Going into spring training, the Yankees viewed John Ryan Murphy as a catcher who eventually would nudge Brian McCann to a role as designated hitter and be their No. 1 guy.
They haven’t lost faith in Murphy, but Saturday he was charged with a passed ball for the second straight game and made a throwing error that helped fuel a three-run Red Sox seventh inning in an 8-4 loss at Yankee Stadium.
The passed ball, in the second inning, didn’t lead to a run.
“It was a two-seamer inside and the ball took off,’’ Murphy said of Adam Warren’s pitch to Xander Bogaerts in the second. “I lost it and it can’t happen.’’
The Yankees believed they had upgraded their defense from a year ago, and were preaching run prevention following spring training. Five games into the season, however, the Yankees (1-4) have committed an alarming eight errors.
“We are. We are not supposed to be, we are,’’ Murphy said when asked about the Yankees supposedly being better defensively. “Games like this are going to happen. They shouldn’t happen, but they are going to happen.’’
According to manager Joe Girardi, Murphy got crossed up by Esmil Rogers in the 19th inning of Friday night’s 6-5 loss, but the passed ball goes on the catcher’s ledger in that situation.
“He played well and threw well in spring training,’’ Girardi said of Murphy, who beat out Austin Romine for the second catching spot. “I still believe our defense is going to be a strength of ours but we haven’t shown it yet.”
Because Chasen Shreve pitched 3 ¹/₃ innings and Rogers worked 4 ²/₃ innings Friday night, the Yankees had to call bullpen reinforcements to The Bronx for Saturday’s game.
Rogers is out of options, so Shreve, a left-hander, was sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room for lefty Matt Tracy.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred right-handed starter Ivan Nova to the 60-day DL.
Tracy wasn’t invited to major league spring training camp, but did appear in one exhibition game. He was taken by the Yankees in the 24th round of the 2011 draft out of Mississippi. He was a combined 9-8 with a 3.75 ERA last year for Double-A Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Tracy made his major league debut in Saturday’s loss and gave up three unearned runs and two hits in two innings.
Unless there is an injury, Shreve has to remain in the minors for 10 days.
A reversal of an out call in the top of the eighth resulted in Chase Headley being charged with a throwing error. Originally, Daniel Nava was called out on a tag by first baseman Alex Rodriguez, but a look at the replay indicated Nava was safe.
It was the Yankees’ third error of the game.
Admitting injuries are a concern when a day game is played after a 19-inning tilt the night before, Girardi rested center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, first baseman Teixeira (who turned 35 Saturday) and catcher McCann. None of those decisions was based on injury, Girardi said. … Carlos Beltran went 0-for-4 and whiffed twice. In five games, the No. 3 hitter is 2-for-20 (.100) with a .136 on-base percentage. … The Yankees are 7-6 in their past 13 home games against the Red Sox.
Friday night’s took 6 hours and 49 minutes to play — and that didn’t include a 16-minute delay after a light malfunction. It was the longest home game in terms of time in Yankees history and the second longest overall in the club’s history. They played a seven-hour game on June 24, 1962, in Detroit. The 19 innings represented their longest game since another 19-inning contest, Aug. 25, 1976, against the Twins.
