NEW YORK- After a day off on Thursday, the Boston Red Sox looked to get past its 1-5 record in the last two series with the first of a three-game series against the New York Yankees. Aaron Cook (2-4) was settled to take on Phil Hughes (10-8) at New York Stadium. It was a rough outing for Cook as he allowed six runs over four innings. Hughes allowed three home runs in the outing, but luckily for the Yankees, they were all solo shots. Curtis Granderson tacked on a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it 10-4 with only three outs left for the Red Sox to try and rally. The Red Sox fall to two games under .500 and could be 5.5 games back in the wild card race by the end of the night.

The Bad

The sinkerballer leaves it up: Cook was not starting with his good sinkerball and it led to multiple fly balls that were hit hard for the Yankees. He allowed two two-run home runs and a total of seven hits in his four innings of work. He allowed eight ground balls, but it was not enough to escape the assault of the Yankees lineup.

Lack of runners on base: The Red Sox finished 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and only left six batters on base. The offense has struggled since David Ortiz left with the hell injury last week and the entire team really needs a boost.

Mark Melancon roughed up: Melancon came on in relief in the eighth inning and allowed four runs on only two hits. He also walked and a batter to load the bases for Granderson who hit the ball out of the park for a grand slam.

The Good

The power comes out: The short porch at Yankee Stadium in right field really helped the Red Sox, as well as the short distance to the left field seats. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Dustin Pedroia and Carl Crawford all hit the ball into the stands and it looks as if the Red Sox are finally getting back to the lineup that was supposed to appear at the start of the season.

Big Papi sighting: David Ortiz took batting practice for the first time since his injury and was seen without his walking boot for the first time too. The Red Sox All-Star DH is almost ready to be activated from the DL and should be back in time after his 15 days are up on August 1.

Photo via Flickr/Augie.C

Brian Roach

A lifelong Boston sports fan, Brian is currently a sports communication major at Lasell College.