While there are no real blowouts that have happened in the season series, the Yankees have had no real answer for the Red Sox so far in 2025. That continued on Friday night in—once again—annoying fashion.
Facing Boston starter Brayan Bello, the Yankees’ offense simply could not do anything. In seven innings, Bello allowed just three hits and one walk, throwing up zeroes on the board while continuing his career domination of the Yankees. They didn’t put a single runner in scoring position all night.
To make matters worse, on the mound, Max Fried put in his best start in quite a while. The ace went six innings, similarly shutting his opponents out, while allowing four hits and three walks. He wasn’t flawless, but he was much better than the Fried we’ve seen since his blister issue arose back in July.
In the end, the difference was that the Yankees’ offense continued to be dead against the Red Sox bullpen, while Boston’s offense eked out some offense against the Yankees’ bullpen. With their seventh loss of the year to the Red Sox in eight games, the Yankees guaranteed a loss in the season series, as they fell 1-0.
For the first half of the game, not too much happened. Both starters faced slight trouble at points, Fried’s more immediately dangerous, but both managed to wriggle out of it. The most frustrating one for the Yankees came in the sixth inning, when Austin Wells was doubled off first base in an ugly baserunning miscue, ruining his leadoff single when he strayed too far from the bag after a Jazz Chisholm Jr. liner.
Arguably the most interesting thing was a squirrel running around the stadium in the fourth inning.
After six scoreless inning from Fried, the Yankees went to the bullpen with Mark Leiter Jr., but then came the Red Sox breakthrough. Following a one-out double from pinch-hitter Nathaniel Lowe, Connor Wong followed that with one of his own to left, scoring the game’s first run.
Following that, the Yankees turned to Devin Williams for the eighth inning, and he put in one of his more impressive outings all season, striking out two in a 1-2-3 inning. Former Yankee farmhand Garrett Whitlock retired New York in the order in the eight, getting Anthony Volpe and a pinch-hitting Giancarlo Stanton to look quite ugly on a pair of swinging strike threes.
David Bednar got the ninth, and ran into some trouble thanks in part to Volpe trying to do too much on a grounder with a runner on. Bednar did a very good job at working around the trouble, with Volpe atoning somewhat, by getting an out at home on a contact play.
That left the Yankees still in striking distance for the bottom of the ninth.
As they did on Thursday night, the Red Sox turned to erstwhile Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman for the save in the ninth. With a pinch-hitting Paul Goldschmidt and the top of the lineup then due up, there was certainly a theoretical chance, but it amounted to nothing. Ben Rice went down swinging to end it.
Of the Yankees’ losses to the Red Sox so far this season, you can probably argue there have been worse performances, but few have been more annoying than this particular one. There’s only so long you can watch an offense step to the plate only to do nothing. Having come into the series with a slight edge over Boston in the standings, they are once again looking up at their rivals in red. At least the squirrel had fun.
With the Yankees still looking to muster any sort of positive vibes against Boston, the rivalry matchup will continue on the Bronx on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET. They will be behind the eight-ball from the jump, as AL Cy Young contender Garrett Crochet gets the ball for the Red Sox against rookie Will Warren.
