On a night the Yankees made a costly mistake on the basepaths and Clint Frazier looked completely lost in right field, not even Boston’s shaky bullpen was capable of getting the home team back in the game in an 8-5 loss in The Bronx.
With the weather worsening late in the game, as rain. thunder and lightning surrounded the Stadium — the Yankees threatened and when Frazier singled and got to second on a throwing error to lead off the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees seemed primed to make a run.
Instead, Brandon Workman saved the game for Boston and the Yankees failed to finish the sweep.
“We started a comeback there at the end,” Aaron Hicks said. “We just didn’t have enough.”
They had plenty to try to overcome, including David Price, who pushed aside his Yankees demons to deliver a strong start.
CC Sabathia, in his first outing since a stint on the injured list with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee, was effective, but not good enough in his attempt to win the 250th game of his career.
The lefty allowed three runs — including two solo homers — in six innings.
Price — who was 2-8 with a 7.95 ERA in a dozen career starts versus the Yankees, including 0-6 with a 9.79 ERA against them since joining Boston — retired the first 10 batters he faced.
Luke Voit snapped that streak with one out in the fourth with his 15th homer of the season, a shot to left-center that landed in the visitors’ bullpen to cut Boston’s lead to 3-1.
That sparked the Yankees offense, as Gary Sanchez, Hicks and Gleyber Torres singled to load the bases before Gio Urshela made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Sanchez and moving Hicks to third.
But the rally ended with Frazier at the plate, as Torres took off for second and then stopped and got in a rundown before Hicks was thrown out trying to score.
“I saw him stop and [get] into a rundown and I tried to take a chance to score and they picked up on it quick,’’ Hicks said.
Hicks was unaware Torres was going to try to swipe second and Torres said the call for him to go came from the dugout.
“It didn’t work out,’’ Aaron Boone said of the play.
Price, forced to throw 28 pitches in the fourth after needing just 30 to get through the first three innings, responded well and didn’t give up another run.
With Luis Cessa struggling in relief and Frazier misplaying three balls in right, the Red Sox expanded their lead.
In the seventh, with Michael Chavis on first, Eduardo Nunez singled to right and the ball went under Frazier’s glove and rolled all the way to the wall. The two-base error allowed Chavis to score and Nunez to get to third.
With the infield in, pinch-hitter Brock Holt sent a flare over DJ LeMahieu at second to score Nunez and make it 5-2.
Frazier’s nightmare inning continued when he failed to make a diving catch of Andrew Benintendi’s liner. The ball bounded away from Frazier and he made a wild throw home. Holt scored for a 6-2 Red Sox advantage.
“He may be pressing a little bit out there,’’ Boone said of Frazier, who declined to speak to reporters after the game.
The three runs were the first allowed by the Yankees’ bullpen in 24 ¹/₃ innings.
In the eighth, Frazier misplayed another Chavis fly ball, turning a single into an RBI triple.
The Yankees chased Price with two on and one out in the seventh, but Heath Hembree whiffed Austin Romine and Chavis made a nice play on a Brett Gardner grounder to end the threat.
The Yankees loaded the bases with no one out in the eighth against Matt Barnes, who balked home a run, and the Yankees scored twice more, but the rally fizzled.
Still, Boone wasn’t completely discouraged.
“Tonight was not the greatest night for us,’’ the manager said. “That’s one of those games where it could have just got to the score it did and a lot of times you roll over a little bit. We didn’t.’’
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