Ah, Mike Napoli, the biggest all
or nothing guy in baseball. Napoli seems
to go on prolonged slumps, strikeout a ton and also hit monster home runs in
clutch situations. With 2 homers on the
night, one a walk-off, the Sox down the Yanks in 11 to get the series win.
Mike Napoli had an interesting
night at the dish. He went 2 for 6 with
2 homers, 4 RBI, 3 strikeouts and also grounded into a double play. It pretty much sums up what Mike Napoli has
been all about this year. The strikeouts
will be plenty, the double-plays bountiful and the homer marvelous and clutch.
His walk-off shot was a blast to
dead center off Yankees reliever Adam Warren.
He also hit a moon shot in the 3rd over the Green Monster
onto the street behind Fenway to turn a Yankee lead of 3-1 into a Sox lead of
4-3.
The Sox banged out 11 hits and
scored 8 times on the night. They were
only 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position and did leave 10 men on base but
were fueled by a big night from Nap and Shane Victorino.
Victorino went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI
and Jacoby Ellsbury went 2 for 4 with a walk and a run at the top of the Sox
order. Dustin Pedroia went 1 for 6 with
an RBI and Jonny Gomes went 1 for 4 with a walk and his 8th homer of
the season and 2 in 3 games.
Salty and Iggy and Big Papi all
added another hit on the night. The bats
were definitely working on Sunday night as they did most of their damage
against a struggling C.C. Sabathia who allowed 7 runs and 9 hits in only 5
innings of work.
Ryan Dempster wasn’t sharp but
did leave the game with a 7-4 lead. He
only went 5 and 1/3 innings giving up 5 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits while striking
out 4 and walking 4 as well. Dempster
wasn’t sharp last night but was let down by his fielders a couple times as the
Sox committed 3 errors on the night.
The bullpen wasn’t good right away but settled in nicely. Craig Breslow went 1 inning and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) while walking 1 and striking out none. Junichi Tazawa worked around a hit and a walk for a scoreless inning. Matt Thornton pitched a perfect 8th striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced and Koji Uehara worked around a walk in the 9th striking out 2 as well.
Drake Britton worked around a hit
and a walk in the 10th to keep the Yanks scoreless and Pedro Beato
got the win working a scoreless 11th.
It was one of those classic Red
Sox and Yankee games that clocked in at a staggering 4 hours and 46
minutes. The loss puts the Yanks down 7
in the AL East as the Sox are 1 ½ games up on Tampa Bay.
Speaking of Tampa Bay, they come into Fenway for a big 4 game series that begins tonight. The Rays have been red hot and this series figures to be a good one.
The Sox send Brandon Workman
(0-0, 5.40) to the mound tonight. He’s
coming off a very good start last week in Oakland and I’m interested to see how
he fares tonight against a gritty Ray’s team.
The Rays will counter with tough lefty Matt Moore (13-3, 3.44) who’s
been fantastic this year. He’s been
tough as of late and the Sox need to get to him early.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Mike Napoli. Napoli’s 2 bombs
will overshadow the fact that he also struck out 3 times and hit into a double
play.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Stephen Drew. Drew went 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts. He hasn’t looked good since he’s come back
from the DL and he may find himself riding the bench soon.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Big Nap’s mamo bomb to
centerfield to win the game.
NEXT
Monday, July 22nd at
home vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.
No comments:
Post a Comment