The New York Yankees have been rolling. Best run differential in the American League by a mile. Top of the MLB in home runs. Starting pitching that’s been shutting people down. But Thursday night in Boston, none of that mattered.
They committed four errors in a 6-3 loss to the last-place Red Sox. And here’s the weird part: not a single run was earned. All six Boston runs came on defensive mistakes. The last time a Yankees team allowed six or more unearned runs without giving up an earned run was July 21, 1913. According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, that’s 113 years ago.
The culprits were third baseman Amed Rosario, catcher Austin Wells, reliever Yerry De Los Santos, and pitcher Cam Schlittler. That’s a random assortment of guys, but it’s not like this came out of nowhere. The Yankees have been sloppy in the field for the last couple seasons. It just hadn’t cost them this badly before.
New York entered Thursday ranked in the bottom half of MLB in defensive runs saved, at minus-2, and outs above average, at minus-1, per FanGraphs. Those aren’t catastrophic numbers, but they’re not great either for a team with World Series ambitions. The question is whether this is a wake-up call or just a bad night.
Here’s the thing with the Yankees: they’ve been winning without Aaron Judge, which is impressive. Their lineup is deeper and more athletic than in recent years. Their rotation has been legit. But defense is still a weak spot, and in October, weak spots get exposed. Brian Cashman has the trade deadline looming if he wants to make a move. Upgrading at third base or catcher could be on the table.
For now, the Yankees are 48-32. They’re still in first place. The Red Sox are 33-46 and going nowhere fast. But this kind of game lingers. It’s not just the loss. It’s how they lost. Four errors. Six unearned runs. A franchise record that nobody wants to be associated with.
Game two of this four-game series is Friday at Fenway Park at 7:10 p.m. ET. We’ll see if the Yankees shake this off or if it sticks.
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