BOSTON — It’s supposed to rain in Boston on Sunday night when the Yankees are scheduled to play the Red Sox. The way they are hitting, the Yankees probably should pray for an all-night soaker.
They might have a better shot against David Price when they return to Fenway in August or September. A rainout could save them from beginning May as they ended April — in the throes of a horrific offensive slump and questioning whether it was a bad month or they are a bad team.
The Yankees finished the first month of the season at 8-14 after suffering their fourth loss in a row, an 8-0 drubbing by the Red Sox on Saturday night. It’s the first time they’ve been six games under .500 in the Joe Girardi era. “Enough’s enough,” he said. But he admitted he has no answers.
“There should be enough guys that have been through this in there that you just say, ‘Tomorrow’s the day we turn it around,’ ” Girardi said. “You come with the right attitude, you do your work and you say, ‘It’s got to stop. Let’s go.’ ”
Rick Porcello and two relievers stifled the Yankees on five hits. Porcello (5-0, 2.76) allowed five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in seven innings.
“It’s kind of weird that we haven’t been able to put things together,” Carlos Beltran said.
The Yankees entered the game with 16 hits in their last 124 at-bats with runners in scoring position. That wasn’t a huge problem this time; they had two opportunities and went hitless.
It was the 17th time in 22 games that they scored three or fewer runs (they’ve gone 3-14 in those games) and the 12th time they scored two or fewer (0-12). They’ve scored three or fewer in 15 of the last 17 games. “We feel like we have a good team,” Brett Gardner said. “We feel like we’ve got a good offensive unit. I feel like we’re capable of scoring a lot of runs in bunches when things are going right. Right now, things obviously are going more wrong than right.”
Michael Pineda, who allowed four home runs in his last outing, rebounded to allow two runs in five innings. The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the second on Mookie Betts’ bloop two-out, two-run double to right.
Pineda (1-3, 6.33 ERA) kept Boston in the ballpark, but he had two other problems.
The first was a high pitch count (76 after three innings, 106 total) that limited him to five frames and exposed the soft underbelly of the Yankees’ bullpen.
The other was an inability to put the Red Sox away with two outs. In their first eight such plate appearances, the Red Sox were 5-for-7 with a walk.
Jackie Bradley Jr. was 3-for-3 with a double, two triples and three RBIs.
The Yankees tried for a little two-out lightning of their own in the fifth inning of a 2-0 game when Didi Gregorius walked and Chase Headley singled him to third. Porcello retired Jacoby Ellsbury on a grounder to second to end the inning.
With Pineda done, Chasen Shreve and Kirby Yates allowed two runs in the sixth. Johnny Barbato and Nick Goody gave up four in the seventh to turn a close game into a rout.
David Ortiz, who hit what proved to be the game-winning homer on Friday night, led off the seventh with a blast to right. It was Big Papi’s 49th regular-season home run against the Yankees (48 with the Red Sox, one with the Twins).
“For whatever reason, things just aren’t going our way right now,” Gardner said. “So we just have to keep working at it and hopefully tomorrow’s the day.”
Or maybe it will rain. A lot.
..... - Newsday