Red Sox & Yankees Split Day-Night Doubleheader At Fenway Park

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.

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This Is Beyond Embarassing

Just when you thought things couldn't go any worse for the Boston Red Sox, they fell to 5-17 in September following a 9-1 blowout loss this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. That clinched homefield throughout the American League playoffs for the Bronx Bombers.

Jon Lester (15-9) has to be hurt since he made his third straight awful start in a row. 2.2 innings, eight earned runs, eight hits, one walk and three strikeouts is not exactly what Boston (88-69) needed from its ace.

The Rays and Angels both won tonight, meaning that Tampa Bay is only 1.5 games behind the Red Sox while Los Angeles is 2.5 games back in the AL Wild Card. Yeah, this probably won't end well.

If you need any further proof that something is up with Lester, Freddy Garcia (12-8) looked like Roy Halladay in comparison. I guess that's also an indictment on Boston's hit or miss lineup that they were blanked by Garcia for six innings. He allowed six hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

The wheels fell off for Lester and Boston in the second inning as New York (96-61) put up six runs. Jesus Montero started it with an RBI single, Russell Martin added a two-run single and Derek Jeter crushed a three-run opposite field shot in Williamsport East.

No Red Sox shitshow these days would be complete without mental errors and mistakes all of their own doing. Today Marco Scutaro couldn't throw to third (for a force) since Mike Aviles didn't break to the base. Also, former Gold Glover Carl Crawford dove but dropped a ball he should have had. Both plays came in the second inning; I'm not naive enough to say they were the difference in the game but damn, they didn't help.

Montero had a two-run double in the third and a solo homer in the sixth for a depressing 9-0 advantage.

Boston got on the board in the seventh with an RBI double from Crawford.

Tomorrow is a day-night doubleheader that when it's all said and done, could be the ugliest day of this suddenly going nowhere season. Tim Wakefield and A.J. Burnett duel in Game 1 at 1:05 p.m. with John Lackey and Ivan Nova wrapping it up at 6:30 p.m.

Thank God the Patriots and the rest of the NFL (minus the Cowboys and Redskins) are in action tomorrow cause I can't take much more of this. It's all over, the Red Sox are done. If Lester is hurt, they have absolutely no hope of doing anything. Game over.

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Josh Reddick's First Career Walk-Off Hit Sparks Red Sox' First Season Series Win Over Yankees Since 2004

Something about Sunday Night Baseball seems to bring out the drama for the Boston Red Sox.

While it's hard to top their 16-inning win over the Rays three weeks ago on July 17 (1-0 in Tampa Bay), tonight's 10-inning victory over the New York Yankees carried some extra significance for a couple reasons.

For starters, the 3-2 win at Fenway Park by the Red Sox (70-43) not only clinched the weekend series (2-1) and season series over New York (69-44)-it stands at 10-2 right now-but it put Boston back on top of the AL East by a game.

I'm not going to use the cliched term of magic but there was something in the foggy air as the Red Sox rallied for a run against the greatest closer in MLB history (Mariano Rivera) in the ninth to tie it 2-2 on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly (scoring Marco Scutaro).

Then Josh Reddick picked a fine time for his first MLB walk-off hit as his RBI single drove in pinch runner Darnell McDonald in the tenth against Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes (2-4). David Ortiz (2 hits) had started the sequence with a ground-rule double to right, McDonald pinch ran for him and then Hughes intentionally walked Carl Crawford (3 hits) to get to Reddick.

The loss would have been particularly tough to take since Josh Beckett pitched well but Boston kept leaving runners on base (12) against Freddy Garcia and four other Yankees relievers before finally getting to Rivera and Hughes.

Beckett got a no-decision but it's safe to say that he still has New York locked down this season. As useless as CC Sabathia is against the Red Sox in 2011, Beckett is the opposite against the Yankees. Tonight, he went six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Similar to Bartolo Colon on Friday, New York manager Joe Girardi didn't hesitate to get his overachieving starter out at the first sign of trouble. That sketchy strategy worked the first time but not the second time. It's hard to see it being successful in the playoffs either as the Yankees presumably will be relying heavily on their bullpen since outside of Sabathia who can they count on to go 6+ innings?

Garcia went five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Marco Scutaro (4 for 4) drove in Kevin Youkilis with an RBI single in the second, making it 1-0 Boston.

Beckett was dealing until Eduardo Nunez lost one just over the Monster in the fifth. Another very unlikely Yankee went deep as Brett Gardner (3 hits, 2 stolen bases) hit a solo homer off Matt Albers in the seventh.

That measly run figured to stand up as Rafael Soriano got a 1-2-3 seventh for New York and David Robertson likewise got a hold with a scoreless eighth.

Scutaro led off the ninth with a wall ball double that just miss being a homer to right against Rivera. Jacoby Ellsbury got him over to third despite a terrible bunt. Pedroia's sac fly tied it and the Red Sox were on their way.

After Albers and Franklin Morales (9 of his 12 pitches were balls; 2 walks but somehow no runs allowed) shaky relief, Dan Wheeler struck out the side in the seventh, Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth and Daniel Bard (2-5) got a 1-2-3 10th with two strikeouts for the eventual win.

There's only six more regular season games between these teams (3 in Boston Aug. 30-Sept. 1 and 3 in New York Sept. 23-25) but this latest marathon (4 hours, 15 minutes) proved that the Red Sox have the Yankees' number. As I alluded to in the headline, it's the first time since 2004 that Boston has won the season series against New York and who knows how long it's been since they clinched it so early on.

Boston heads out for three games in Minnesota followed by three in Seattle. They return for only two against Tampa Bay then hit the road again for four in Kansas City and four in Texas. Without a doubt, this is the toughest stretch of the season travel-wise for the Red Sox.

Tim Wakefield gets his third crack at 200 wins as he opposes Scott Baker of the Twins tomorrow night at Target Field. It's Boston's only visit to Minnesota this season, the Red Sox won three of four against the Twins on May 6-9 at Fenway.

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Red Sox continue to own the Yankees this season

I'm not going to assume that they'll keep this pace up but I'll simply state facts: the Boston Red Sox are now 6-1 vs. the New York Yankees this season after their 6-4 win at Yankee Stadium last night.

The win, in the series opener, is also Boston's (34-26) 11th in its last 14 against New York (33-25) going back to last season and it pulled the two teams into a deadlock atop the AL East.

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was the focus before the game since MLB handed down a three-game suspension to him for bumping an umpire in Saturday's marathon win. Of course he appealed, so he was in the bullpen last night and survived a rocky ninth (27 pitches, 1 earned run, 1 hit, 1 walk) for his 12th save of the season.

The save was extra special since it was the 200th of Papelbon's career and he did it in the shortest amount of time in MLB history (359 appearances). Yankees icon Mariano Rivera held the record with 200 saves in 382 games.

As required by law, the game was played at a snail's pace thanks to Freddy Garcia being himself and Jon Lester (8-2) continuing to scuffle.

Garcia (4-5) had nothing, leading Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy to speculate maybe he has a dead arm, and the Red Sox teed off. He lasted only 1.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Lester was fighting himself and his control all night. He hit two batters in the first, including Yankees star Mark Teixeira who left with after getting plunked on the knee. Lester lasted six innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

Boston put up three runs in the first, led by Jacoby Ellsbury's leadoff homer (his seventh of the season). Adrian Gonzalez drove in Dustin Pedroia with an RBI triple and Kevin Youkilis plated Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly.

Robinson Cano knocked in Curtis Granderson in the home half of the first with an RBI single.

Pedroia made it 4-1 with an RBI double in the second.

David Ortiz hit a two-run bomb (his 14th of the season) in the fifth off rookie Hector Noesi. It wouldn't be Red Sox-Yankees without some sort of fake controversy and Big Papi provided some fuel to the media's unwashed masses as he flipped his bat after the shot. I have no problem with that or if anyone else on any other team does it. Baseball has too many unwritten dumb rules. The game needs more personality, not less.

Nick Swisher cut it to 6-3 with a two-run double in the fifth. Jorge Posada (3 hits), who came in for Teixeira, had an RBI single in the ninth.

Tonight's pitching matchup features two complete wild cards: Tim Wakefield goes for the Red Sox against A.J. Burnett of the Yankees. All I know is that once the clock turns to 8, I'll be watching the Stanley Cup Finals (Bruins vs. Canucks, Game 4). I'll only turn back to the baseball game during commercial breaks and intermission.

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