The two-time All-Star and the World Series champion was a Dodger before being a Red Sox star. When he last stood on the mound at Yankee Stadium, he watched as Alex Verdugo swung and missed at a knuckle curveball. That very moment contributed to the Dodgers’ World Series win. That kind of pitch is everything a pitcher is fascinated by.

Now, around 8 months later, he returned to Yankee Stadium again as a boogeyman in a Red Sox uniform. And in contrast to last year’s win, it was a collapse.

Buehler wasn’t spared in the postgame from the Yankees’ nation. His errant pitch to Volpe didn’t sit well with anyone. Let alone the fans, he didn’t try to spare himself either. “To be honest with you, this organization put a lot of faith in me this offseason, and I’ve been f—— embarrassing for us, so it’s tough.”

Just some time ago, he was also ejected from a Red Sox game against the Mets. Apparently, he got into a heated argument with the home plate umpire. So, his embarrassment and the meltdown stem from even before his outing against the Yankees.

“It’s obviously a big game and a big rivalry that I was excited to be a part of, and for it to go the way that it did is super disappointing.” The Red Sox are currently at 30-35 and stand fourth in the American League East. So, every bit of what Buehler said is justified.

The long-time rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees is one of the most intense and historic in all of professional sports. And this matchup against the Yankees was a knockout blow for the Red Sox.

On Friday night, Walker Buehler didn’t make it past the second inning. He exited the field after throwing 67 pitches and allowing 7 runs. But last time at the same stadium, he spread his arms in elation. This time, his outing was the latest in a season that was already full of lows for the Boston Red Sox.

After Friday’s 9-6 painful defeat to the Yankees, the Red Sox have a first-inning ERA of 12.83 this season. It’s an MLB record, a brutal one. In fact, Alex Cora is also all too familiar with the ongoing stretches of struggles. Especially when it comes to starting pitching rotation and tough first innings.

Alex Cora opens up about Red Sox’s Rotation Woes

Fans hoped that the Yankees-Red Sox 2025 showdown would get Boston’s struggling pitchers back on track, given the rivalry atmosphere. At least manager Alex Cora believed so. Just sometime before the first pitch at Yankee Stadium, he expressed optimism about the starting pitchers.

“It’ll be great for us to have our starters go deeper in this series, giving us six at least every night. If we can do that, we’re going to be OK.” Cora said near the visitors’ dugout. Just one inning into the game, and it was evident that things were anything but OK.

The team gave up five runs in the bottom of the first inning. In the last four games, Walker Buehler became the third Red Sox starter to allow at least four earned runs in the first inning itself. Later, following up on Cora’s optimism, he stated, “It’s hard to play this way. We’ve just got to get better. We have to pitch… We just have to improve.”

Well, the Red Sox starters now carry a 7.06 ERA in the first inning. That happens to be the second worst in the league. At this point, they’re behind only the Colorado Rockies. Could it be any worse?