The Yankees and Red Sox were tied going into this series, but the Red Sox were riding a seven-game win streak heading in. No team was stopping the Sox this weekend. They stole three straight games from the Yankees, literally. The Yanks had a lead in each game, and each game they blew it.
Quick ‘Cap:
The Yankees took the lead off Justin Masterson in the third inning when Brett Gardner hit a sacrifice fly to drive home Hideki Matsui. The Red Sox tied the game back up in the bottom of the third with another sac-fly – this one off the bat of David Ortiz scoring Jacoby Ellsbury from third.
The Red Sox scored the rest of the game’s runs in the fifth inning off Andy Pettitte. Ortiz doubled home Jason Varitek to take the 2-1 lead, and Ellsbury advanced to third. Ellsbury noticed Pettitte was pitching from the windup, so he bolted for home when he started his slow delivery. He slid in safely headfirst, and eventually came out of the dugout for an encore. J.D. Drew’s ground-rule double drove in the fourth and final run of the game. Full box score here.
Thoughts:
Wow. If I were Joe Girardi or Dave Eiland, I would be scared stiff. Getting swept by the Red Sox at Fenway is the worst thing the Yankees can do except for being swept by them at home. This weekend was a disgrace to say the least.
If you are Pettitte, you have to be aware of Ellsbury’s speed at third and pitch from the stretch. The Red Sox had all the momentum in the world on their backs after that, and there was no way they were going to let this game slip away from them.
Offensive Notables:
- Robinson Cano added two more hits to his team-leading total. He also leads the Yankees in every other major offensive category.
Pitching Notables:
- Mark Melancon made his major league debut tonight, and it was beautiful. Two innings pitched, one hit, one walk, one strikeout and no runs.
Up Next:
The Yankees can forget about this weekend on the plane ride to Detroit. CC Sabathia is slated to start against Justin Verlander in game one tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m.
3 comments:
The Yankees just slept-walked through yesterday's game. Compounding Pettitte's full wind-up was that they were shifting to the right field side, so the third baseman was almost at shortstop. Duh - someone should have noticed: Pettitte, any of the infielders, how about the manager?!? High points were Cano and Melancom.
It doesn't get any easier. The Tigers are much improved, and I'm never confident against Verlander despite his 9.00 ERA. But hey, the season's still young!
The Yanks have three tough series coming up. Angels, Red Sox again, and Tampa for two. They have to beat Detroit and get their momentum back before they return to the Stadium to play an always tough Angels ballclub and two divisonal teams as well as two on the road after their homestand. The thing I didn't like (even though I'm not a Yankee fan I just love talking baseball,) is how like the person above me said the Yankees almost slept through yesterday's game. I know it's very early, but if the Yankees continue to play like this they will dig themselves into a deeper hole then any fan could have imagined. I think when A-Rod gets back into the lineup they will be re-energized and start to hit. Tonight with the two aces on the mound will be an interesting game to watch even though Justin Verlander has been struggling (as has Sabathia.)
Most of the Yankees have hardly an experience against him. Swisher has the most plate appearances by far, but is batting .188.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/p-pvb.cgi?n1=verlaju01#choice=&bats=&minPA2=0&year_game=career&opp_id=NYY&orderby=PA&orderbyb=Name&minPA=0&orderbydir=DESC&orderbydirb=ASC&n1=verlaju01&as=pitcher
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