The Red Sox fell to the Yankees 10-8 Friday night thanks to a terrible start from Josh Beckett and a rocky seventh inning of relief.
To the great detriment of the pitchers, the first few innings were a game of copycat for the Sox and Yankees. Josh Beckett started things off in the first in disastrous fashion, allowing the first five batters of the inning to reach base, walking in one run, allowing two more to score on singles, and having a fourth and fifth come around on sacrifice flies before the terrible inning was over.
Amazingly enough, however, Kuroda was up to the task of copying that feat. A double, wild pitch, and sacrifice fly was enough to bring Daniel Nava home in the bottom of the first, but the bleeding didn't stop there. A single from David Ortiz, errant throw from Eric Chavez, and Adrian Gonzalez double were enough to put two men on with a second run in for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. And when Kuroda delivered a fastball into a left-handed hitter's wheelhouse, he was just asking for the tie game he received on Salty's long ball into the stands in right.
The Sox and Yankees would trade runs in the second before both Kuroda and Beckett surprisingly managed to start recording outs, including a good few strikeouts. Then, in the fifth, the Sox struck again, with Mauro Gomez pushing Adrian Gonzalez across after a leadoff single and wild pitch. The infielder's first major league RBI was good for the 7-6 lead.
The lead would hold for only one full inning. Then, in the top of the seventh, everything fell apart. Andrew Miller allowed a walk, had a runner reach on an Mike Aviles error-ruled-single, and then was pulled after recording the first out for Vicente Padilla to face Mark Teixeira, a pitcher who he has traditionally seen quite well. The result was fairly predictable, as Teixeira went down and out of the zone to launch a triple to the triangle, giving the Yankees an 8-6 lead.
Two more runs would score before the inning ended, leaving the Sox behind by three. While Cody Ross would get one right back with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the inning, the Sox saw their best chances to tie the game go by the wayside as Nick Punto struck out with two on in the seventh and Adrian Gonzalez grounded out in a similar situation to end the eighth. With Rafael Soriano picking up a 1-2-3 ninth, the Sox fell yet again.