NEW YORK -- It was a routine play that became anything but, with Billy McKinney scooping a clean single in left field to open the eighth inning. The ball was lobbed wide of the second-base bag, where it skipped past Gleyber Torres and rolled across the infield, allowing runner Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez to dash alertly to second base.

It¡¯s impossible to say how that inning would have transpired if Torres had gloved McKinney¡¯s toss; just because the next batter walked doesn¡¯t mean he would have if Hern¨¢ndez were anchored to first base. But we can definitively state that the misplay preceded a game-tying run as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox, 3-2, in 10 innings on Sunday evening.

¡°I saw the ball. The throw was perfect,¡± Torres said. ¡°I just tried to catch it really fast and maybe throw to first base. That error is on me. That mistake, I should have grabbed the ball. Nothing difficult.¡±

Boston pushed across the deciding run in the 10th off Ron Marinaccio, who permitted a? Hern¨¢ndez single to left field that chased home Adam Duvall. The Yanks dropped two of three to the Red Sox, falling to 8-10 this season when Aaron Judge is not in the lineup.??

¡°You don¡¯t want to drop a series, especially at home and to these guys,¡± said starter Clarke Schmidt. ¡°It¡¯s definitely frustrating, but we¡¯ll pick our feet up and continue to move on and get ready for another big series with the Mets. It¡¯s a tough pill to swallow, but we¡¯ve got them again [starting Friday at Fenway Park], so we¡¯ll be ready to go.¡±

With runs in short supply, crisp defense takes on even more importance, so Torres¡¯ error loomed large in the eighth. With Hern¨¢ndez at second base, reliever Michael King issued a five-pitch walk to Reese McGuire. Again, it¡¯s possible that King would have walked McGuire without the error -- but who can say for sure?

¡°One of the things Gleyber does really well defensively, he plays the game with ease,¡± manager Aaron Boone said. ¡°You¡¯ve got to strike that balance. But we¡¯ve got to be careful there. That can¡¯t get on you like that. Whether it¡¯s off-line or not a little bit, you¡¯ve got to be in position to handle a little off-line there. We¡¯ve got to be more careful.¡±??

Pablo Reyes dropped a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners, and with the infield playing back, Jarren Duran slapped a ground ball that scored Hern¨¢ndez with the tying run. Boone said that because there were two outs, he opted to play his middle infielders back, with the corners in.

¡°I feel bad,¡± Torres said. ¡°I think if I don¡¯t make that error, Kik¨¦ is on first; maybe we turn a double play or something like that.¡±

Likewise, McKinney -- who¡¯d later make a terrific leaping grab at the left-field wall to rob Reyes in the 10th -- lamented his toss.

¡°I¡¯ve got to make a better throw,¡± McKinney said. ¡°I¡¯ve got to put it in the chest to Gleyber. I take the fault there. Got to be better.¡±??

New York could not score after the second inning, when Jose Trevino picked up a couple of RBIs facing Brayan Bello. With Josh Donaldson and McKinney aboard, Trevino chopped a grounder that struck the second-base bag, producing a quirky bounce that eluded Hern¨¢ndez at second base and permitted both runners to score.

Schmidt tried to make that slim advantage hold up, continuing a recent run of strong pitching by limiting the Red Sox to a Justin Turner solo homer among four hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Over the right-hander¡¯s past five starts dating to May 19, Schmidt has held opponents to seven earned runs in 27 innings (a 2.33 ERA), with 22 strikeouts and just five walks.

¡°I think the number one thing has been the strike-throwing and the command of all the pitches,¡± Schmidt said. ¡°I think we¡¯re getting to better locations and just more consistent within the strike zone, continuing a process of maturing and learning how to be a starter in this league.

¡°It¡¯s been a lot of fun. Through the ups and downs, my back was against the wall in the beginning. I always had confidence in my stuff and knew it was going to come around. It¡¯s good to have that feeling.¡±

The final seven Bombers hitters went down in order.

¡°The little mistakes, when we are playing low-scoring, tight games -- those are separators sometimes,¡± Boone said. ¡°There¡¯s a couple of things today that we didn¡¯t do great.¡±