Mookie Betts mauls Bombers, Red Sox down Yankees 10-5

After getting blown out in the first game of the series and losing by 16 runs, the Yankees entered game two looking to bounce right back. However, the first batter James Paxton faced was a sign that this game wouldn’t be any different than the previous one.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Big Maple gave up a run in the first inning. Mookie Betts’ leadoff bomb over the Green Monster gave the Red Sox an early 1-0 advantage. It’s the fourth leadoff homer Paxton has surrendered this year, and he has given up a first-inning run in eight of his last 10 starts.

The bleeding didn’t stop there, though. Three batters later, J.D. Martinez smashed a two-run dinger, also over the Monster, and extended Boston’s lead to three. Paxton has been crushed for 10 first inning homers, and he now has allowed a total of 22 runs before recording the first three outs. Oh, his first inning ERA is now an MLB-high 11.00 (minimum of 10 starts). He would enter the second inning with 34 pitches.

Mookie Betts struck again in the bottom of the third. He walloped another solo shot onto the top of the Monster. Then, after Rafael Devers struck out, Xander Bogaerts doubled down the left-field line. Martinez then drove him home as he tripled on a fly ball that bounced off of Aaron Judge’s glove. Just like that, the Sox took a 5-0 lead.

The very next inning, Betts did it again. He destroyed his third long ball of the game, a two-run homer, making it a seven-run ballgame.

Paxton allowed a career-high four home runs in a single game. Yankee starters have conceded 52 runs over their last seven games, the most by any team’s rotation in a seven-game span in the last 15 years. This also marks the sixth straight game in which the opponent has scored at least seven runs against the Yankees, tied for the longest such streak in franchise history.

David Hale entered in the fifth, ending Paxton’s night. Big Maple’s first game in Fenway Park was one he won’t forget. He went four innings, on nine hits, and seven runs. For what it’s worth, he struck out nine and walked none.

The Yanks tallied their first run in the sixth. Luke Voit singled home Edwin Encarnacion on a sharp line drive to left, ending Cashner’s shutout. That set Gleyber Torres up with runners at the corners, but he was caught looking to end the inning.

Betts later stepped up to the plate with a runner on second, and no, he didn’t hit his fourth homer. He only doubled this time, scoring Michael Chavis. That’s progress, right? Devers followed by ripping a double of his own, Betts scored, and the Red Sox took a 9-1 lead into the seventh.

The Yanks scratched two runs across on an Austin Romine infield single that scored Cameron Maybin, and DJ LeMahieu grounded into a double play that drove in Mike Tauchman. 9-3 Boston with the Yankees down to their final six outs.

Coming into this game, Andrew Cashner had a 6.19 ERA in three starts against the Yanks this year. However, his fourth start went far better for him. The righty tossed 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on ten hits and striking out six.

After back-to-back doubles by Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis in the seventh, the Red Sox scored yet another run, stretching their lead to seven.

The Yanks put up a fight in the ninth, scoring two runs, but it wouldn’t amount to much. The Red Sox won by a final score of 10-5.

The Yankees have dropped the first two games of this four-game set. CC Sabathia will square off against Edwardo Rodriguez tomorrow evening in hopes of picking up New York’s first win of the series.