NEW YORK -- Since being shifted into the Red Sox starting rotation in early June, Franklin Morales has been a mostly effective starter.
Unless, that is, the opponent is the New York Yankees.
When he pitches against anyone other than the Yankees this season, Morales has a sparkling 2.60 ERA. When the Yankees are the opposition, however, Morales has pitched to a 9.53.
That dichotomy was on display against Friday night. Morales was tagged for four homers in 5 13 innings, saddled with the loss in a 6-4 loss to the Yankees.
It marked the second time this year that Morales has allowed four homers in a start against the Yanks. They also belted four homers off him at Fenway on July 7.
Against every other club, meanwhile, Morales has allowed just one other homer this year.
"I tried to throw my pitches," shrugged Morales, who gave up solo shots to Nick Swisher, Derek Jeter, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson. "When you miss, that's going to happen. I wasn't thinking too much. I tried to attack the hitters. But like I say, when you miss your pitch with that team, somebody needs to pay and I paid today."
"They hit all of his pitches (for homers)," said Bobby Valentine, "so it wasn't any one pitch. He wasn't that bad. He just wasn't good enough."
As Morales took the mound in the bottom of the first, rain began to fall heavily at Yankee Stadium, making the job of facing the powerful New York lineup even more challenging.
"First inning, I think he was just getting used to the (wet) mound a little bit and trying to get comfortable,'' said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. "It's tough to throw a lot of pitches when it's wet and you're slipping everywhere. After that, he settled down and started to throw the ball real well and tried to keep it down."