Instead of dominating in a series that could have pushed the New York Yankees back into contention for the AL East crown and a place in the playoffs, they became the first AL team to lose three consecutive home games despite scoring at least 8 runs in each of them.
On the opposite side of all this offense, the Boston Red Sox, now leading the Yankees by 11 games in the division as the four-game series is about to close, are the first AL team to win three straight games while allowing 8 or more runs.
The story begins on September 5, the first game in the series. The Yankees hold a 8-7 lead going into the ninth after scoring sixth in the 7th inning. However, Mariano Rivera blows the save for the sixth time this season, and Joba Chamberlain, giving up the run to Shane Victorino, coming up with the extra-inning RBI.
The next day the Yankees lead 8-3 in the beginning of the 7th inning, but give up nine runs as Phil Hughes makes a mess of things, followed by more bad pitching from Boone Logan (blowing his chance to save the day) and later Preston Claiborne. Joba is thrown in there, doesn’t do much better as well.
The third loss comes in a different manner, as the Yankees get rung early and often, with David Huff remaining less than four innings on the mound, allowing nine runs and two home runs as the Red Sox continue their ridiculous hitting weekend that covers up some pretty bad pitching from John Lackey, Felix Doubront and Jake Peavy.