The Red Sox got seven strong innings of work from Jon Lester and a two-run shot from Adrian Gonzalez as they evened their series against the Yankees with a 4-1 win.
Gonzalez' blast would come very early on, putting the Yankees in an immediate hole. After a single from Carl Crawford gave Gonzalez a chance in the first inning, he put a charge into a pitch low and away, taking it out into the stands in the opposite field and giving the Red Sox a quick 2-0 lead.
Jon Lester would appear shaky early, getting into trouble by letting the first two batters he faced reach base before getting out of it with a pair of strikeouts. He would give up a leadoff walk in the second inning as well, but managed to instantly erase the runner with a double play ball from Russell Martin.
The lone run Lester would allow would come later on a solo shot in the fourth off the bat of Curtis Granderson, but the double play ball was the real turning point in yet another impressive outing. Beyond the homer, the Yankees wouldn't have any real threats against Lester, who induced ground ball after ground ball to the left side, effectively working away from right-handers and utilizing his once-missing cutter to great effect against lefties. The seventh inning threat would again be provided by Curtis Granderson, who doubled to start the inning, but Lester was up to the task of retiring the side without allowing him to score.
By that point, the Sox had already managed to increase their lead back to two runs, as Pedro Ciriaco and Nick Punto put together a single and triple (respectively) to respond instantly to Granderson's homer in the top of the fifth. It was just one instance of the duo frankly dominating the game. Punto would only collect the one hit, and while he also drew a walk it was really his work with the glove that earned him praise today, scooping up everything that was hit near him and making a few flashy plays along the way. Ciriaco, for his part, just had another four-hit game against the Yankees.
Ciriaco would score the one run in the fifth, and contribute to a ninth-inning insurance run as well. With Andrew Bailey, Craig Breslow, and Alfredo Aceves recording the last six outs, the Red Sox took a feel-good win Saturday afternoon.
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