Yankees to win 21 of their next 34 games? Of course, it is but they're making it harder and harder by losing against tougher competition. They already lost the first two games of the series against the Red Sox. The best they can hope for is a split. At this point, it seems more likely that they will be swept than it is that they will win the next two games. The Yankees are putting themselves in a position where they will almost have to sweep all the games against the lesser teams such as the Nationals, White Sox, Twins, and Orioles. That seems unlikely. As each day passes and another loss accumulates, the Yankees prospects for making the postseason become bleaker.

Player of the Game – 

Max Fried returned to form, pitching six innings of shutout ball. He allowed four hits and three walks. He had seven strikeouts. Unfortunately, the Yankees wasted his performance.

Notable Performance – 

The squirrel that ran onto the field in the fourth inning provided more excitement than the Yankees did.

Better To Forget-

Anthony Volpe has 1 hit in his last 28 at bats and is now batting .209 for the season. 

My Take – 

The Yankees are not a very good baseball team right now, despite their recent five-game winning streak. The Yankees have been a losing team since May 30. The Yankees blew a seven-game lead in the American League East and are now in third place. They are in a tough battle for a Wild Card spot in the American League.

The Yankees need to win as many games as they possibly can if they hope to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, that means they have to beat some of the better teams in the league. They have not proven that they can do that. They have won one game against the Red Sox this season. They have not won games against the American League East for the most part. It's hard to win a division if you can't beat the other teams in that division.

It's time to face facts. Aaron Boone is the manager of the Yankees. I know some people feel that he should be absolved of any blame or responsibility for the team's performance. Those people believe that Brian Cashman and his minions call all of the shots, and that Aaron Boone does nothing. There are also people who believe that the earth is flat or that there was ever a better tenor than Luciano Pavarotti. I do not believe any of those statements.

Aaron Boone is the manager and whether or not he gets suggestions regarding lineups or playing time for various members of the team, he still makes the in-game decisions and claims that he makes all the decisions a manager would make. He has been the manager for eight years. Although the Yankees made the World Series with Boone as the manager last year, they did not win, and it would be fair to say that Boone contributed mightily to two of their four losses in that World Series.

Aaron Boone is frequently out-managed. He has not improved as a manager in his eight years. In fact, because he routinely makes the same mistakes over and over, it would be fair to say that he is worse now than he was when he started. 

Boone seems uninvolved and disinterested in the team. He frequently has no idea of what individual players are doing, especially those recovering from injuries. I know many people don't agree with this, but I think the fact that Boone went on a radio station on Tuesday and stated that it was unlikely that Aaron Judge would be able to throw as effectively as he previously did for the remainder of this season was unacceptable and irresponsible. Aaron Judge called Boone out on that and stated that Boone had not seen him throw in two weeks. That is inexcusable. There is no reason in the world why Aaron Boone could not have observed Aaron Judge in the outfield even once during that period. There is no reason to suspect that Aaron Judge was lying. Therefore, Boone was negligent in his duties as the manager. There is no way around that. 

Whatever Aaron Boone is doing or saying to his team is not working. He has lost the locker room. I don't know that he says or does much but whatever it is, it isn't effective. When he is called out by the best player on the team for saying something about which he had no direct knowledge, that sends a bad message to the other players on the team, management, and the fans. 

It is possible that the Yankees will make the playoffs. They do have a lot of games against weaker opponents, but is there any reason to believe they will do well in the playoffs based on their performance since the end of May? No, there isn't. They haven't shown an ability to beat good teams. Here's a newsflash, the teams they will be playing in the postseason would be good teams. The Yankees will not get to play the Twins and the Cardinals in the playoffs. 

Despite that five game-winning streak, the Boone-Swoon continues. I can make that statement because the Yankees are 34-39 since May 30th. The Yankees have been a losing team since the end of May. That qualifies as the longest Boone-Swoon ever. It needs to be the last one.

The Yankees are running out of time to turn things around. It is clear that Aaron Boone will finish the season as the manager. Once this year mercifully comes to an end, it will be time to say, “Boone Voyage”.

Next Up-

The Yankees will play the third game of the four-game series against the Red Sox today at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox will use Garrett Crochet, (13-5, 2.43 ERA). The Yankees will send Will Warren, (7-5, 4.25 ERA) to the mound. Hopefully the Yankees can knit together enough hits and runs to beat Crochet.