The Red Sox are out to stop their losing streak at four games Saturday afternoon against Freddy Garcia and the Yankees.
Garcia had something of a bipolar relationship with the Sox last year, getting knocked around twice in the early going and shutting them down twice in the late going. Now, with both the Sox and the junkballer off to slow starts, Boston will hope that its his form that decides the outcome, because right now Boston is looking a lot like they did when Garcia was able to shut them down.
Meanwhile, the Sox will turn to Felix Doubront in hopes that he remains their good luck charm. The Red Sox have so far won both of the games he's started despite some mediocre results on the mound.
We'll keep you up-to-date as the action progresses in Fenway Park.
Yankees 15, Red Sox 9, Final -- The End
Yankees 15, Red Sox 9, Mid 9th -- Junichi Tazawa has recorded outs, and for that we can be thankful. Tazawa for closer!
Yankees 15, Red Sox 9, End 8th -- Now we just go through the motions, as a game that was over in the sixth is now over in the 8th, just in the other team's favor.
Yankees 15, Red Sox 9, Mid 8th -- With a second straight 7-run inning, it's fair to say that the wheels have fallen off. The Red Sox' bullpen has been left a smoldering ruin--perhaps not much worse than it started out as--with neither Franklin Morales nor Alfredo Aceves able to provide the scoreless outs the Sox needed.
This is a fundamentally broken team.
Yankees 8, Red Sox 9, End 7th -- It's clear now that whatever switch was stuck on for the Red Sox earlier was violently yanked back into its standard position somewhere between 9-1 and 9-8. Earlier in this game, with Jarrod Saltalamacchia leading off the inning with a double, the Sox team that was rolling through Yankees pitchers would never have left him standing there. Even if it was just a pair of productive outs, that run would come in to score.
Now, however, we have the Jekyll Sox, and the result is a groundout to the left side, a pop up into foul territory, and a strike out to end the inning. If we can be saved, it's likely going to be Franklin Morales and Alfredo Aceves to do it.
Yankees 8, Red Sox 9, Top 7th -- While everyone was watching Phil Humber, Vicente Padilla struck out Andruw Jones, loaded the bases, and then gave up a grand slam to Nick Swisher. After surrendering another double, Padilla was lifted for Albers, who promptly allowed a two-run shot to Mark Teixeira. Franklin Morales managed to keep the game at one run, but this...
This is just unbelievable.
Yankees 1, Red Sox 9, End 6th -- David Phelps gets through a scoreless inning despite a couple of singles, taking advantage of a double play as the nation turns its eyes to Phil Humber in Seattle.
Yankees 1, Red Sox 9, Mid 6th -- Felix Doubront records his first out of the year in the sixth inning or later, but also loses the shutout. After striking out both Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez to start the frame, Doubront gave Mark Teixeira a 2-1 fastball to hit, and had it taken up and over everything in left before getting Curtis Granderson to pop out to finish the inning.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 9, End 5th -- The Red Sox are back to scoring, with Cody Ross taking David Phelps very deep to center field after Jarrod Saltalamacchia's leadoff double. What Ross seems to lack in consistency, he makes up for in swagger. Plus, the on base percentage can only improve when bat flips are earning plunkings.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 7, Mid 5th -- Felix Doubront will have a chance to record his first out in the sixth inning today, as he manages to strand a pair of baserunners with a groundout from Nick Swisher. Featured in the inning was both Doubront's third walk and sixth strikeout.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 7, End 4th -- The Yankees have their first scoreless inning, despite a walk from David Ortiz with two outs. More importantly, Kevin Youkilis has been pulled from the game after taking a pitch to the knee/thigh in his last at bat. Youkilis ran the bases, but has been replaced by Nate Spears now. Hopefully Youkilis isn't injured just as he's starting to hit his stride, but if so, his replacement is ready-made. Will Middlebrooks hit his seventh homer in Triple-A today.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 7, Mid 4th -- Felix Doubront just seems to be getting stronger as the game goes on, recording his first 1-2-3 inning in impressive fashion, facing off against the best the New York lineup has to offer in Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Curtis Granderson, and finishing off the last two by way of the K. It did take him 16 pitches, but it wouldn't be a Doubront inning if he didn't work for it.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 7, End 3rd -- The feast or famine Red Sox offense is in feast mode today, putting together another couple of runs off of Clay Rapada and David Phelps.
After David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Jarrod Saltlamacchia loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batsman (if you need to be told which of the three was hit, you haven't been paying attention for the last five years), Darnell McDonald managed to lift a fly ball to center field deep enough for Ortiz to score from third. Now facing a two-out situation, Mike Aviles made good by finding a hole between first and second for an RBI single that scored Youkilis from second.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 5, Mid 3rd -- Felix Doubront has his pitch count under control after starting the third off with two outs on three pitches to Eduardo Nunez and Derek Jeter. Nick Swisher would reach base on a ground ball single through the left side of the infield, but Robinson Cano could not get all of a 1-1 curveball, lifting a long but uneventful fly ball to center field to end the inning.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 5, End 2nd -- Something is different about the Red Sox today. It's...hard to put my finger on it.
Oh, right, they're playing well so far. That's it.
The lead has grown from two runs to five, and Freddy Garcia has exited the game after recording just five outs.
The inning got off to a slow start with Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounding out weakly to first, and after getting ahead 0-2 to Cody Ross, Garcia may have felt optimistic about settling down for a nice, long outing. But then the traditional lefty-mashers got to work on the junkballing righty.
Working the count to 2-2, Cody Ross managed to get around on a fastball for a base hit to left. Darnell McDonald jumped on the second pitch he saw--a hanging slider--and knocked a ball off the Monster that could have left a normal park. With two men in scoring position, Mike Aviles dropped a line drive in front of Curtis Granderson to move McDonald to third and score Ross, giving the Sox a 3-0 lead.
Ryan Sweeney would only manage a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 as Nick Swisher made a difficult running grab. With Dustin Pedroia at bat, Aviles managed to steal second base, and Pedroia made Garcia pay for it, knocking another line drive to right for the RBI and ushering Freddy Garcia unceremoniously from the game.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 2, Mid 2nd -- Felix Doubront's pitch count difficulties continue in his third start, with the Yankees working some long at bats against him, but it's not entirely his fault. Doubront could have had a 1-2-3 inning were it not for what seems to have been a pretty terrible call on a 3-2 pitch to Andruw Jones that left him with a walk rather than his second strikeout of the game. He quickly made up for that by striking out Russell Martin, but it cost him another seven pitches.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 2, End 1st -- So far so good, with Freddy Gonzalez' slow stuff having the desired effect on the Boston lineup. After Mike Aviles managed to pull a pitch about six inches outside for a fly out, Ryan Sweeney protected the plate on a low 3-2 pitch and golfed it into left field to keep his hot streak going and give the Sox a runner in scoring position.
Dustin Pedroia couldn't bring the run across, popping up behind the plate for the second out, but Adrian Gonzalez was rather more successful. While the big swing he took on a 1-2 slider seemed to promise his third home run of the year, Gonzalez would have to settle for an RBI ground-rule double into the stands in right. Any disappointment was quickly erased, however, as David Ortiz beat the shift, rifling a hard ground ball down the left field line to bring Gonzalez home as well.
Yankees 0, Red Sox 0, Mid 1st -- Felix Doubront is through the first without damage, but not without trouble. Surrendering a leadoff hit to Derek Jeter after getting ahead 1-2, Doubront would quickly induce a double play ball to short. A walk to Robinson Cano prolonged the inning, with Doubront not doing a very good job of getting close to the zone, but Alex Rodriguez grounded out much like Nick Swisher had before him to end the inning.
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