The Red Sox have taken an early 6-4 on the New York Yankees, taking advantage of a five-run second inning off of Phil Hughes.
John Lackey's two-run first inning was the result of a bit of controversy, after what seemed to be a cut-and-dry called third strike to lead-off man Brett Gardner went for a ball, leading to a walk. This proved costly when Robinson Cano hit a two-out double to score both Gardner and Alex Rodriguez.
Dustin Pedroia responded quickly, collecting his first home run of the year by knocking one into the first row on the Green Monster. Other than that, though, the top of the Sox' lineup was relatively quiet for the rest of the inning.
Then came the second. After Lackey allowed another run to the Yankees, the Sox' offense finally came alive in the way fans have been waiting for. Three straight singles from J.D. Drew, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Jacoby Ellsbury loaded the bases. Marco Scutaro brought in the team's second run on a groundout, and three more singles from Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, and David Ortiz plated four more to give the Sox a 6-4 lead.
Bartolo Colon entered to start the third inning, and did a pretty impressive job of shutting down the Sox in the bottom of the third after Lackey gave up a fourth run to start the inning. It's 6-4 after three, and neither side seems ready to let up just yet.