Defensive lapse snowballs as Yanks drop series to Sox

NEW YORK -- It was a routine play that became anything but, with Billy McKinney scooping a clean single in left field to open the eighth inning. The ball was lobbed wide of the second-base bag, where it skipped past Gleyber Torres and rolled across the infield, allowing runner Kiké Hernández to dash alertly to second base.

It’s impossible to say how that inning would have transpired if Torres had gloved McKinney’s toss; just because the next batter walked doesn’t mean he would have if Hernández were anchored to first base. But we can definitively state that the misplay preceded a game-tying run as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox, 3-2, in 10 innings on Sunday evening.

“I saw the ball. The throw was perfect,” Torres said. “I just tried to catch it really fast and maybe throw to first base. That error is on me. That mistake, I should have grabbed the ball. Nothing difficult.”

Boston pushed across the deciding run in the 10th off Ron Marinaccio, who permitted a Hernández single to left field that chased home Adam Duvall. The Yanks dropped two of three to the Red Sox, falling to 8-10 this season when Aaron Judge is not in the lineup.

“You don’t want to drop a series, especially at home and to these guys,” said starter Clarke Schmidt. “It’s definitely frustrating, but we’ll pick our feet up and continue to move on and get ready for another big series with the Mets. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we’ve got them again [starting Friday at Fenway Park], so we’ll be ready to go.”

With runs in short supply, crisp defense takes on even more importance, so Torres’ error loomed large in the eighth. With Hernández at second base, reliever Michael King issued a five-pitch walk to Reese McGuire. Again, it’s possible that King would have walked McGuire without the error -- but who can say for sure?

“One of the things Gleyber does really well defensively, he plays the game with ease,” manager Aaron Boone said. “You’ve got to strike that balance. But we’ve got to be careful there. That can’t get on you like that. Whether it’s off-line or not a little bit, you’ve got to be in position to handle a little off-line there. We’ve got to be more careful.”

Pablo Reyes dropped a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners, and with the infield playing back, Jarren Duran slapped a ground ball that scored Hernández with the tying run. Boone said that because there were two outs, he opted to play his middle infielders back, with the corners in.

“I feel bad,” Torres said. “I think if I don’t make that error, Kiké is on first; maybe we turn a double play or something like that.”

Likewise, McKinney -- who’d later make a terrific leaping grab at the left-field wall to rob Reyes in the 10th -- lamented his toss.

“I’ve got to make a better throw,” McKinney said. “I’ve got to put it in the chest to Gleyber. I take the fault there. Got to be better.”

New York could not score after the second inning, when Jose Trevino picked up a couple of RBIs facing Brayan Bello. With Josh Donaldson and McKinney aboard, Trevino chopped a grounder that struck the second-base bag, producing a quirky bounce that eluded Hernández at second base and permitted both runners to score.

Schmidt tried to make that slim advantage hold up, continuing a recent run of strong pitching by limiting the Red Sox to a Justin Turner solo homer among four hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Over the right-hander’s past five starts dating to May 19, Schmidt has held opponents to seven earned runs in 27 innings (a 2.33 ERA), with 22 strikeouts and just five walks.

“I think the number one thing has been the strike-throwing and the command of all the pitches,” Schmidt said. “I think we’re getting to better locations and just more consistent within the strike zone, continuing a process of maturing and learning how to be a starter in this league.

“It’s been a lot of fun. Through the ups and downs, my back was against the wall in the beginning. I always had confidence in my stuff and knew it was going to come around. It’s good to have that feeling.”

The final seven Bombers hitters went down in order.

“The little mistakes, when we are playing low-scoring, tight games -- those are separators sometimes,” Boone said. “There’s a couple of things today that we didn’t do great.”