BOSTON – Yankees Lose Again to Red Sox, 2-0

The Yankees’ struggles at the plate continued over the weekend, culminating in a frustrating 2-0 defeat against the Red Sox on Sunday.

This time, the spotlight fell on Ben Rice. He got caught trying to advance to third base too soon in the third inning.

After hitting a single, Rice moved to second on a two-out infield single from Cody Bellinger.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was at bat, and Rice was headed for third when pitcher Brian Bello made his move. Bello turned and threw behind Rice, and it was an easy out as Trevor Story, the shortstop, tagged him for the final out of the inning.

The Yankees had previously pulled off a successful double steal earlier in the season, and Rice thought he might have another opportunity this time. He mentioned, “I just felt he was falling into rhythm,” referring to Bello. But, well, you know how it goes—perfect timing for the pitcher, unfortunate for him.

Manager Aaron Boone didn’t seem thrilled about the play, although he didn’t outright criticize the idea behind it.

“You’ve got to be more certain,” Boone said about Rice’s timing. He acknowledged that those pick-off scenarios are tough and can really hurt in a game like this when opportunities are already slim.

This incident was one of the few chances the Yankees had to score. Adding to their woes, just the day before, Jackson Dominguez made an even more glaring mistake on the bases. He got caught between second and third during Trent Grisham’s at-bat after misreading the count.

Dominguez mistakenly thought Grisham was about to launch the ball and went for third, which clearly backfired.

Boone did defend Anthony Volpe’s attempt to steal third in the tenth inning of Friday’s loss, but it’s hard to deny that every mistake felt magnified in a series where scoring was a real challenge for the Yankees.