Boston (42-41, 21-22 home) rallied once but they couldn't do it twice as Beckett and their bullpen let them down in a 10-8 series opening loss to New York (50-32, 25-16 away). The Red Sox lost their fourth straight game overall as they fell to 0-3 against the Yankees this season (all at Fenway).
This excruciating loss was a microcosm of the Red Sox' terrible first half: they got unexpected contributions from nobodies like Mauro Gomez (2 for 5, RBI) and Nick Punto (double, threw A-Rod out at home) but when it came time for a star to step up he didn't do it.
Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits, double, 2 runs, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 16 games but in the biggest at bat of the game, he couldn't produce. With runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, Yankees closer Rafael Soriano came in to face Gonzalez. The former Rays closer got Gonzalez to ground out then he had a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save of the season. That's Gonzalez in a nutshell: he puts up numbers that look good at first glance but when you see him up close every day, he is not that impressive. Well at least not this season.
The Red Sox wasted 14 hits by leaving nine guys on base. This wasn't the offense's fault though as Beckett, Andrew Miller and Vicente Padilla all failed to contain the Yankees. The Texas Toughguy had nothing to start and New York scored five runs on a bases-loaded walk to Robinson Cano (run, hit, RBI), Mark Teixeira's (2 runs, 2 hits, 4 RBIs) two-run single and sacrifice flies by Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez (2 hits, 2 RBIs).
Boston tied it on Ryan Kalish's sacrifice fly, Gonzalez's RBI double and Jarrod Saltalamacchia's three-run homer (his 17th of the season, a career-high).
A run scored on Rodriguez's (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases) ground out in the second but David Ortiz (3 hits, walk, run) made it 6-6 with an RBI single in the home half of the second.
With a day-night doubleheader looming tomorrow, both teams had no choice but to stick with their ineffective starters. They actually settled down and didn't allow any runs in the third or fourth which was shocking. Gomez's RBI single in the fifth gave the Red Sox their only lead at 6-5.
Ironically, as news of Ray Allen going to Miami broke in the seventh inning, Miller and Padilla decided to shit the bed. Miller walked Curtis Granderson (3 runs, 2 hits) and allowed an infield single to A-Rod. That was nothing compared to Teixeira greeting Padilla with a two-run triple which put the Yanks ahead for good. Raul Ibanez (2 hits, run) added an RBI double and Chavez's RBI single increased the margin to 10-7 New York.
Cody Ross blasted a solo homer (13th of the season) off Boone Logan (4-0) in the seventh but the Yankees bullpen was still able to outperform the Red Sox'. David Robertson struck out two in the eighth for his ninth hold of the season while Soriano struck out two of the three he faced in the ninth.
Matt Albers pitched a scoreless sixth but the most promising development in the loss for Boston's bullpen was Mark Melancon, who has been lights out since he returned from Pawtucket (hope Daniel Bard is watching). He only allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Franklin Morales (1-1) faces Phil Hughes (9-6) tomorrow afternoon (12:35 p.m., NESN) then Felix Doubront (8-4) opposes Freddy Garcia (2-2) in the nightcap (7:15 p.m., Fox). On paper, I feel (and hope) that the first game will be fast and low scoring with the exact opposite happening in the second game. We shall see. All I ask is that they go by a little more quickly and oh I don't know, maybe the Red Sox can win a game if that's not too much to ask.
UPDATE 7/7: The Red Sox recalled Clayton Mortensen for today's doubleheader.
Prior to Game 2, Ryan Sweeney was activated off the DL and he'll start in center field. Ryan Kalish is expected to be sent down to Pawtucket.
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