In a game that was tied after nine innings, the Yankees’ hustle cost them a run that might have made the difference.
If Anthony Volpe had run faster, the Yankees would have scored.
Or if DJ LeMahieu had run slower, the Yankees would have scored.
One all-around bad baserunning play conspired to cost the Yankees in Friday’s eventual 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox in The Bronx.
In the bottom of the third inning of a scoreless game, Volpe was on third base and LeMahieu on first with one out.
Ben Rice hit a ground ball to first baseman Romy Gonzalez, who stepped on the bag and threw to second base, where shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela awaited.
If Volpe crossed home before the double play was completed, the run would have counted.
But Volpe did not run hard and was still a few steps away from the plate when Rafaela caught the ball.
“Just got to be better,” said Volpe, whose explanation was that he believed the ground ball down the line was foul.
Volpe could have been bailed out if LeMahieu slammed on the brakes and tried to reverse his way to first base.
Perhaps an extra second or two would have enabled Volpe to score.
But LeMahieu simply redirected himself away from the baseline, tagged by Rafaela shortly before Volpe touched the plate.
“A rundown is the ideal thing in that spot,” said Boone, who talked with Volpe about a play that was particularly poorly timed considering the Yankees’ struggles.
“We talk about finishing the play all the time, and that’s an area where we [have] got to do it,” Boone said.
Through losing 14 of 18, the Yankees’ pitching and hitting have largely failed them, but their effort level recently has gone under the microscope.
During Thursday’s loss, center fielder Trent Grisham did not charge a routine single and booted the ball, enabling a Reds base runner to take an extra base.
Boone talked with Grisham about that miscue, too.
On Friday, even before the costly double play, LeMahieu had only barely reached first base on a fielder’s choice.
He stung a line drive up the middle that was knocked down by second baseman Emmanuel Valdez, who picked it up and flipped to Rafaela, who double-clutched because he couldn’t get it out of his glove.
LeMahieu, who was not sprinting, was still nearly doubled up on the slow-developing play.
At a time when the Yankees are struggling to score and struggling to keep opponents from scoring, such hustle plays grow more important.
“Just play it all the way through,” Volpe said Boone told him.