NEW YORK -- The Yankees survived a sloppy second inning in which they committed three errors, limiting the damage to one run. They wriggled out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the fifth, surrendering just a sacrifice fly.
But that tightrope walk couldn’t last.
Luke Weaver surrendered a go-ahead RBI double to Nathaniel Lowe in the seventh inning and Roman Anthony added a two-run homer in the ninth, snapping the Yankees’ five-game winning streak with a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday evening at Yankee Stadium.
"I feel like we definitely gave them spots to win,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “I felt like tonight was one of those nights that we beat ourselves. Sometimes you’ve got to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, you beat yourself tonight. Tomorrow, come out better and focus more.’”
New York’s (69-58) loss dropped its advantage in the American League Wild Card chase to just a half-game over Boston (69-59). Lowe spoiled Weaver’s 32nd birthday with a seventh-inning knock as the Yankees have lost six of seven meetings between the rivals this season.
"We’ve played a lot of close games with them,” Paul Goldschmidt said. “They’ve been able to make one more play, one more pitch, one more hit than us. Hopefully we can change that tomorrow.”
Ben Rice homered for the Yankees, the club’s 15th long ball in three games and its 20th consecutive run scored via a homer.
Goldschmidt and Chisholm also drove in runs, but on a night when a George Costanza bobblehead giveaway drew an announced sellout crowd of 47,036, that audience was too often tuned in to a show about nothing.
New York wasted Rice’s one-out triple in the seventh, when Chisholm struck out and Goldschmidt fouled out. The Yanks finished 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position while stranding 10. Boston was even less efficient, going 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position while leaving 14.
"Just not a real clean game,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Not a great night for us.”
Camilo Doval permitted Anthony’s game-tying RBI single in the sixth before Lowe collected his second RBI of the night an inning later.
It has been a rough go in pinstripes thus far for Doval, who was acquired from the Giants at the Trade Deadline and has pitched to a 7.36 ERA (six earned runs in 7 1/3 innings) across nine appearances.
"I was being aggressive, attacking the zone,” Doval said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “They got a couple of hits. It’s part of the game. You execute your pitch and let it go. It’s part of it. I’m just adjusting to the role here now.”
Luis Gil endured five high-stress innings, charged with two runs (one earned) while walking five in a 93-pitch effort. He committed one of the three second-inning miscues, bobbling a comebacker.
"The most important thing is that I feel healthy and strong,” Gil said through an interpreter. “With traffic on the bases, I gave my team an opportunity to win this game. That was the main focus right there; keep the game tight.”
Said Boone: “It wasn’t pretty tonight, but five innings of two-run baseball, he made a lot of good pitches and he’s not giving in. We’ve got to get him better [at strike-throwing], because we know he’s capable of a lot.”
Chisholm and Rice contributed the other second-inning errors, with Chisholm’s high throw allowing an extra base and Rice’s misfire into center on a David Hamilton stolen-base attempt adding to the mess.
"Rice could have eaten it, but we were throwing through,” Boone said. “I thought Hamilton got a really good jump. As a catcher, you can eat that ball, without question. But I thought Jazz did the right thing; as good as Jazz’s arm is, if he gets a lot on that throw, I think we’ve got a chance to turn that.”
Goldschmidt flubbed a routine grounder in the ninth that set up Anthony’s homer, the first of his career in the Bronx.
"You can’t fix what happened tonight, but anytime you make errors, it’s going to be hard to overcome,” Goldschmidt said.
"There’s a lot of good teams in this league. Anytime you give them extra outs, you just make it hard on yourself. We didn’t play good enough to win tonight.”