It was an eventful Sunday night
baseball game as the Yankees down the Sox 9-6 to take the series after an
emotional and fired up night.
A-Rod, who’s playing under appeal
of a 211-game suspension, was again in the midst of a wild scene at Fenway Park. In the top of the 2nd, Ryan
Dempster plunked A-Rod with the 4th pitch of the at-bat. It was the 4th in a row to come
inside and it was clear that Dempster was throwing at Rodriguez.
Joe Girardi went nuts as Brian O’Nora,
the home plate umpire, quickly warned both sides but did not toss
Dempster. Girardi was ejected and both
benches and bullpens cleared. Nothing
happened on the field but tensions were high the rest of the game and although nothing
ever happened, it felt like something could at any minute.
I don’t agree with hitting A-Rod
in that situation. The Sox were up 2-0
and it was still really early. To plunk
the lead-off hitter and get the Yankees fired up just doesn’t make sense. Dempster claims he didn’t do it on purpose
but I just don’t believe it. He threw
each pitch inside and normally has very good control.
A-Rod would have the last laugh as
the he led off the top of the 6th with a solo homer with the Sox up
6-3 that sparked a rally for the Yankees.
The Yanks would score 3 more times in the inning off a Brett Gardner
triple that would put them ahead 7-6.
They wouldn’t look back the rest of the night.
Ryan Dempster was just terrible
and seems to not handle big games all that well. He went just 5 and 1/3 innings allowing 7
runs on 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3. He threw 107 pitches in his short outing and
was hit hard all night. When he exited
the game in the 5th with the bases loaded he just looked ruffled and
when staked to a 3-run lead, you need to go out and take care of business. It seems he can never do that.
The bullpen wasn’t all that great
last night. Drake Britton wasn’t
credited with allowing any runs but he came in and allowed the Brett Gardner
triple to allow the Yanks to take the lead.
He allowed 2 hits in his 1/3 of an inning worked. The Sox really needed him to strand some
runners in that situation and the light hitting Gardner ripped a triple off the
wall in the right-center gap.
Brandon Workman went 1 inning and
gave up 1 hit and 1 run. Franklin
Morales went 2/3 of an inning and while he didn’t give up any runs, he allowed
2 hits in the outing. Junichi Tazawa
also went 2/3 of an inning giving up 1 hit.
Rubby De La Rosa finished the last inning giving up a run on 2
hits. They just couldn’t tame the Yankee
bats last night.
The Red Sox were able to get to
C.C. Sabathia but the bullpen shut them down last night. Sabathia went only 5 and 1/3 innings as well
giving up 6 runs on 7 hits while uncharacteristically walking 5 and striking
out 5.
In the bottom of the 5th,
the Red Sox blew a huge opportunity to blow the game open and really hurt
Sabathia as they had bases loaded and a 6-3 lead with Stephen Drew up at the
plate. C.C. had intentionally walked
Saltalamacchia to load the bases, and then walked Daniel Nava to force in a
run. A base hit by Drew would have
broken the game wide open and probably spoiled the Yanks comeback attempt but
Sabathia toughened up and struck out Drew on 3 straight pitches. The mood of the game changed right there.
What do you think the biggest
problem on the night was yet again for Boston?
If you guessed hitting with runners in scoring position, you’ve been
following my blog all year. The Sox were
1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 9 men on base. Truly awful.
They just can’t get that big hit when they need it.
David Ortiz went 2 for 4 with an
RBI and a walk while Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4 with a run scored, an
RBI and a walk. Will Middlebrooks was
really good on the night going 2 for 3 with 1 run scored, and RBI and a
walk. He hit his 10th homer
of the year and his first since being recalled from Triple-A. Since returning from his demotion on August
10th, Middlebrooks has hit .462 and slugged .692 with 3 doubles and
1 homer. He also has walked 4 times and
been on base at a .548 clip.
Shane Victornio went 2 for 5 with
2 runs scored and Dustin Pedroia had 1 hit in 5 trips to the plate. Ellsbury didn’t record a hit but was on base
with a walk as was Nava. Drew didn’t
have a hit but drove in a run in the loss.
It was a tough loss for the Sox
because they knocked around the Yankee’s “ace” and had a lead of 3 runs into
the 6th inning. They now start
a tough west-coast road trip that starts in San Francisco vs. the Giants.
The Sox will send Jon Lester
(10-7, 4.31) to the mound against Tim Lincecum (6-12, 4.38). Lincecum has been better than his record
suggests and Lester has been worse than his record so it’ll be interesting to
see how this one turns out.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
Will Middlebrooks. Will had a great game last night with both of
his hits being the extra base variety.
His 10th homer of the season was a welcome sign. The Sox need him to start hitting like last
year.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Ryan Dempster. Dempster was absolutely awful last
night. He just can’t seem to have a
perfect frame after the Sox give him the lead.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The Drew strikeout in the bottom
of the 5th when the Sox had the Yanks on the ropes. It changed the complexion of the game.
NEXT
Monday, August 19th in San Francisco
vs. the Giants.
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