+8
The Red Sox swept the Yankees once again courtesy of a seven-run seventh inning that was started by David Ortiz' single, and finished by his two-RBI double.
David Ortiz was hit for the first time ever against the New York Yankees, as southpaw CC Sabathia nailed the Red Sox' designated hitter with a pitch in the right thigh during the fourth inning of Thursday night's game.
Following the game, an angry Ortiz blamed the media for getting hit.
"I want to thank you guys -- not all of you, most of you -- for the stat today of me not getting hit by the Yankees. Finally got hit," Ortiz said after informing the media he would not be taking questions but simply giving his statement. "Hope you [expletives] are happy." (via WEEI.com)
The Red Sox wrapped up their second straight sweep of the Yankees in New Yankee Stadium Thursday, scoring seven runs in the seventh inning en route to an 8-3 win.
After waiting out a three-and-a-half hour rain delay, the Sox' bats seemed to have fallen asleep, allowing CC Sabathia to get on an early roll. While he would allow scattered baserunners in the first, second, and fourth innings, the Red Sox seemed entirely incapable of mounting a sustained attack. Only once in the first six frames did Sabathia allow more than one man to reach base in an inning--and even then it was the result of hitting David Ortiz, likely as retaliation for a series full of hit batters and one controversial bat flip back in the first game.
Much to Josh Beckett's dismay, the New York batters were not quite so tired. After plunking Derek Jeter with his second pitch of the game, Beckett fell behind 3-0 to Curtis Granderson and then offered up a 3-1 meatball to the center fielder. The ball left the park, and the Sox found themselves facing an early deficit for the first time in the series.
Fortunately for Josh Beckett--and unfortunately for CC Sabathia--it wasn't starting strong that mattered Thursday, but finishing strong.
While Beckett never quite found his command--he would hit two more batters in the game--he did manage to record outs, and brought down a high pitch count by the middle innings. He would not allow another run in his seven innings of work, striking out six men and giving up just three more hits in his outing.
CC Sabathia seemed ready to outdo him as David Ortiz stepped to the plate to start the seventh, but found himself quickly derailed. On the second pitch of the inning, Ortiz picked up the rare ground ball hit to the right side. Sabathia's next pitch, a sinker to Jed Lowrie, wasn't far down enough and was rocketed past first and down the right field line. Nick Swisher ran over to field it, playing the ball to bounce off the wall, and fell to the ground as he tried to alter his course when it was clearly headed for the corner. Ortiz came all the way around to score, and Lowrie stood at third as the tying run.
While Swisher's fielding gaffe was certainly embarrassing, it's hard to blame much on the Yankees right fielder. Mike Cameron hooked a double hard into right field to tie the game, and was followed up by a well-hit line drive single from Jason Varitek moving him to third. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a seeing-eye single into right, and the Red Sox had the lead with just one out in the seventh.
Still, there was more to come. While Marco Scutaro was robbed of a hit on a smashed drive to left by Brett Gardner, Adrian Gonzalez bounced one up the middle for a single, Kevin Youkilis lined a base hit to left, and then David Ortiz brought them both home to score by planting one off the wall in dead center. By the time the inning was over, seven Red Sox had come around to score, giving Boston a commanding 7-2 lead. From there, the two sides would only exchange runs in the ninth, leaving the Red Sox the victors.
Red Sox and Yankees seem to be dropping like flies these days. We've seen Mark Teixeira drop like a sack of rocks after taking a pitch to the knee. Francisco Cervelli found himself suffering in a rather more sensitive area in Wednesday's game, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia missed said game entirely with what has been described as "violent vomiting," and now on the same day that Dustin Pedroia has his knee examined to determine whether surgery is necessary, Joba Chamberlain is headed for Tommy John Surgery.
At this point, both sides will just be happy to get out of New Yankee Stadium intact.
Of course, the Red Sox wouldn't mind leaving with their second road sweep of the Bronx Bombers this year to go with a six-game winning streak and a two-game lead over the American League East.
Here's who they will rely on to get the job done--weather permitting:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Marco Scutaro, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Jed Lowrie, SS
7. Carl Crawford, LF
8. Mike Cameron, RF
9. Jason Varitek, C
--Josh Beckett, SP
The Yankees respond with:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Curtis Granderson, CF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Jorge Posada, DH
8. Brett Gardner, LF
9. Francisco Cervelli, C
--C.C. Sabathia, SP
This will be the third matchup between C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett this year. So far, things have gone entirely the Red Sox' way. Beckett seems to really take it to the next level against New York, having recorded 14 innings of scoreless ball with 19 strikeouts and 3 walks in the first two games. The same cannot be said for C.C. Sabathia. While he held the Sox to just one run the first time around, he failed to finish the sixth inning, taking the loss. The second time around he almost finished the seventh, though he can hardly be proud of the six earned runs he picked up in the process.
The Sox have gone with as righty-heavy lineup as they can manage. They can only hope it will have the same results as before.
The Red Sox will be without the services of Dustin Pedroia in Thursday night’s game against the Yankees, as according to Pete Abraham the second baseman will be returning to Boston to have his knee examined. If the results aren’t favorable, Pedroia has indicated that he could need surgery that would sideline him for at least a month.
Team officials have been quick to respond to the small ensuing media frenzy, saying that Pedroia overplayed the likelihood of surgery and that the team is just being cautious. While the injured knee is the same one which gave Pedroia difficulties in 2010, this injury is apparently a new one from a game against the Orioles back in May 16.
The injury may have been re-aggravated in the process of turning a double play in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 11-6 win over the New York Yankees. Francisco Cervelli slid in attempting to break the play up, forcing Pedroia to make a jump throw to first, coming down hard afterwards.
The Red Sox knocked A.J. Burnett and the Yankees bullpen around for 11 runs Wednesday night, seizing sole possession of the best record in both the AL East and the American League as a whole.
Wednesday's game began much as Tuesday's game had: with a three-run first for the Red Sox. This time, however, it was Jacoby Ellsbury leading off not with a home run, but a single. He would steal second, advance to third when Francisco Cervelli's throw to second missed its mark, and then scored on an Adrian Gonzalez ground out.
Burnett could have escaped trouble there with the bases empty and two outs, but he walked Kevin Youkilis, and up came David Ortiz. The Red Sox' resurgent DH fought a seven pitch battle with Burnett, running the count full. Then came the eighth pitch: flat, fast, and right down the middle. Ortiz didn't miss, drilling it into the bullpen in right-center field for his fifteenth home run of the year.
The Red Sox did not let up. After a 1-2-3 first inning from Tim Wakefield, Marco Scutaro led off the frame with an infield single to Derek Jeter, and then advanced to third much the same way Ellsbury had in the first, coming home on J.D. Drew's sacrifice fly.
It was in the fourth, though, that things really got out of control. Still leading 4-0, the Red Sox put two men on with nobody out, and then loaded the bases with one out on an intentional walk to J.D. Drew. The Yankees got the groundball they wanted from catcher Jason Varitek, but Robinson Cano had to charge the softly hit ball, and could only flip to second for the lone out, with Varitek beating out the throw as David Ortiz scored from third. The failure to record that out would be costly, as Jacoby Ellsbury slapped a hard RBI double to right field to score Carl Crawford, and Dustin Pedroia followed him up with an infield single, again to Derek Jeter to make the score 7-0.
Tim Wakefield would give up a homer to Alex Rodriguez to put the Yankees on the board in the fourth, but it wasn't until the fifth that the Yankees made a game of things. After walking Eduardo Nunez to start the inning off on the wrong foot, Wakefield gave up back-to-back hits to Francisco Cervelli and Derek Jeter, and then a sacrifice fly to Mark Teixeira to bring around three runs, making in 7-4.
The Sox struck again in the sixth, chasing A.J. Burnett from the game and drawing a bases loaded walk to build the lead back to four runs, but the Yankees responded in kind, making Terry Francona turn to Alfredo Aceves with two men on. A pair of singles later, and it was back to three runs at 8-5.
That was as far as the Yankees would go, though. Aceves induced a huge bases loaded double play from Derek Jeter, then kept New York's bats quiet for the next two innings, leading to a decisive ninth inning which saw homers from Carl Crawford and J.D. Drew put the game well away by giving the Sox their final tally of 11 runs. The Yankees tallied a meaningless score in the ninth, but Aceves finished them off by getting Alex Rodriguez to ground out to short, earning the rare 3+ inning save in the process.
The Red Sox aim to make it five straight wins Wednesday night against the Yankees with an unusual pair of batterymates. Jason Varitek will be behind the plate tonight, playing catcher despite the presence of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on the mound.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the lineup the question has to be whether there's going to be any retaliation for Jon Lester's plunkfest on Tuesday.
Boston Red Sox (34-26)
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Carl Crawford, LF
7. Marco Scutaro, SS
8. J.D. Drew, RF
9. Jason Varitek, C
--Tim Wakefield, SP
The Yankees will have Mark Teixeira back in the lineup after he missed all but a few pitches of his start Tuesday, leaving the game after becoming one of the victims of Lester's aforementioned wild night. Alex Rodriguez will DH, while Eduardo Nunez gets the start at third.
New York Yankees (33-25)
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Curtis Granderson, CF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, DH
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Brett Gardner, LF
8. Eduardo Nunez, 3B
9. Francisco Cervelli, C
--A.J. Burnett, SP
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. The game will be broadcast on NESN, YES, and ESPN.
The Red Sox defeated the Yankees 6-4 Tuesday, improving their record against their arch-rivals to 6-1 on the year, and reclaiming a share of first place in the AL East.
The tone against starter Freddy Garcia was set early on by Jacoby Ellsbury, who took the fifth pitch of the game-a splitter at the very bottom of the strike zone-and smashed it about ten rows into the stands in right field. Garcia's offerings on the night would best be described as batting practice were it not for his inability to find the zone consistently, as evidenced by Dustin Pedroia's ensuing walk. Adrian Gonzalez received a changeup slightly higher than Ellsbury's splitter, and bounced it off the bottom of the wall in center field for a triple. Kevin Youkilis very nearly went long himself, but ended up with just a sacrifice fly for his efforts.
With Garcia escaping any further harm in the inning, Jon Lester came out and showed he wasn't going to be that much better. Completely lacking control of his cutter, Lester walked Curtis Granderson and then hit Mark Teixeira hard on his right knee, knocking him out of the game. The Yankees would only score once in the inning on a Robinson Cano flair to center as Lester got some help from Kevin Youkilis, who made a nice play to his left with the bases loaded to provide the third out.
Unlike Lester, however, Garcia would not so much as make it out of the second inning, allowing a two-out double to Dustin Pedroia to build the Red Sox' lead back up to three runs. Still, the inning proved to be a missed opportunity as Luis Ayala got Kevin Youkilis to fly out with the bases loaded to end the threat.
From there, both staffs seemed to settle down some, exchanging zeroes until the fifth inning. The first mistake came from Hector Noesi, who really saved the Yankees' bullpen with six effective innings out of the pen. Well, five effective innings and one ineffective one. With Adrian Gonzalez on first, Noesi tried to come inside on David Ortiz, but left the ball in Ortiz' wheelhouse. The ball left the yard in a hurry, with Papi flipping his bat nonchalantly away as he started his trip around the bases.
Lester wasted no time giving the runs right back in the bottom of the inning, however, giving up singles for Jorge Posada (in since the first for Mark Teixeira) and Russell Martin to set up a two-run, two-out double from Nick Swisher.
Bobby Jenks came on for the seventh, but left with a 3-1 count to his first batter after injuring himself on what looked like a fairly normal delivery. Matt Albers came in and got the job done however, setting up Daniel Bard for an incredibly easy inning. Things were rather more difficult for Jonathan Papelbon, however, who gave up a walk to Brett Gardner and a single to (who else but) Jorge Posada to set up Alex Rodriguez as the tying run at home. Papelbon would emerge victorious, however, getting Rodriguez to chase a 97 MPH fastball away for the strikeout to end the game.
The Red Sox will head to New York for a three-game set against their arch-rivals the Yankees Tuesday.
So far this year, the matchup has been dominated by the Red Sox, who hold a 5-1 record against New York. Entering New Yankee Stadium trailing New York by just a game in the A.L. East, the Sox will be looking to continue this trend and gain at least a share of first place in the division after giving it away with a four-game losing streak to end their marathon of games in May.
The good news for the Red Sox is that they set up their rotation with this series in mindt. The bad news is that even the best laid of plans sometimes go awry.
Tuesday, June 7, 7:05 p.m.
NESN/MLBN
Jon Lester (7-2, 3.94 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (4-4, 3.34 ERA)
Just when Sox fans thought it was safe to get excited about a Jon Lester start again, the lefty allowed seven earned runs to the White Sox in under six innings. So maybe May was the new April this year. Hopefully that makes June the new May. In his last start against the Yankees (in, of course, May), Lester allowed four earned runs in six innings.
Freddy Garcia is having quite a year for himself, having never allowed more than four earned runs in an outing. If there's one team that's given him trouble, though, it's the lefty-heavy Red Sox, who took a run off of him in his first appearance out of the bullpen, and then five more (four earned) in a 5.1 inning outing in the very same game Lester allowed four.
Wednesday, June 8, 7:05 p.m.
NESN/ESPN
Tim Wakefield (2-1, 4.40 ERA) vs. A.J. Burnett (6-3, 3.86 ERA)
Here's where the plan went a bit off, as Clay Buchholz will be forced to miss his start against the Yankees due to lingering concerns over his back.
Both Tim Wakefield and A.J. Burnett appear to be experiencing something of a renaissance in their careers, with numbers that neither fan base could wholly expect coming into the year. Whether either starter's is sustainable is another question entirely.
For Wakefield, this year has been a perfect example of the coin flip nature of Wakefield. He's allowed eight runs once, four earned twice, and then one two-run appearance before you hit the ones and zeroes. Even looking at just his starts, the contrast is pronounced. Of course, that means that he's likely just one bad flip of the coin away from a much higher ERA.
Burnett is also getting by somewhat on luck, but his is the more conventional time. First there's the usual stuff, like the low BABIP, but there's also the fact that he's faced a lot of bad lineups, and tends to fair rather worse against the better ones. However, while the Red Sox certainly fit into that "better" category, with Burnett's reliance on off-speed pitches, his reverse splits could bother the Red Sox.
Thursday, June 9, 7:05 p.m.
NESN/MLBN
Josh Beckett (4-2, 2.01 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (7-3, 2.80 ERA)
Josh Beckett has been one of the best pitchers at putting up zeroes so far this year, but his recent performances leave some cause for concern. In his last four starts, Beckett has given up 13 walks while striking out just 18 batters. In his last game against Oakland, Beckett completely lost control of his fastball in the later innings. The good news is that the Yankees tend to bring out the best in Josh, who has 14 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts and only 3 walks against them so far this year.
His opponent in both matches, Sabathia, has been rather less impressive against the Red Sox, giving up six runs in 6.2 innings the last time the two teams faced eachother. Since then, though, he's been redefining the role of workhorse, throwing at least eight innings in each of his last four outings. The Sox will just hope that's tired him out more than gotten him on a roll.
MLB Standings: Boston Red Sox Holding Strong Atop American League East
by Gethin Coolbaugh
David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox have had quite the turnaround since their 2-11 start. Oritz, who now has 15 home runs, played a key role in Boston's three-game sweep of the rival New York Yankees, which resulted in a two-game lead over the Bronx Bombers in the AL East standings. Here are the complete MLB standings as of Friday morning.
American League East
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Jun 10 10:01a