The New York Yankees finish off a four game home series against their arch-rival Boston Red Sox with a national ESPN Sunday Night Baseball showcase. But for the Bronx Bombers that game represents nothing more than the chance to prevent a four-game sweep â their first at the hands of Boston since August 2 through August 5 of 2018. But that sweep happened at Fenway Park, not Yankee Stadium.
Last 4-game Sweep at Yankee Stadium was 86 Years Ago
The last time the Red Sox swept the Yankees in New York in a series longer than three games came 86 years ago, from July 7 through July 9, 1939. That was actually a five-game series played over three days, with doubleheaders on July 8 and July 9.
In the current series, the Red Sox feature a rookie sensation in Roman Anthony who has four hits in 13 at-bats in the first three games. The 1939 series showcased another electric Red Sox rookie, Ted Williams. The “Splendid Splinter,” as Williams was known, collected six hits in 16 at-bats in the five-game sweep.
Here in 2025, the Red Sox have won the first three games of the set, including a 12-1 drubbing on Saturday.
Volpe’s Desperate Struggles Continue
That game featured yet another embarrassing error by 24-year-old shortstop Anthony Volpe, his American League-leading 17th of the season, just one shy of the MLB lead now held by Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
With two outs in the ninth inning and the Red Sox already holding an 8-1 lead, Volpe fielded a routine ground ball by Boston second baseman David Hamilton â and inexplicably flung the ball well over 6-foot-2 first baseman Ben Rice’s head into the first base dugout.
The inning continued and the Red Sox went on to score four more runs.
Boone Appears Out-of-Touch in Volpe Defense
But just as Volpe leads the league in errors, Yankees manager Aaron Boone leads the league in delusional defenses of the steadily cratering shortstop â or at least it seems that way.
In the Friday game, Volpe committed a bonehead play, throwing to second base on a ground ball with a runner on the base, but no force play possible. After the game Boone called the mental mistake “a heads-up” play â a claim made even odder by the fact that, in the same statement to the media, Boone called it “not the right play.”
Back in July, at a time when Volpe had committed 11 errors, third-most in MLB, Boone described the 2019 first-round draft pick as “bleeping elite.”
Volpe Cratering in August
Boone’s practice of defending Volpe in apparent contradiction of the facts visible to any Yankee fan or media member watching the team’s games continued after Saturday’s embarrassing loss. Asked to comment on Volpe’s ninth-inning miscue, Boone said Volpe has “been playing really well out there.”
The manager did acknowledge, however, that Volpe made a “bad throw,” a reality that was self-evident.
Volpe’s defensive deficiencies, and Boone’s out-of-touch defenses of the player, may be easier for the Yankee faithful to overlook if the shortstop â who has appeared in 128 of the Yankees’ 129 games this season â was producing at the plate.
But despite an impressive 18 home runs, Volpe has registered just a .675 OPS in his 509 plate appearances ahead of Sunday’s Red Sox series finale. He has struck out 122 times against just 40 walks.
In his last 12 games, Volpe is batting a painful .098 with just four hits in 41 at bats with 26 strikeouts. His four base knocks include a homer and two doubles, however.
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