Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: with Tim Wakefield on the mound, the opposing team turned small ball into large ball, scoring two runs without a single convincing hit.
On the very first Red Sox pitch of the game, Brett Gardner quickly tested old man Wakefield, laying down a bunt and reaching first. The Yankees’ outfielder quickly stole second, then moved to third as Derek Jeter replicated his at bat with a bunt of his own. The Yankees wouldn’t get another hit in the inning, but two more passed balls and a wild pitch later, and both runners had come around to score.
A.J. Burnett, meanwhile, has been all over the place, but getting results all-the-same. At the end of the day, knowing that Wakefield didn’t necessarily pitch that much worse than Burnett won’t be any comfort if they can’t score off the man.