About Last Night: The Yankees Fell to the Red Sox 6-4

About Last Night: The Yankees Fell to the Red Sox 6-4

By Tim Kabel

September 15, 2025

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The Red Sox jumped out to an immediate lead, scoring all six of their runs in the first inning against Will Warren. They never looked back. The Yankees made things interesting for a while, but they could not overtake the Red Sox. The Yankees have no more games against either of their two division playoff rivals this season. They lost the season series to both the Red Sox and the Blue Jays.

The Yankees have 13 games left this season. They are all against teams with losing records. Two of those teams, the Orioles, and the White Sox, are in last place in their divisions. The other team, the Twins would be in last place if it wasn't for those pesky White Sox. The Yankees must take advantage of that weak schedule and win as many games as they possibly can to secure not only a playoff position, but also home field advantage in the Wild Card round.

Quick Stats – 

·       Garrett Crochet struck out 12 Yankees’ batters and won his 16^th game of the season.

·       Aaron Judge hit his 48^th home run of the season in the fifth inning.

·       Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 30^th save in 32 chances.  

·       The first five Boston batters in the game had hits. 

·       The Red Sox were 1-15 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of this series before going 3-3 in their first three at bats with runners in scoring position last night.

·       On September 12^th, 1996, Bernie Williams had two home runs and a single, and drove in eight runs in the Yankees’ 12-3 win over the Tigers.

·       Jasson Dominguez's surname means “Son of Domingo” in English. Domingo means “Sunday” in English. That's funny, because Jasson only plays on Saturdays. It reminds me of “Wednesdays are Sundays at Carvel.”

·       On September 14^th, 1936, the Yankees clinched their 13th American League Pennant with an 8-3 victory over Cleveland.

·       On September 14^th, 2000, the Yankees rallied with two grand slams by Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill to defeat the Blue Jays 10-6.

The Big Story – 

First, the good news. The Yankees won this three-game series against the Red Sox two games to one. The Yankees finished this 12-game stretch against playoff teams with a record of 7-5. The Yankees are 14 and 6 in their last 20 games. 

Now, the bad news. The Yankees lost 9 of 13 games to the Red Sox this season. They lost 8 of 13 games to the Blue Jays. The Yankees lead the Red Sox by just 1 1/2 games for the top Wild Card position. The Yankees have played one game fewer than the Red Sox. After tonight, that will be evened out. Unless the Yankees finish at least one game ahead of the Red Sox, the Red Sox will have home field advantage if they do meet in that first three-game series. All three games would be played in Fenway Park. The Yankees now trail the Blue Jays by 4 full games. In reality, that means 5 full games because the Yankees would have to be one game ahead of the Blue Jays to win the division because the Blue Jays won the season series. 

I see a pattern developing here. The Yankees inability to beat the teams in the American League East throughout most of the season is coming back to bite them. It was generally agreed that the Yankees would need to win about 90 games to make the playoffs. They have 83 wins right now. That means that they need to go at least 7-6 in their remaining 13 games. They are playing awful teams, so that is certainly within the realm of possibility. However, this Yankees’ team has been incredibly streaky. They have also not played well against the American League East, including the Orioles. They are cutting things close, and it should be quite a ride over these last 13 games.

Player of the Game – 

Aaron Judge had two hits, including his 48th home run. 

Notable Performances – 

Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero each hit home runs.

Camilo Doval, Mark Leiter, Jr., and Paul Blackburn each pitched one inning of scoreless relief.

Better To Forget-

Will Warren picked a horrible time to have a bad day.

My Take – 

The Yankees have 13 games left in their season. They are in second place in the American League East and trail the Blue Jays by four games. In the Wild Card race, the Yankees are 1 1/2 game ahead of the Red Sox for the top position. The Yankees lead the final Wild Card team, which is currently Houston, by 2 1/2 games. The Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians are within striking distance.

A lot could change over the next two weeks. The regular season will end on Sunday, September 28^th. The Yankees can take nothing for granted. They could easily fall out of the top Wild Card position and conceivably even out of the playoffs.

It is true that all the Yankees’ remaining games are against teams with losing records. However, we all know that they lost plenty of games to teams with losing records this season. They need to buckle down in this final stretch. They cannot afford to lose even one of these series. 

I have to admit that I am worried about those seven games against the Orioles. The Orioles are playing much better now than when they faced the Yankees earlier in the season. The Yankees split their first six games with the Orioles. The Orioles may think that they have something to prove and may want to send a message that they will be a much better team next year. I can easily imagine the Yankees going 3-4 against the Orioles in those 7 games. If that happens, it will be difficult for the Yankees to win the top Wild Card position and those other six games against the White Sox and the Twins will suddenly become crucial. 

Under normal circumstances, it would be acceptable to go 4-2 against the White Sox and Twins. That is no longer the case. The Yankees are in a dogfight. They need to win at least five of those six games. Remember, the White Sox and Twins have already been eliminated. Their seasons will end on September 28^th, no matter what happens. So, these games against the Yankees are their versions of the playoffs. The Yankees need to realize that they will be in for a real battle.

As exciting as these next 13 games will be, one thing needs to be remembered. It did not have to be this way. On May 30^th, the Yankees led the American League East by 7 games. They are now 4 games behind the first-place Blue Jays. They went from 7 games up to 4 games down. Using any metric you would like, that's not good. 

Well, when you are lost on a cross-country trip, you have to start from where you are. You have to figure out how to get where you want to go. To get into the playoffs with a desirable position, the Yankees need to win as many games as possible down the stretch. They can't afford games like the one they had last night. They can't afford games in which the bullpen collapses. They can't afford base running blunders, mental errors, or players getting into needless arguments with umpires and being ejected. They need to play tight, crisp, playoff caliber baseball. Essentially, the playoffs begin for the Yankees tonight. Let's see what happens.

Next Up-

The Yankees will open a three-game series against the Twins tonight at 7:40 PM at Target Field. The Twins will use Simeon Woods-Richardson, (6-4, 4.58 ERA). The Yankees will send Carlos Rodon, (16-8, 3.11 ERA) to the mound. I would hate to have to be the one to sew Woods-Richardson's name on the back of his uniform.