BOSTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — James Paxton was brought to New York to be an ace starting pitcher. On Friday, his latest miserable outing added to one of the worst pitching weeks in Yankees franchise history.
Mookie Betts homered in his first three at-bats off Paxton and added an RBI double as the Red Sox beat New York 10-5 on Friday night, pulling within nine games of the AL East-leading Yankees.
Paxton (5-6) became just the fourth pitcher in big league history to allow a lead-off home run in three straight starts, according to STATS, after Brad Radke (2004), Brandon Backe (2008) and Yovani Gallardo (2017).