The Boston Red Sox came into town demoralized and in the absolute pits as far as the AL East standings were concerned, and instead of sending them further into the basement, the Yanks allowed a flicker of light to ignite their lamp. By the time the Red Sox left town, they were back at .500, facing an optimistic 10-game homestand, and had found themselves a new bonafide Yankee nemesis.
With the return of Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedrioa and big-contract bust Carl Crawford to the Red Sox lineup, they still weren't at full strength with DH David Ortiz on the 15-day DL. They had to face Phil Hughes in the first game, and beside three solo homeruns, the Yankee right-hander deprived Boston of any prolonged rallies. The same couldn't be said of Boston starter Aaron Cook; the Yankees smacked him for 3 runs in the 1st inning after Boston had seized a 1-0 lead, capped off by a Raul Ibanez line-drive homer into the right field stands. The next blow came from Russell Martin, a 2-run shot in the 4th that made it 6-3 at that point. David Robertson worked a clean 8th inning and held the game for what would've been a save situation in the 9th, but Curtis Granderson gave Soriano the night off by crushing a grandslam in the bottom of the inning off of former Yankee farm hand Mark Melancon. Hughes went 7 innings and struck out five while only walking one batter. With the win, Hughes became the fourth Yankee starter with double-digit wins.
It was a battle of the hard-throwing lefties in the next game between Jon Lester for Boston and CC Sabathia for New York. For the second straight outing Sabathia wasn't his razor-sharp self and fell behind 3-0 in the 1st inning courtesy of RBI doubles from Will Middlebrooks and Adrian Gonzalez. To the amazement of all, Chris Stewart poked his first homerun of the season (and likely forever) to left off of Lester in the 3rd to cut it to 3-1 Boston. The joy was short-lived as Sabathia served up a 3-run homer to Gonzalez in the 5th to make it 6-1 in favor of the Sox.
With a homer-happy park and the Yankee lineup, they're never out of a game. In the second amazement shot of the night, Jayson Nix responded with a 2-run homer to cut the lead in half at 6-3, and after adding another run to make it 6-4, a huge moment came in the bottom of the 8th with a man on and Mark Teixeira up to bat against his hated former-teammate Vicente Padilla. Teixeira once again got the better of Padilla and hit a 2-run bomb to tie the game at 6-6 and cap off the Yankee comeback. The Yankees weren't able to tack on any more runs in the inning and it would haunt them soon enough. In the top of the 9th, as per the usuality of baseball, the homefield closer Rafael Soriano was brought into the tied game and committed the sin of walking the lead off hitter. Then, Pedro Ciriaco, who tortured the Yankees in their only loss to Boston a few weeks ago at Fenway with a 4-hit game, landed another blow by hitting a ball to center which the usually reliable Curtis Granderson misplayed and got tripped up that allowed Ciriaco to reach third base and put Boston up 7-6. Pedroia would later get Ciriaco in on a sac fly to increase the lead to 8-6. There would be no dramatic homers this time for the Yanks as they took their second loss to Boston of the season.
Boston had .500 within their grasp and only need the take the final game in order to reach it. Felix Dubront, the young Boston lefty who stymied the Yankees in his two previous outings against them, was just as impossible to score off. Nick Swisher was back in the lineup after resting his hip, and early on his singles were the only pinstripe action. The Yankees were kept off the board until the 8th inning when Russell Martin stepped up and slapped a solo homer to the opposite field to make it 2-1 Boston. Both Red Sox runs came in the top of the 2nd thanks to a Ryan Sweeney double that the slow-footed Andruw Jones couldn't field properly that allowed both runners to score. From there Hiroki Kuroda put a clamp down on any further scoring. Martin took Kuroda off the hook by slapping a single in his next at-bat in the 8th which tied the game at 2. Despite pitching the night-before and had just given up the game tying hit to Martin, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine stuck with Alfredo Aceves in the 9th and it nearly cost him the game as Curtis Granderson put a charge into one that made it to the warning track in right.
With Soriano had already gone in the 9th and not given up a run this time, it was David Robertson's turn to hold down the fort, and the sin bug must be spreading in the Yankee bullpen because he too walked the lead-off hitter. A controversial play game soon after when Will Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch while attempting to bunt, at least that is what the umpires declared. This put Middlebrooks in a 0-2 against strikeout artist Robertson, but on the very next pitch after the rhubarb in which Valentine and even Josh Beckett on the bench were tossed from the game, Robertson laid in an easy fastball which Middlebrooks poked past Chavez at third for a single. Robertson would eventually get an out, but it caused a first and third situation with Pedro Ciriaco, the pest from the night before who hit the triple to put Boston ahead, at the dish. On the first pitch Ciriaco saw the ball jammed him, but he was able to bloop it into short right to burn the Yankees again for a 3-2 Boston lead. Aceves took the ball again for the bottom of the 10th, and with two outs, hit Swisher to put a runner on first and allowed Raul Ibanez to have a chance to win it with one swing. Instead of a dramatic homer, Ibanez would score a whimpering strikeout to end the game and hand the series to Boston.
60 wins is certainly a nice accomplishment for the season, but losing two playoff-intensity games to the Red Sox in late innings is a crushing blow. Next, another AL East foe, the Baltimore Orioles spring into town and the Yankees will surely be happy Pedro Ciriaco is leaving....
With the return of Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedrioa and big-contract bust Carl Crawford to the Red Sox lineup, they still weren't at full strength with DH David Ortiz on the 15-day DL. They had to face Phil Hughes in the first game, and beside three solo homeruns, the Yankee right-hander deprived Boston of any prolonged rallies. The same couldn't be said of Boston starter Aaron Cook; the Yankees smacked him for 3 runs in the 1st inning after Boston had seized a 1-0 lead, capped off by a Raul Ibanez line-drive homer into the right field stands. The next blow came from Russell Martin, a 2-run shot in the 4th that made it 6-3 at that point. David Robertson worked a clean 8th inning and held the game for what would've been a save situation in the 9th, but Curtis Granderson gave Soriano the night off by crushing a grandslam in the bottom of the inning off of former Yankee farm hand Mark Melancon. Hughes went 7 innings and struck out five while only walking one batter. With the win, Hughes became the fourth Yankee starter with double-digit wins.
It was a battle of the hard-throwing lefties in the next game between Jon Lester for Boston and CC Sabathia for New York. For the second straight outing Sabathia wasn't his razor-sharp self and fell behind 3-0 in the 1st inning courtesy of RBI doubles from Will Middlebrooks and Adrian Gonzalez. To the amazement of all, Chris Stewart poked his first homerun of the season (and likely forever) to left off of Lester in the 3rd to cut it to 3-1 Boston. The joy was short-lived as Sabathia served up a 3-run homer to Gonzalez in the 5th to make it 6-1 in favor of the Sox.
With a homer-happy park and the Yankee lineup, they're never out of a game. In the second amazement shot of the night, Jayson Nix responded with a 2-run homer to cut the lead in half at 6-3, and after adding another run to make it 6-4, a huge moment came in the bottom of the 8th with a man on and Mark Teixeira up to bat against his hated former-teammate Vicente Padilla. Teixeira once again got the better of Padilla and hit a 2-run bomb to tie the game at 6-6 and cap off the Yankee comeback. The Yankees weren't able to tack on any more runs in the inning and it would haunt them soon enough. In the top of the 9th, as per the usuality of baseball, the homefield closer Rafael Soriano was brought into the tied game and committed the sin of walking the lead off hitter. Then, Pedro Ciriaco, who tortured the Yankees in their only loss to Boston a few weeks ago at Fenway with a 4-hit game, landed another blow by hitting a ball to center which the usually reliable Curtis Granderson misplayed and got tripped up that allowed Ciriaco to reach third base and put Boston up 7-6. Pedroia would later get Ciriaco in on a sac fly to increase the lead to 8-6. There would be no dramatic homers this time for the Yanks as they took their second loss to Boston of the season.
Boston had .500 within their grasp and only need the take the final game in order to reach it. Felix Dubront, the young Boston lefty who stymied the Yankees in his two previous outings against them, was just as impossible to score off. Nick Swisher was back in the lineup after resting his hip, and early on his singles were the only pinstripe action. The Yankees were kept off the board until the 8th inning when Russell Martin stepped up and slapped a solo homer to the opposite field to make it 2-1 Boston. Both Red Sox runs came in the top of the 2nd thanks to a Ryan Sweeney double that the slow-footed Andruw Jones couldn't field properly that allowed both runners to score. From there Hiroki Kuroda put a clamp down on any further scoring. Martin took Kuroda off the hook by slapping a single in his next at-bat in the 8th which tied the game at 2. Despite pitching the night-before and had just given up the game tying hit to Martin, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine stuck with Alfredo Aceves in the 9th and it nearly cost him the game as Curtis Granderson put a charge into one that made it to the warning track in right.
With Soriano had already gone in the 9th and not given up a run this time, it was David Robertson's turn to hold down the fort, and the sin bug must be spreading in the Yankee bullpen because he too walked the lead-off hitter. A controversial play game soon after when Will Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch while attempting to bunt, at least that is what the umpires declared. This put Middlebrooks in a 0-2 against strikeout artist Robertson, but on the very next pitch after the rhubarb in which Valentine and even Josh Beckett on the bench were tossed from the game, Robertson laid in an easy fastball which Middlebrooks poked past Chavez at third for a single. Robertson would eventually get an out, but it caused a first and third situation with Pedro Ciriaco, the pest from the night before who hit the triple to put Boston ahead, at the dish. On the first pitch Ciriaco saw the ball jammed him, but he was able to bloop it into short right to burn the Yankees again for a 3-2 Boston lead. Aceves took the ball again for the bottom of the 10th, and with two outs, hit Swisher to put a runner on first and allowed Raul Ibanez to have a chance to win it with one swing. Instead of a dramatic homer, Ibanez would score a whimpering strikeout to end the game and hand the series to Boston.
60 wins is certainly a nice accomplishment for the season, but losing two playoff-intensity games to the Red Sox in late innings is a crushing blow. Next, another AL East foe, the Baltimore Orioles spring into town and the Yankees will surely be happy Pedro Ciriaco is leaving....
