The last time the Yankees faced the Red Sox, the since-traded Rafael Devers hit a home run for Boston.
Luis Gil had not yet made his season debut, while Boston’s Alex Bregman was dealing with a quad strain that kept him out of the first two series against the Yankees.
But one thing that hasn’t changed in the two-plus months since then?
The Red Sox still have the Yankees’ number.
The Yankees dropped Thursday night’s series opener in the Bronx, 6-3, for their sixth consecutive loss against the Red Sox as their lead for the top American League wild card spot weakened.
They are now 1-6 against their century-old rival this year.
The Yankees committed four errors and a costly balk in Thursday’s defeat, leading to four unearned runs on a night Boston went 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 baserunners.
Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI double against reliever Luke Weaver broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh and proved to be the game-winner. It came in Lowe’s third game with the Red Sox, whom he joined after being released by the Nationals last weekend.
Rookie phenom Roman Anthony added a two-run home run in the ninth against Yerry De los Santos to cap a big Yankee Stadium debut.
Boston’s late-inning offense followed an up-and-down start by Gil, who held the Red Sox to two runs (one earned) over five innings, despite issuing five walks and allowing four hits.
It was the fourth start of the year for Gil, who missed the season’s first four months due to a high-grade lat strain.
Gil committed the Yankees’ first error of the night when he failed to field a Masataka Yoshida comebacker to begin the top of the second.
That was the first of three errors in the inning by the Yankees.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. overthrew first base on a potential double-play ball, allowing Ceddanne Rafaela to reach safely and advance to second. Rafaela later scored from third when catcher Ben Rice overthrew second base on a steal by David Hamilton, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
Rice atoned for his miscue in the bottom of the second with a game-tying solo home run — his 20th homer of the season — off of Boston starter Lucas Giolito.
But that was the only home run of the night for the Yankees, who totaled 14 on Tuesday and Wednesday in Tampa to tie an MLB record for the most homers over a two-game span.
Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI single against Giolito broke the 1-1 tie in the fourth, and Chisholm’s run-scoring bloop single off of left-hander Justin Wilson gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the fifth.
But the Red Sox answered against reliever Camilo Doval, who gave up an infield single to Hamilton, then balked him over to second base. Anthony’s ensuing RBI single tied the game, 3-3.
Lowe then broke the tie in the seventh, and Goldschmidt committed a fielding error that allowed Hamilton to reach in the ninth before Anthony’s lead-padding homer.
Anthony finished 2-for-5 with three RBI. Bregman, in his first appearance in the Yankees-Sox rivalry, went 3-for-5 with a walk.
The Yankees beat Boston in their first meeting of the season on June 6 in the Bronx, but they dropped the final two games of that series and were swept at Fenway Park a week later.
With Thursday’s loss, the Yankees’ lead over Boston for the top AL Wild Card spot is down to a half-game.
The Yankees are 1.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners, who hold the third and final wild card position, and 3.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals, who are on the outside looking in.
The four-game series continues Friday night, with Max Fried (13-5, 3.26 ERA) set to start for the Yankees and Brayan Bello (9-6, 3.23 ERA) scheduled to pitch for Boston.
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