About Last Night: The Lost Weekend: Red Sox 5, Yankees 4 In 10 Innings

About Last Night: The Lost Weekend. Red Sox 5 - Yankees 4 In 10 Innings

By Tim Kabel

June 29, 2026

***

The Yankees went into Boston on Thursday in first place in the American League East. The Red Sox were in last place. Word around Boston was that the Red Sox were contemplating having a fire sale and trading away many of their veteran players. The Yankees were leading the season series against the Red Sox four games to one. It seemed as if the Yankees had a very good chance to win the series and possibly sweep it. They had a chance to put a nail in Boston’s coffin and finish them for the season.

Well, things didn't exactly go according to plan.  That’s baseball, Suzyn. The Yankees were swept by the Red Sox. The Yankees are no longer in first place in the American League East. The Yankees now trail the season series five games to four against the Red Sox.

Now, the Red Sox are still in last place in the American League East. They trail the Rays by 12 1/2 games. So, it's not exactly as if they are suddenly playoff-bound. However, thanks to the Yankees this weekend, the Red Sox have a glimmer of hope. It might be more than a glimmer and it might postpone our possibly cancel the plans for a fire sale in Boston.

Last night’s game was a strange one. The Yankees were once again stymied by a Red Sox starting pitcher. Sonny Gray, who has who said loudly and often that he wanted to come to Boston and beat the Yankees, basically did so. He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He had his way with his former team, pitching 7.1 innings and allowing one hit while striking out nine and walking one.

Although in the Yankees had no answers for Sonny Gray, they fared better against another former teammate, Aroldis Chapman. The Yankees scored twice in the ninth inning to tie the game, aided by a brutal throwing error from two-time Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu.

In the top of the 10th inning, Justin Slaten replaced Aroldis Chapman. Wilyer Abreu made another throwing error, allowing Max Schuemann to score as the ghost runner after an Amed Rosario single. Oswaldo Cabrera, who finally was able to play in a game, bunted Rosario to third base. Austin Wells hit an RBI ground out, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Anthony Seigler, yet another former Yankee, led off the inning with an RBI single. Pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida then hit a double before a sacrifice fly by Tsung-Che Cheng tied the game at 4 and advanced Yoshida to third base. Aaron Boone then brought Amed Rosario in from left field to form a five-man infield and Jarren Duran pulled a Wee Willie Keeler and hit the ball “where they ain't”, flying to right field where there was no one to catch it.

Carlos Rodon pitched five innings, allowing one hit. He struck out six and walked four. He wasn't brilliant, but the two runs that scored were unearned. Oswaldo Cabrera made an error and later yet another former Yankee, Caleb Durbin singled in two runners.

What can we take out of this game and this series? Well, there are a lot of things. 

The offense is struggling right now. The Yankees only had three hits and two of them were by Amed Rosario. The other one was by Jose Caballero.

The Yankees continue to give up unearned runs. Only two of the five runs the Red Sox scored were earned. Conversely, only one of the four runs the Yankees scored was earned.

Jazz Chisholm was 0-3 as the leadoff hitter for the first time this season. He's batting .223 for the year. Now that we are past the halfway point of the season, we can no longer characterize this as a slump or a slow start. It's a bad year. In addition, all the antics and extracurricular activities that come along with Jazz are starting to wear thin. He's becoming more trouble than he is worth. No, he was not eating a lollipop while he was playing the field last night. Instead, he was ejected for arguing after he was called out on a check swing in the sixth inning. That ended the inning. The umpires gave him a little bit of leeway but then Jazz smashed his helmet on the ground. The Yankees are playing short-handed and can't afford to lose Jazz due to boneheaded decisions. I don't believe Jazz will be a Yankee next year and if this keeps up, he might not be a Yankee by the end of the season. Who knows, the Yankees could decide to move Jose Caballero to second base full-time and play Anthony Volpe at shortstop. They could trade Jazz to a contender for something they need, such as a catcher, relief pitcher, or third baseman.

The reset of Austin Wells is not working. He is now batting.157 for the season. It's a good thing for Wells that pitchers don't hit anymore because it's likely that most of the pitchers would be hitting better than he is. It's great that Gerrit Cole thinks that Wells is a tremendous catcher and excellent at calling games. A hit every week or so would be a nice bonus though.

Fernando Cruz struggled last night, taking the loss, and allowing three runs, two earned in 1/3 of an inning. However, he has been outstanding this season, and has a 2.57 ERA. Unfortunately, he has pitched in almost half of the Yankees games. This was his 39th appearance. The overuse of certain members of the bullpen could come back to bite the Yankees. Apparently, it already is.

The Yankees have now lost 4 in a row and 7 of their last 10. Remember, those 10 games came against the Red Sox, Tigers, and Reds. The Red Sox and Reds are in last place and the Tigers are in a battle for last place with the Royals. The Yankees will next play the Tigers, Twins, and then the Rays. The Rays struggled while the Yankees were playing well but now, the Rays are back in first place.

Have we entered the official Boon-Swoon of the 2026 season? It's too early to say but, all the signs are there. Most importantly, so is Aaron Boone. That means that if the team really starts to struggle, he will have no answers. He never does. He believes in the laissez-faire approach to managing and the Yankees never fare very well with that approach. Boone seems to have the philosophy of Maria in The Sound of Music, “I have confidence in confidence alone."  That might get you over a mountain, but it doesn't win you too many World Series.