About Last Night: Yankees Top Red Sox 7-2

About Last Night: The Yankees Drubbed the Red Sox 7-2

By Tim Kabel

August 25, 2025

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The third-place Yankees avoided a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox last night by winning 7-2. Before we get too excited, let's remember that the Yankees are still 2-8 against the Red Sox so far this season and have already lost the season series. That means if the Yankees and Red Sox are tied in the standings and they both make the playoffs, the Red Sox have the tie breaker due to their head-to-head play against the Yankees. While it is very good that the Yankees won last night, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Remember, you can't lose them all.

Quick Stats –  

·       Jazz Chisolm, Jr. hit two 2-run home runs, and now has 24 home runs for the season.

·       The Red Sox had outscored the Yankees 19-4 in the first three games of this series.

·       The Yankees avoided what would have been the first sweep of a series of at least four games in the Bronx by the Red Sox since 1939.  

·       Carlos Rodon is 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA in his last four starts.

·       The Yankees had seven hits last night. The concerning aspect is that Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm, and Giancarlo Stanton had two hits each, which means the rest of the lineup only had one hit.

·       On August 24, 1907, Christy Mathewson pitched for the third day in a row, beating the Pirates 7-4. Just think about that compared to the innings limits and pitch counts of today.

·       On August 24, 1961, Satchel Paige, who was believed to be 55 years old, signed a contract with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. In 25 innings for the Beavers, he pitched to a 2.88 ERA.

·       On August 24, 1989, Pete Rose signed a five-page document banning him from baseball.

The Big Story – 

The Yankees lost three of four games to the Red Sox this weekend and are 2-8 against them for the season. The Yankees are 10-11 in the month of August after posting losing records in both June and July. The Yankees have seven games left this month: three against the Nationals and four against the White Sox. Those are both last place teams. So, the Yankees should be able to win both series and post a winning record for the month of August. The key word there is “should”.

The Yankees currently have 70 wins. I have been operating under the premise that they would need 90 wins to make the playoffs. They have 32 games left. Twelve of those games are against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Astros, and Tigers. Based on their performance so far this season, it is unrealistic to expect the Yankees to play .500 against those teams. What does that mean? It means that in order to reach the total of 20 wins that the Yankees would presumably need to make the playoffs in their remaining games, they would need to win at least 5 of the next 7 games. In theory, they should win all 7 but, that's asking a lot.

The point is that the Yankees are running out of time. It will be hard to accumulate wins in that stretch against the top teams so, they need to gather as many wins as they can against weaker opponents. That is their only hope of making the playoffs. Since they have struggled so much against stronger opponents, it is unlikely that they will advance very far if they do make the playoffs but that is a discussion for another day. They need to get there first.

It is somewhat unbelievable that the next seven games against two last place teams could be the key to the Yankees making the playoffs, but that is the reality of this season. That is the situation that the Yankees have created for themselves. 

Player of the Game – 

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. hit two 2-run home runs and drove in four of the Yankees seven runs.

Notable Performance – 

Trent Grisham hit 2 solo home runs and now has 25 for the season.

Better To Forget-

Austin Wells was 0-3 and is now batting .207 for the season. 

My Take – 

The Yankees won five games in a row last week against the Cardinals and the Rays. After that, I read a lot of articles and heard a lot of reports on the radio and television that the Yankees had “turned the corner”. They were on their way to righting the ship and heading into the playoffs on a winning streak.  Well, then they lost three games in a row to the Red Sox and eight of nine against them for the season. Last night, they won a game against Boston, giving them a .200 winning percentage against the Red Sox for the season. Again, I read and heard that this is a turning point. Let me say one thing, .200 is not a turning point. The Yankees have played terribly against top tier opponents this season. They have not played well against the American League East. They have been horrible against the Red Sox. Winning one game out of four and two out of 10 is not good. There is no silver lining in this grey cloud.

The season is not lost, but a lot of things have to go right for the Yankees to make the playoffs. Yes, they do have an easy schedule but as Yogi Berra would say, “There is a lot of hard in that easy." In other words, the twelve games against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers, and Astros will be tough for the Yankees. I could easily see them going 4-8 in those 12 games. That means the Yankees need to beat up on the Twins, Nationals, White Sox, and Orioles. That is easier said than done. The Orioles, in particular, have been playing better lately and seemingly always play well against the Yankees.

The Yankees can certainly make the playoffs. Their season is not lost. But to put it in medical terms, it is in critical condition. On May 30th, the Yankees were 15 games over .500. Right now, they are 70 and 60, 10 games over .500. That means that since May 30th they have been five games under .500. If we accept the premise that they need to win 20 of their remaining 32 games, that means they need to be 8 games over .500 during those 32 games. To go from five games under .500 in almost three months’ worth of games to 8 games over .500 in their last 32 games is a major turnaround. It is asking a lot.

Let me ask you a question: has this team demonstrated that it is capable of delivering the type of turnaround that would be needed to make the playoffs? Based on their play since May 30th, it is hard to answer yes to that question.

Next Up-

The Yankees will open a three-game series against the Nationals tonight at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Nationals will use Brad Lord, (4-6, 3.46 ERA). The Yankees will send Cam Schlittler, (1-2, 3.22 ERA) to the mound. Lord willing, the Yankees will prevail.