Yankees Swept by Red Sox at Fenway Park

For the first time since July of last year, the New York Yankees were completely overmatched in a regular-season series, and it was against their long-time rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

This weekend, the Red Sox took all three games in the heated rivalry at Fenway Park, with the latest victory coming Sunday afternoon. Brayan Bello continued his impressive run as a starting pitcher, leading the Red Sox to a 2-0 win.

Before facing the Red Sox, the Yankees were among only three Major League Baseball teams that had not been swept this season. The New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds were the only other teams able to avoid being swept in a series.

It wasn’t just the pitching that let the Yankees down; their hitting was largely ineffective, leaving MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge notably quiet. Besides a solo home run in the series opener, Judge struggled significantly, going 0-for-11 over the next two games with nine strikeouts.

The Yankees as a team collectively had a disappointing performance, finishing the series with a .160 batting average, which included just three extra-base hits, ten walks, and an alarming 27 strikeouts, 11 of which came in the series finale.

As the Yankees are sitting at 42-28, it’s worth noting that their position in the standings is still relatively strong. Despite the recent losses—especially with the Tampa Bay Rays winning seven out of their last ten games—the Yankees maintain a 3.5-game lead in the AL East.

On the flip side, the Red Sox seem to be hitting their stride at just the right moment, having faced and conquered some of the league’s toughest pitchers this season. They are now just half a game shy of the third and final AL wildcard spot.

Of course, the season is far from over. With many games still to be played, the Yankees will look to bounce back when they face the Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles in the coming week. Can they regain their form? We’ll just have to wait and see.