It was a mixed bag at Fenway Park today as the Red Sox (43-42, 22-23 home) were lifeless in Game 1 and lost 6-1 to the Yankees (51-33, 26-17 away) before winning the nightcap 9-5.
Boston snapped a five-game losing streak with the win while also notching their first victory against New York this season (improving to 1-4) and going above the .500 mark once again.
The patchwork Red Sox lineup that could only manage seven hits in the opener mashed 17 hits (6-for-17 with runners in scoring position with 12 left on base) in the second game. The crazy part was that Pedro Ciriaco (4 for 5, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 2 runs, stolen base) and Mauro Gomez (3 for 4, 2 doubles, RBI) aka Triple-A All-Stars this season with Pawtucket were the catalysts. Adrian Gonzalez was also 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs as his hit streak went up to 18 games.
In the three games so far this series, New York has scored five, four and three runs respectively in the first inning. I'm no Dave Duncan but Boston might want to fix that. Mark Teixeira blasted a three-run bomb (his 15th of the season) tonight in the first.
From there, Felix Doubront (9-4) found a rhythm while conversely Phil Hughes (9-7) slowly crumbled. The Yankees didn't help themselves out either by making four errors. Doubront went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits with six strikeouts and a walk. Hughes lasted 5.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on 10 hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
Boston chipped away at the three-run deficit with single runs in third and fifth on a double play and Nick Punto's (2 hits) sacrifice fly. Ciriaco put the Red Sox up 5-3 with a bases-clearing three-run double in the fifth. Andruw Jones (10th of the season) hit a solo homer in the sixth, his third blast of the day, to draw the Yankees within one run at 5-4.
The Red Sox scored four runs in the seventh as New York's bullpen had a mini-meltdown. Ryan Sweeney (1st game back from the DL) had an RBI triple while Gomez and Ciriaco had RBI doubles. Ciriaco closed it out by scoring on Russell Martin's error.
Matt Albers got the final two outs of the seventh and Vicente Padilla was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam (Clayton Mortenen's fault) with one out to end the eighth for his 19th save of the season. Padilla retired Jones on a pop up to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez did the same exact thing.
Eric Chavez hit a solo shot (his 7th of the season) in the ninth against Alfredo Aceves, in a non-save situation, but it didn't matter.
Game 1 was truly nothing to write home about. Just like in Game 2, New York scored all of its run thanks to homers. Nick Swisher hit a three-run blast (13th of the season) in first followed by Jones. The Yankees went back-to-back again in the fourth with Jones and Jayson Nix (3rd of the season) doing the honors with solo shots. Gomez helped the Red Sox avoid the shutout with an RBI single in the fourth.
Freddy Garcia had a great outing that should come with an asterisk since he was facing a lineup that featured Ciriaco, Gomez, Ryan Kalish (sent down to Pawtucket afterwards to make room for Sweeney), Mike Aviles, Kelly Shoppach and Brent Lillibridge. In 6.2 innings, Garcia (3-2) allowed one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Franklin Morales (1-2) wasn't nearly so lucky as he faced a good Yankees lineup and as a result, got shelled for the first time in four starts. Bobby Valentine's strange decision to have him pitch 1.1 innings of relief in Oakland on Wednesday probably didn't help anybody (besides New York).
Justin Germano won the Tim Wakefield memorial mop-up duty award as he saved Boston's bullpen (which came in handy) with 5.2 innings of relief following Morales. Not a bad Red Sox debut as he struck out seven and didn't allow a run on five hits and two walks.
More than probably any other Sunday Night Baseball game this season (I bet it does huge ratings), everyone will be tuned in tomorrow night (8:05 p.m., ESPN) for the series finale as Jon Lester (5-5) faces Ivan Nova (9-3).
It is the final game before the All-Star break so please savor it since Home Run Derby and the silly All-Star Game are basically cruel jokes staged by ESPN and Fox. The Red Sox will be looking for a series split while also getting to .500 at Fenway and staying above .500 overall. That doesn't sound like much but to this self-destructive team, it would mean more than they would care to admit.
UPDATE 7/8: Clayton Mortensen was sent down to Pawtucket after the doubleheader. The Red Sox were able to add a 26th player (him) to the roster for the two games on Saturday.
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment