The four-game sweep the Yankees endured last weekend at Fenway Park had overtones of when Boston historically rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win the 2004 AL pennant.
Once the Yankees blew the very winnable first game in that quartet – Game 4 in 2004, Thursday night this time – the snowball began downhill.
There were many reasons for the twin Yankees failures, but at the heart was how few trustworthy pitchers — notably starters — Joe Torre had then and Joe Girardi has now to deal with the circular excellence of both Red Sox lineups.