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.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Patriots Keep Making Moves, Set to Sign Andre Carter

This is the most unique time in NFL history since the entire league year has been condensed into a much shorter amount of the calendar.

After signing defensive end Mark Anderson on Friday and defensive tackle Shaun Ellis earlier on Sunday, reports surfaced on Sunday night that the New England Patriots had signed another piece to its defensive line: free agent defensive end Andre Carter.

Welcome to 2011 where Carter announced the news on his Twitter page (@mr_carter99) saying "I am proud to announce that I will be playing for the New England Patriots for the 2011 season. Thanks you for your prayers and support."

With that simple message, the Pats have picked up another player that could potentially play a big role. Now New England's lack of a pass rusher in its 2011 draft class or earlier in free agency doesn't look so bad huh?

Out of the University of California, Carter is 32-years-old and a former first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers. After five seasons in the Bay (2001-05), he's spent the last five seasons with the Washington Redskins (2006-10) so needless to say, he's probably looking forward to playing for a team that's not terrible and/or a complete mess.

Much like Ellis, one of Carter's greatest assets seems to be his durability. In his 10 NFL seasons, he's played in all 16 games seven times (including the last six seasons). He must have been seriously hurt in 2004 because he only played seven games but other than that, he's played 15 in two others and 16 in the rest.

In 149 career games including 133 starts, Carter has amassed 442 total tackles (340 solo, 102 assists), 66.0 sacks, 15 forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. He's been in double-digits for sacks three times: 12.5 in 2002 with San Francisco, 10.5 in 2007 with Washington and 11.0 in 2009 in Washington.

Bill Belichick can talk all he wants about how the defensive alignment isn't important but these recent moves (coupled with the addition of Albert Haynesworth) seems to underline the fact that the Patriots will be playing more 4-3 this season than 3-4. With that in mind, Carter is more of a natural fit in a 4-3 in a outside linebacker/defensive end role.

Best of all, these pickups mean that Jermaine Cunningham can get more time to adjust to the rigors of the NFL entering his second season while Eric Moore won't be counted on as much as he was down the stretch last season.

There's also sources saying that New England will release safety Brandon McGowan on Monday. Stay tuned to see if that actually happens.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Patriots Add A Much Deeded Dose Of Swagger While Also Making The Jets Worse

Well it's good to see that Bill Belichick and the Patriots brass read Boston Bias because just like I suggested earlier in the week when they worked him out, they would be wise to sign Shaun Ellis.

Lo and behold, I wake up today to reports that the Patriots signed the former Jets captain and ultra-dependable defensive end to a 1-year deal pending a physical today.

I'll be honest, I love this move. Defensive end is by far New England's biggest weakness-in training camp, Jermaine Cunningham and Eric Moore have been the starters in a 4-3-so this makes that position much less of a liability assuming Ellis is healthy.

The 6-foot-5, 290 pound Ellis was a first-round pick of the Jets in 2000 (12th overall out of Tennessee) and he's a two-time Pro Bowler. He's played in 16 games in seven of his 11 pro seasons, never missing more than three games in a season. He's only missed six in his entire career.

In 170 career games, he has 552 tackles overall, 382 solo tackles + 170 assists, 72.5 sacks (3 most in Jets history), 13 forced fumbles, five fumble returns and one interception.

2003 and 2004 were his best individual seasons with 12.5 and 11.0 sacks respectively (his only double-digit sack totals).

He's 34-years-old and while he's slowed down a bit the past two seasons (53 total tackles, 6.5 sacks in 2009 and 36 total tackles, 4.5 sacks in 2010), he'll bring some great veteran experience after having gone to the last two AFC Championship teams.

Most importantly, this move not only makes the Patriots better but it takes away a key piece from the Jets' admittedly awesome defense. In short, I love this move and if Fat Albert can get motivated and in shape, New England could potentially have one of its best defensive lines ever.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Red Sox Own That Fat Blob CC Sabathia This Season

I had to make a cameo appearance at an engagement party so I missed most of the Red Sox-Yankees game yesterday afternoon, except for the first couple innings on the radio and a couple frantic checks of my Droid.

So while I didn't see much of it (I did watch the highlights last night), I felt it my duty to report on the result since it was rather insane.

The Red Sox (69-43) beat CC Sabathia (16-6) for the fourth time this season in a 10-4 romp at Fenway Park over the Yankees (69-43).

It's hard to gauge which is more unlikely, that Boston has owned Sabathia (the AL Cy Young favorite) so much or that John Lackey (10-8) beat him yesterday. The win meant that the teams have the same exact record and therefore tonight's game (weather permitting) will determine who leaves town in first place in the AL East.

The other huge storyline was the continued ascendancy to superstardom of Jacoby Ellsbury. He had a career-high six RBIs (first Red Sox leadoff man to do that since Ellis Burks (!) in 1987) in the win.

Some other wacky stats from this weird game: Carl Crawford was 4 for 4 with three runs, an RBI and a stolen base (he's reached base in six straight at bats) while Francisco Cervelli led the Yankees with three hits.

In six innings, Sabathia was tagged for seven earned runs on nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He'll likely face the Red Sox a few more times in the regular season (2 more series) before the playoffs but it has to give Boston plenty of confidence knowing they can beat New York's ace.

Lackey or Big Hoss as El Pres has dubbed him went six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. It was the fifth straight decision that he's won.

The Red Sox went up 2-0 in the third on Ellsbury's sacrifice fly that scored Crawford and Dustin Pedroia's RBI double off the Monster that plated Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2 runs, 2 walks).

New York tied it up with a pair of runs in the fourth. A run scored on Nick Swisher's double play grounder and Eric Chavez (still alive and sporting a ridiculous moustache) hit an RBI single.

Boston scored five more times in the fourth. Crawford and Marco Scutaro had RBI singles which set it up for Ellsbury's big fly, a three-run bomb (his 19th of the season) to the first row of seats in right field.

The Yankees cut it to 7-4 as Derek Jeter had an RBI single in the fifth and Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer off Daniel Bard in the eighth.

Ellsbury added an RBI single in the eighth and Pedroia capped it off with a sacrifice fly.

If the rain lets up, Josh Beckett will face Freddy Garcia tonight in the series finale on Sunday Night Baseball. Beckett has absolutely owned the Yanks this season while Garcia has gotten roughed up in both his starts against the Red Sox this season. Boston looks to win the series and improve to 10-2 in 2011 against their biggest rivals.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Yankees Win Eighth Straight, Take Over AL East Lead

Well it's officially on, the Boston Red Sox are now looking up at the New York Yankees.

The Bombers (69-42) came to Fenway Park for a three-game series and opened it up with a tidy 3-2 win tonight over the Red Sox (68-43).

With it, New York cut the season series to 8-2 in favor of Boston and more importantly, the eighth straight win for the Yanks vaulted them to the top of the AL East for the first time in nearly a month.

The pitching matchup was Bartolo Colon vs. Jon Lester, one that clearly favors the Red Sox but that's not how it turned out unfortunately.

Boston did a nice job of getting the injected/juiced up Colon out in the fifth inning but that led to five Yankees reliever combining for 4.1 scoreless frames. Colon went 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Boone Logan (3-2) came on to get Adrian Gonzalez (0 for 4) to strikeout with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning. Not surprisingly, that turned out to be a pivotal moment as New York handcuffed the Red Sox offense from there while they got all the runs they needed in the sixth.

Jacoby Ellsbury had driven in Marco Scutaro with a wall ball double in the third while David Ortiz crushed his 21st homer of the season in the fourth for Boston's two runs.

Curtis Granderson started New York's rally with an RBI single that plated Eduardo Nunez. With the bases loaded and no outs, Lester got Robinson Cano to ground into a double play (with the tying run coming across). Nick Swisher (2 hits) came through with the go-ahead RBI, a ground-rule double down the left field line.

Lester (11-5) was on for a while until his pitch count started to get really high in the sixth and he couldn't find the plate while the Yankees patient lineup waited him out. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Logan earned the win by going an inning. Something named Cory Wade got the last out of the sixth which set it up perfectly for Rafael Soriano (seventh), David Robertson (eighth) and Mariano Rivera (ninth). That's a formidable late-innings trio for New York.

After Ortiz grounded out, Carl Crawford (2 hits) got an infield hit against Rivera but the greatest closer in MLB history calmly struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick (2 hits)-both looking at nasty cutters-to end it and gain his 29th save of the season. Rivera has 15 straight years of 25+ saves.

CC Sabathia faces John Lackey tomorrow afternoon in what can only be described as a lock for the Yankees. Barring something crazy (Bigfoot, UFOs landing on the field, Sabathia skipping the game to pig out at Legal Sea Foods all day), this does not look good on paper for the Red Sox. However, the reverse lock might be in effect here too. We'll probably know quickly as Lackey is likely to give up about eight runs in the first two innings.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Ray Anderson Is the Newest Patriot

A day can't go by anymore without the Patriots kicking the tires on a free agent defensive lineman/outside linebacker in their never ending quest to beef up their front seven.

This morning, New England signed Mark Anderson, a defensive end who was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2006. He played for the Bears until last Oct. 5 when he was released and signed with the Houston Texans the next day. He ended up playing 11 games (2 starts) for Houston.

He's 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds and he went to the University of Alabama. I don't know much about him at all but I'm going to assume he uses his speed to get to the quarterback since he's on the smaller side. Anderson had 12 sacks for Chicago in his rookie year but he hasn't had more than five (2007) since then which tells me he was just a flash in the pan. Last season, he ended up with four sacks.

Anderson has started in 20 of 77 games, totaling 154 total tackles, 25.5 sacks, seven passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He has also played in three postseason games, including Super Bowl XLI.

At practice this afternoon, he's wearing #95. Don't be surprised if he's cut during the preseason since it appears like he's how you say, not very good. Then again, there's always a player or two that is completely unknown that makes the 53-man roster once the regular season starts.

The team cut defensive lineman Marlon Favorite to make room on the roster for Anderson.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Could Channing Crowder Be A Patriot?

As I said yesterday when the Patriots worked out former Jets captain Shaun Ellis, the names that appear at Gillette Stadium get crazier by the day.

This morning I woke up to a tweet from ESPN's John Clayton that said New England had brought in former Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder for a physical. There's no need to get too excited or worried about that note since a physical is the most minor of examinations when you're checking out a free agent.

It is notable to see one of the Dolphins' best defensive players in town though. After going to the University of Florida, Crowder was a third-round pick of Miami in 2005 and he has played in 82 regular season games with 74 starts.

He's always been one of the more brash and outspoken Dolphins (he'd be a much better fit on the Jets or Steelers in that regard) but the guy can also back it up with his play on the field, he's very talented.

What's next, a former Buffalo Bill coming in for a workout or physical? Oh wait, there's nobody on the Bills that the Pats or anyone else would ever want except their punter Brian Moorman (one of the best in the NFL).

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet