BOSTON _ Those predicting doom for Chance Adams in his major-league debut Saturday afternoon were proved wrong.
Adams, facing the best offense in the majors, turned in a more than credible outing against the Red Sox.
But those predicting doom, or at the very least feeling uneasy, for the Yankees in this showdown series?
Well, they've been right on target.
One night after Rick Porcello pitched a one-hitter against them, the Yankees turned in another inoffensive performance, this one against former teammate Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched eight scoreless innings in Boston's 4-1 victory in front of 36,699 at Fenway Park.
The Yankees (68-41) have lost the first three games of this series to extend their losing streak to a season-high four games. They fell a season-high 8{ games behind the Red Sox (78-34), who have outscored them 23-9 in the series.
The Yankees trailed 4-0 going into the ninth inning before Giancarlo Stanton and Didi Gregorius hit consecutive two-out doubles against Craig Kimbrel to make it 4-1. Aaron Hicks walked and Gleyber Torres then walked to load the bases and bring Greg Bird to the plate as the go-ahead run. He got ahead 2-and-1 before flying to center to end it.
When the Yankees try to avoid the sweep Sunday night, Masahiro Tanaka _ their best pitcher of late _ will face David Price, whom the Yankees routinely pummel.
Then again, the way the Yankees have produced offensively the past two games, maybe it's Price who should be confident. Entering the ninth inning Saturday, the Yankees had gone 4-for-52 in that span and had sent three more than the minimum number of batters to the plate.
Adams, 23 _ who was called up to make the start Saturday because of the depleted nature of the rotation more than his 2018 work in the minors _ gave his team an opportunity to win. He allowed three runs and three hits in five innings, including Mitch Moreland's two-run homer in the first and J.D. Martinez 33rd home run in the fourth, which made it 3-0.
Eovaldi, whom the Yankees released in November 2016, three months after he underwent Tommy John surgery, allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four. He improved to 2-0 with the Red Sox after being acquired from the Rays before the trade deadline.
The Yankees did not get a runner in scoring position against Eovaldi until the seventh. Stanton led off the inning with his first double but Eovaldi, who entered the inning having thrown only 62 pitches, retired three straight.
Sandy Leon's two-out RBI double off A.J. Cole in the seventh made it 4-0.
