http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/sports/baseball/red-sox-edge-yankees-to-complete-four-game-sweep.html 2016-09-19 06:51:57 Red Sox Edge Yankees to Complete Four-Game Sweep Hanley Ramirez hit two homers as American League East-leading Boston rallied from three runs down to further damage the Yankees’ thin playoff hopes. === BOSTON — In the comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” the resolute Black Knight loses limb upon limb, along with buckets of blood, in a sword duel, but he loses none of his defiance. “’Tis but a scratch,” he declares after one arm is cut off. “Flesh wound,” he sniffs dismissively after losing the other. When the They had won only once in the last week, falling to the fringes of playoff contention and losing second baseman Starlin Castro (hamstring), center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (knee) and third baseman Chase Headley (back) to injuries on Saturday. Trying to keep the Yankees afloat were three players — Billy Butler, Mason Williams and Donovan Solano — who had been added to the roster since Wednesday. Still, Manager Joe Girardi remained unflinching in his belief that the Yankees would somehow, some way find a way to reach the playoffs. “You have to believe; it’s who we are,” Girardi said before the game. “You have to overcome challenges and adversity and injury and everything that happens, but I believe.” Still, the Yankees were once again carried only so far by determination as the Red Sox, riding Hanley Ramirez’s two home runs, rallied for a 5-4 victory Sunday night that completed a sweep of the four-game series. This loss, like two others, came after the Yankees failed to hold a lead of at least three runs and represented another missed opportunity to gain ground in the playoff race. They trail Toronto by four games for the second American League wild-card berth with 13 games remaining. While Girardi’s resolve is admirable, his decision making was open to question. In the fifth inning, Girardi chose not to avoid the red-hot Ramirez with two outs, runners at second and third and a 4-0 lead; a walk would have brought up Chris Young, a former Yankee who had struck out in his first two at-bats. Ramirez, who already had two home runs in the series, including a game-ending blast Thursday, hit his third, hooking a 3-1 pitch just over the top of the Green Monster. The Red Sox tied the score in the sixth on Jackie Bradley Jr.’s run-scoring single, which spelled the end for C. C. Sabathia, who left after his 112th pitch. Blake Parker, who entered with runners at first and second and no outs, struck out pinch-hitter David Ortiz, retired Dustin Pedroia on a groundout and fanned Xander Bogaerts. Boston took the lead in the seventh when Ramirez hit his second homer of the night, driving a Tyler Clippard pitch far over the left-field wall. Any chance of the Yankees’ getting off the mat were diminished by right fielder Mookie Betts, who laid out to take away potential extra-base hits from Mark Teixeira in the seventh and Brett Gardner in the ninth. Betts was serenaded by the Fenway Park fans with chants of “M.V.P.” After Gary Sanchez singled with two outs in the ninth, Teixeira popped out to end the game. The Yankees hoped they could turn to Sabathia, who had stopped six- and four-game losing streaks this season, to halt this skid. He had helped deliver the Yankees’ only win in this current stretch by pitching six and one-third scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. Sabathia was staked to an early lead when Gardner doubled to lead off the game and scored on a two-out single by Didi Gregorius. Sanchez made it 2-0 in the third by hitting his 16th home run since he was recalled Aug. 3. The Yankees chased Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomerantz in the fourth with two more runs, a rally spurred by an infield single by Solano and a double by Williams. Sabathia pitched his way around trouble and had a chance to extricate himself without any damage in the fifth when he caught a Betts line drive. Sabathia threw to first to try to double off Bogaerts, but his throw sailed away from Butler, the first baseman, who made a less-than-graceful stab at it. That brought Ramirez to the plate — and with it, another chance to torment the Yankees.