BOSTON -- Giancarlo Stanton joined the ranks of the many outfielders who have experienced difficulty patrolling left field at Fenway Park, misjudging a Jackie Bradley Jr. fly ball that fell for a ground-rule RBI double in the Yankees' 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday evening.
The play occurred in the third inning, when Bradley lifted a pop fly off Sonny Gray. Stanton crossed the foul line in pursuit, skidding to a halt as he placed his right hand on the wall, then appeared surprised to see the ball drop several feet behind him and bounce into the grandstand.
"I had it as three or four rows in the seats," Stanton said. "I was about ready to jump over the fence. It just kicked back on me."
The game marked Stanton's eighth career game in left field, all of which have come this season, and his third consecutive start playing the position at Fenway.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the play was made more difficult by the conditions, with rain falling steadily through the first few innings. At first pitch, the wind was blowing out to left field at 15 mph.
"You're dealing with the wall over there, where the rain is starting to go sideways and you've got a lot of wind," Boone said. "It's just a challenging play where you're kind of dealing with the wall. With that wall being right next to the foul line, it's just a tricky kind of a play. It's just one of those things that's going to happen now and then on a difficult night."
Stanton refused to use the weather as an excuse for the play, which allowed Eduardo Nunez to score Boston's fifth run. Bradley later came home after a wild pitch and a groundout.
"It doesn't matter what was the factor," Stanton said. "What matters is, it gave them more runs and docked Sonny's ERA. It doesn't help the squad either way."