About Last Night: Red Sox Win 11-7

About Last Night: The Yankees Were Drubbed by the Red Sox 11-7

By Tim Kabel

June 9, 2025

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Carlos Rodon had his first bad outing in quite some time and the bullpen threw gasoline on the fire, as the Yankees were soundly defeated by the Red Sox for the second game in a row.  They lost this series and two of the last three series They also split the homestand. This was their second lost weekend in a row.

Quick Stats – 

·       The Red Sox hit five home runs against the Yankees’ pitchers.

·       The Yankees are 0-15 in games in which they are trailing by three or more runs.

·       The Yankees have 21 first inning home runs this season. 

·       Aaron Judge had the 43rd multiple-home run game of his career, tying Lou Gehrig for third place on the Yankees’ career list. Babe Ruth is in first place with 68.

·       On Tuesday, Max Fried will make his first career start at Kauffman Stadium.

·       Jonathan Loaisiga gave up two home runs in a game for the second time in eight days.

·       On June 8th, 1969, the Yankees retired Mickey Mantle’s number 7. He was presented with a plaque by Joe DiMaggio and in turn presented DiMaggio with one to honor him.

Big Story – 

After Friday's game, I wrote that the Yankees might be getting on a roll. Well, they rolled right off a cliff. I also wrote that the Yankees needed to take advantage of the schedule that was in front of them. They needed to win against weaker opponents or opponents who were struggling when they met the Yankees. They did not do that this weekend. The Red Sox tried to come back on Friday night but, came up short. On both Saturday and Sunday, the Red Sox were clearly the better team. That is a problem because now the Red Sox can reasonably believe they can beat the Yankees whenever they play them. After all, they took two out of three games at Yankee Stadium when they were struggling. Hopefully this doesn't launch the Red Sox onto a hot streak.

Player of the Game – 

Aaron Judge had three hits, including two home runs, and four RBI. 

Notable Performance – 

Anthony Volpe was 2-5. 

Better To Forget-

All the pitching performances. 

My Take – 

With apologies to Dr. Seuss-

After last night’s game, I puzzled, and I puzzled until my puzzler was sore.  How could it be so? It came without ribbons.  It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.  

The Boone-Swoon has started, and it started in June. It started in June, which is far too soon.

The Yankees lost the series to the Red Sox. They lost the last two games 10-7 and 11-7. In theory and in reality, those were games that the Yankees should have won.

On Saturday, the Yankees scored five runs against Garrett Crochet, the ace of the Red Sox staff. Ryan Yarbrough has been very good this season. He has been unexpectedly good. However, he is not the ace of the Yankees’ staff. He is filling a role. Yes, he is filling it well but there will be days when he does not have it. Saturday was one of those days. Should he have been allowed to give up eight earned runs in four innings? No, he should have been pulled sooner. Also, the Yankees scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the score 8-7 in favor of the Red Sox. In the top of the eighth inning, Mark Leiter, Jr. faced four batters, striking out three, and throwing fourteen pitches. Did Aaron Boone send him out for the ninth inning? Of course he didn't. He brought in Ian Hamilton, who has been shaky. He gave up two runs, putting the game out of reach. Boone also started Pablo Reyes at third base, whose weak defense hurt the team. It would have made more sense to keep Jorbit Vivas on the roster, as opposed to Reyes because at least Vivas bats left-handed, and he is superior to Reyes defensively. Regardless, since neither Reyes nor Oswald Peraza are very strong offensively, Peraza should have played third base on Saturday, as he is the superior fielder. 

Last night, it was clear that Carlos Rodon was not at his best. The Red Sox started to get to him in the fifth inning. They tied the score at two. The Yankees came back and went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Perhaps Boone should have taken Rodon out after the fifth inning. He didn't. When he did take him out, it was too late. Fernando Cruz came in and he didn't have it either. The Red Sox scored five runs in the inning and never looked back.

As I have written many times before, Aaron Boone is not a good manager. When things start to go south for him, it happens very quickly. He never has an explanation for individual game implosions or lengthy losing streaks because he honestly has no idea why they are happening. To use my new favorite quote, he is as useful as a chocolate teapot. Boone has what could best be described as a reverse Midas touch. Whatever move he makes turns out to be the wrong one. He is essentially tone deaf when it comes to knowing what is going on with his team and with baseball games in general. He was out-managed last weekend against the Dodgers, and he was out-managed this weekend against the Red Sox. The only reason he has a winning record is because the Yankees always have excellent players.

The Boone-Swoon has begun. It has begun too soon. It has begun in June.

Next Up-

The Yankees will open a three-game series against the Royals on Tuesday at 7:40 PM at Kauffman Stadium. Kris Bubic, (5-3,1.43 ERA) will pitch for Kansas City. The Yankees will send Clarke Schmidt, (2-3, 4.04 ERA) to the mound.

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Today's graphic game from ChatGPT. It was aksed to create a Dr. Suess type theme of the Yankees losing baseball games.