Red Sox Report: Yanks Grab The Rubber Game
Friday, September 02, 2011
11-4. That is the Red Sox record this season against the New York Yankees. With a 3-game series in New York slated for September 23-25, the Red Sox still have a few opportunities to add to that win total. In case you're wondering, the last time that Boston won 12 regular season games against New York was in 1973 when they went 14-4 against the Yankees. Boston outscored New York by 40 runs that season 84-44. After Thursday’s loss, the Sox have outscored the Yankees 88-60.
What does all this mean in the grand scheme of things? Nothing. For these two teams will be measured by how they perform in the postseason and nothing else.
-While Boston has clearly had the upper hand in this season series against New York, the Yankees leave town feeling somewhat good about themselves. First, the were able to get CC Sabathia a win against Boston for the first time this season. They also did a good job of getting Jon Lester's pitch count up chasing him from of the game after only 5 innings. That allowed them to get into the Boston bullpen where they did dammage against both Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard. In addition, they got a solid start from AJ Burnett for a change.
-It was another 4+ hour marathon game between the Red Sox and Yankees. Every pitch of every at bat is treated with such importance slowing the game down to a crawl.
-The Red Sox made it interesting in the 9th against Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. Down 4-2, they loaded the bases with 2 outs for Adrian Gonzalez who struck out to end the game.
-Sox starter Jon Lester struggled through the first inning giving up a run on a Robinson Cano RBI double while throwing 44 pitches. Lester left the mound none too pleased with home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. Lester could be seen shouting expletives at Marquez while walking off the mound to the Boston dugout. He settled into his start after that but the damage was done. That first inning elevated his pitch count so quickly that Lester was done after 5 innings throwing 115 pitches. He gave up 7 hits, 1 run, walked 3 and struck out 6. Lester's early exit forced Terry Francona to go to his bullpen earlier than expected.
-AJ Burnett struggled mightily in the months of July and August having won once in 10 starts. Thursday, however, Burnett looked pretty good baffling Boston bats until the 4th when Adrian Gonzalez hit a leadoff double and was driven in on a 2-run homerun by Dustin Pedroia (18th). He turned in a solid outing going 5 1/3 innings allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks while striking out 4. Burnett is pitching for his playoff life as many believe that he is currently out of the Yankee postseason rotation. CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova seem to be locks for the playoff rotation. After that, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Phil Hughes and Burnett will all battle it out for the 3rd and 4th spots.
-With rosters expanding this month, the Yankees called up their top prospect from AAA-Scranton – catcher Jesus Montero. Montero hit .288 with 18 homers and 67 RBI on the farm this season. He was inserted right into the Yankee line-up as the designated hitter where he went 0-4 and was hit by a pitch while batting 7th in the order.
-Former Yankee Alfredo Aceves has proved to be a big boost to the Boston bullpen as of late. Aceves has become Terry Francona’s go-to guy after Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard. In the month of August, Aceves made 12 appearances pitching 15 2/3 innings. He gave up just 9 hits and 2 earned runs for the month while walking 5 and striking out 17. He had a rocky 6th inning in relief of Lester last night but was able to work out of a couple of jams which included getting Robinson Cano to ground out with the bases loaded and 2-out. However, Aceves walked Andruw Jones and hit in the top of the 7th. Both scored when Russell Martin hit a 2-run double off of Daniel Bard.
-Red Sox DH David Ortiz extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single off of AJ Burnett in the bottom of the second inning.
-It was a who’s who at Fenway last night before the game. With the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship teeing off Friday at the TPC – Boston, Phil Mickelson made an appearance at the ballpark. Lefty took batting practice before the game and didn’t have a bad swing connecting on a few solid hits. Also on hand was Stanley Cup Champion and Conn Smythe and Vezina trophy winner Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins. Also in attendance sitting with Tom Werner and John Henry was 2004 Red Sox fan favorite Kevin Millar.
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