An 11-game road trip that brought the possibility of pushing the Yankees further into the thick of the American League playoff race already is threatening to completely take them out of it.
One night after suffering what was hands-down their worst loss of the season, the Yankees dropped one in a far more conventional manner Friday night, falling to the Red Sox, 7-4, in front of 37,927 at Fenway Park.
The Yankees (77-70), who have lost five of their last six, fell six games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox (83-64) and 31/2 games behind the Blue Jays in the race for the second wild card entering Toronto’s late game against the Angels.
Rookie right-hander Luis Cessa wasn’t awful, allowing three runs and six hits in five innings, but the bullpen, brought on to try to hold a 3-2 deficit, allowed four runs that made it 7-2 before pinch hitter Billy Butler hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.
Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz (7-10, 5.20) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings.
The Red Sox, who outhit the Yankees 12-9, gave Buchholz a quick lead with a strange bottom of the first.
Dustin Pedroia led off by hitting one off the wall in left-center but was thrown out at second by Brett Gardner when he tried to stretch it into a double. Xander Bogaerts walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Up stepped David Ortiz, who lined one into the gap in left-center. Bogaerts scored, but the plodding Ortiz was thrown out at second by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.
Mookie Betts sent a hot shot to third that Chase Headley couldn’t handle for an infield single. Betts stole second – he initially was called out, but the Red Sox challenged and the call was reversed – and Hanley Ramirez, who won Thursday night’s game with a walk-off, three-run homer off Dellin Betances and hit another home run to center field off Cessa in the fourth, singled to center to make it 2-0.
The Yankees blew the first of many early-inning scoring chances in the second. Didi Gregorius singled off the first base bag with one out and Chase Headley doubled over the head of right fielder Betts. Third-base coach Joe Espada chose not to send Gregorius, who appeared as if he could have scored. Brian McCann flied to short center, not deep enough to drive in Gregorius, and Mark Teixeira, who started a game batting eighth for the first time since 2004, flied to right to end the inning.
Mason Williams led off the third with a single and Gardner walked. Ellsbury, however, lined out to second and Gary Sanchez grounded into his second 5-4-3 double play of the night to end the threat.
Ramirez made it 3-0 in the fourth with his 26th homer. It was the 14th homer allowed in 14 appearances (six starts) this season for Cessa.
Teixeira and Williams started the fifth with singles, but it seemed as if the Yankees would come away frustrated again when Gardner struck out and Ellsbury flied to right. Sanchez, however, launched one off the Green Monster in left-center for a two-run double that made it 3-2.
Boston pushed the lead to three runs in the sixth. Ortiz doubled off lefty James Pazos and Betts singled against right-hander Jonathan Holder. Ramirez walked to load the bases and Travis Shaw’s sacrifice fly to center made it 4-2. Holder struck out Chris Young looking and got ahead of Sandy Leon 0-and-2 before he blooped a 1-and-2 pitch down the leftfield line for a ground-rule double that made it 5-2.
Jackie Bradley’s Jr. 25th homer, on Chasen Shreve’s first pitch of the seventh, made it 6-2.
Butler’s homer in the ninth gave him four RBIs in two games as a Yankee.