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After a mostly sterling display of defense on Opening Day, the Yankees had some struggles in that area on Saturday.
A pair of misplays by Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Joey Gallo in the second inning in part ensured that Luis Severino only went three-plus innings in his season debut, but the Yankees were able to shake them off in a 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
J.D. Martinez led off the second with a ground ball to shortstop, but Kiner-Falefa was not able to field it cleanly. Alex Verdugo came up next and crushed a Severino fastball into the right-field seats to put the Red Sox up 2-0.
Trevor Story then hit a fly ball to left field that Gallo appeared to get a poor read on, forcing him to dive for it unsuccessfully. It went as a double for Story, and while he was ultimately stranded, the miscues forced Severino to throw 31 pitches in the inning.
“I noticed at the time it was a shadowy part of the [field],” manager Aaron Boone said. “The sun was out early on, so probably didn’t get the best read on it right away.”
Gallo’s rough day continued in the bottom of the inning when he rocketed a ball off the right-field wall but was thrown out easily by Jackie Bradley Jr. trying to stretch the hit into a double. Then, in the top of the third, Gallo let a fly ball off the left-field wall bounce past him, allowing Rafael Devers to leg out a double.
Kiner-Falefa went on to make a few tough plays at shortstop but also committed a throwing error in the ninth inning that Aroldis Chapman worked around.
The Yankees continued to use PitchCom on Saturday, though there was another brief hiccup in the third inning when Severino got to the mound: He couldn’t hear the command from the audio transmitter.
“I left it in the dugout, so that’s why I didn’t hear it,” Severino, who had the transmitter brought to him on the mound, said with a laugh.
After not playing a game in the outfield until July 30 last season, Giancarlo Stanton started in right field Saturday against the Red Sox. He is expected to play the outfield two to three times a week this season, giving Boone increased lineup flexibility. With Stanton in right field, Aaron Judge moved over to center field with Gallo in left as Josh Donaldson stepped into Stanton’s regular spot at DH.
Aaron Hicks was the odd man out of the lineup Saturday, but he was OK after fouling a ball off his right foot Friday and entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth.
The Yankees used four outfielders against Rafael Devers with two outs and the bases empty in the seventh inning. Devers grounded out.
The Yankees outrighted OF Jeisson Rosario to Double-A Somerset. Rosario, whom the Yankees previously claimed off waivers from the Red Sox, had been designated for assignment this past week to make room for Marwin Gonzalez on the 40-man roster.
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