Yankees 4, Red Sox 5: No hits through seven, lots of hits through eight

After yesterday’s comeback win, the Yankees had to feel pretty good as Domingo Germán took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. While the first two games went poorly, getting away with a series split after that seemed like an acceptable outcome. Then came the eighth inning.

Despite getting no hits in the first seven innings, the Red Sox got them in bunches in the eighth. When it was all said and done, Germán, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Zack Britton (to a lesser extent) had combined to allow five runs. Not only was the potential milestone gone, but so was the lead.

It was another moment of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, as the Yankees dropped the series finale in Fenway, 5-4.

The Yankees opened the game’s scoring with a run in the third. With one out in the inning, Greg Allen drew a walk off Martín Pérez. In the next at-bat, DJ LeMahieu struck out after a genuinely terrible strike three call. Down to their last out in the inning, Giancarlo Stanton kept it alive by drawing a walk, bringing Rougned Odor to the plate. Odor dropped a bloop single in between a couple fielders, which was enough to score Allen.

The next inning, a few harder-hit balls got the Yankees another run. With Gleyber Torres on second after a double, Gio Urshela marked his return with a long single off the Green Monster. Torres scored easily, doubling the Yankees’ lead. Odor was involved again as the Yankees tacked on another run in the third. He continued his hot hitting of late with a solo shot to right-center, his 12th homer of the year.

The fourth run came from a very unexpected source — no, not in terms of the player who scored the run. But how he did it was weird. Leading off the inning was Gary Sánchez, who tripled. Yes, you read that right.

Torres plated him with a single, giving the Yankees some more breathing room, or so it seemed.

Jonathan Loaisiga had been warming up, and Germán was nearing his highest pitch count of the season. It seemed unlikely he would get a chance to finish his potential no-hitter, but he did come back out for the eighth. However, Alex Verdugo doubled to lead off the inning, ending the no-hit bid and knocking Germán out of the game. The potential no-hitter would seem like a long-ago memory just a few minutes later.

Loaisiga came in and very clearly did not have it. He allowed a double to Hunter Renfroe, scoring Verdugo to get Boston on the board. Christian Vázquez then plated another run with a single. Two more hits followed that, and suddenly the score was 4-3, Loaisiga was removed, and there was still nobody out.

Zack Britton came in, and did get two straight outs. Unfortunately, the first was a ground out that scored the tying run with the infield back, moving a runner up to third. The second was a fly out that was deep enough to give Boston the go-ahead score. After all that, the Yankees were suddenly down to their last three outs.

Giancarlo Stanton kept the Yankees’ hopes alive with a two-out single in the ninth, and a pinch-running Tyler Wade put the tying run in scoring position with a stolen base. Despite his heroics from earlier in the series, Odor couldn’t provide them again, popping one up to end the game.

For seven innings, this game looked like it could be a historical one. Instead, it’s one we’re all desperate to forget.

The Yankees will be off tomorrow before beginning their final series before the trade deadline. They’ll start up action on the road at Tropicana Field against the Rays on Tuesday at 7:10pm ET with Jordan Montgomery set to face Shane McClanahan.

Box Score