In the top of the first inning, the Red Sox went down in order. Before Walker Buehler’s gum even lost its flavor, he was in a jam. He nearly navigated his way out of it by way of a fortunate lineout and a strikeout, but couldn’t put away Jazz Chisholm after going up 0-2. Chisholm hit a home run, and as the flavor in Buehler’s gum faded, the game was all but over.

Without getting into specifics, Buehler was terrible on Friday night. He ran into the same issue that several Red Sox pitchers have this season: execution with two strikes. In the first two innings alone, seven Yankee hitters reached base with two strikes. The Red Sox team FIP after 0-2 counts this season was 1.63, worst in the league. Hitters who go down 0-2 hit .204. .204 isn’t a great average in a vacuum, but it’s the second-w

See Full Page