NEW YORK — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 9-6 loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday:
1) Boston dropped to five games under .500 (30-35) while the Yankees improved to 16 games over (39-23). The Sox are 13-19 on the road after finishing last year with a winning record (43-38) away from Fenway Park.
2) Red Sox starter Walker Buehler gave up five runs on five hits (two homers) and one walk in a disastrous first inning. He pitched just 2 innings and allowed seven runs (five earned runs), seven hits and two walks while striking out two. He also hit a batter to force in a run with the bases loaded. His ERA jumped to 5.18 ERA.
3) Buehler walked leadoff hitter Trent Grisham and allowed a double to Aaron Judge to begin the game. He then got two quick outs and it looked like he might escape without allowing any runs. But Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t let that happen, belting a 417-foot three-run home run to center field. Two batters later, Anthony Volpe hit a 369-foot two-run home run to right field.
4) Red Sox rookie Marcelo Mayer belted his first major league home run in the fifth inning. He connected on a 93.9 mph four-seam fastball that Yankees rookie starter Will Warren left right down the middle of the plate in the fifth inning. Mayer drove it 410 feet to right-center field. The solo shot left his bat with a 103.3 mph exit velocity.
5) Boston cut it to 8-4 in the sixth inning after Jarren Duran led off the inning with his MLB-leading seventh triple. Wilyer Abreu’s sac fly to center field made it 8-2. Romy Gonzalez, who was pinch hitting for Mayer with the bases loaded, hit a two-run single to make it 8-4.
6) Rafael Devers narrowed the deficit to 9-6 in the seventh inning when he crushed a 419-foot two-run home run to right field. It was his 17th homer in 62 games at Yankee Stadium.
7) Zack Kelly (2 scoreless innings, four strikeouts) and Cooper Criswell (3 innings, one run) did a good job saving the bullpen. Brennan Bernardino also threw one inning and allowed a run.
8) The Red Sox and Yankees will play the second game of their three-game series at 7:35 p.m. Saturday. The game will be nationally televised on FOX. Boston lefty Garrett Crochet (5-4, 1.98 ERA) will start vs. lefty Ryan Yarbrough (3-0, 2.83 ERA).
