Yankees’ bullpen, defense flop in key loss to Red Sox

In a highly anticipated meeting between a pair of AL East rivals preparing for a stretch run, the Yankees got more shoddy work from their bullpen and made four errors in a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox to open their homestand Thursday night. 

The defensive miscues led to three unearned runs, with three of the errors coming in an unwatchable second inning.

And while they’ve gotten accustomed to shaky bullpen work — even after they tried to bolster it at the trade deadline — the reliever that gave up the go-ahead run on Thursday, Luke Weaver, was an unlikely candidate to falter.

The right-hander has been superb for much of the season, so when he entered in the top of the seventh and immediately allowed a single to Trevor Story and an RBI double to Nathaniel Lowe, it stunned the sellout crowd in The Bronx.

And the Yankees, who’d tied an MLB record by hitting 14 homers over their previous two games, came up empty to open this series to snap a five-game winning streak.

This one had a bit of the feel of Yankee-Red Sox games of years past, with the teams vying for a playoff spot — and playing an interminably long game.

Unlike the old days, they aren’t currently battling for AL East supremacy.

Instead, they’re both still chasing Toronto for the division lead.

And with Thursday’s loss, the Yankees have lost six of seven meetings against the Red Sox this season.