John Lackey’s hot first start
came to an end as the Yanks hit four homers off of him and the Sox can’t get
enough offense to keep up.
Lackey let up a career-high four
homeruns to the Yankees as they take game 3 of the series to the tune of
7-4. The middle of the Yankee order was
taking full advantage of the short right field porch in the Bronx on Saturday
afternoon.
The big Texan last only 5 and 2/3
innings allowing 6 runs on 10 hits while walking none and striking out 6. His command was off as his fastball was often
high and the Yankee hitters took full advantage of it. Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Alfonso
Soriano combined to go 6 for 9 with 4 homers and 6 RBI off of Lackey. Mistakes up in the strike zone will turn to
homers in Yankee Stadium, especially to lefties.
Since joining the Red Sox, John
Lackey can’t seem to pitch at Yankee Stadium, in 4 starts there, he has an 8.34
ERA. UGLY!
Craig Breslow went 2/3 of an
inning giving up just 1 hit and striking out 1 as Andrew Miller pitched 2/3 of
an inning as well striking out 1 and walking 1.
Burke Badenhop failed to keep the deficit at two in the 8th
as he gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out one giving up a homer to Kelly
Johnson.
Offensively, the Sox again failed
to capitalize on some opportunities and were just 1 for 8 with runners in
scoring position and left 7 men on base.
They shot themselves in the foot in the 7th inning as after a
2-run single by Mike Carp and the lead cut down to 6-4, Carp was caught trying
to seal second with Mike Napoli on 3rd. John Farrell explained after the game that he
gambled a bit with Xander Bogaerts down 0-2 in the account and he figured that
a breaking ball would be thrown on the next pitch. Unfortunately the pitch was a fastball and
Carp was out by a mile and the rally killed.
The Sox managed only 7 total hits
and walked 3 times. Dustin Pedroia went
1 for 5 with a double but rumors are swirling that he’s got a big injury that
may require him to miss some significant time.
We’ll hold our breaths and hope for the best.
Daniel Nava went 1 for 4 with a
run scored and a walk, David Ortiz went 1 for 4, Carp went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI
and Xander Bogaerts went 1 for 4 with a run scored.
A.J. Pierzynski went 2 for 4 with
a runs cored, 2 RBI and his first homer of the season. Pierzynski is hot right now, as he’s
collected his 3rd multi-hit game in his last 4 starts. His first homer of the season was a bomb to
right in the upper deck. Hopefully he
can continue his hot hitting and the Sox will follow.
Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jonathan
Herrera walked once apiece and JBJ stole his 2nd base of the year.
In the end, it’s a lot of the
same so far this young season. Not
enough hitting and not enough production when runners get on base. They just can’t seem to string hits together
and with Middlebrooks already out and the potential for Pedroia to miss some
time, this offense could get much worse having to start Herrera and Ryan
Roberts full time. Let’s hope we don’t
have to see that.
The final game of the series is
Sunday night as Felix Doubront will take the hill opposite Ivan Nova. Both are coming off very bad starts so I’ll
be interesting to see if the Sox can get a split here.
SHAVING CREAM PIE TO THE FACE –
GAME MVP
A.J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski went 2 for 4 with his first homer
of the season and drove in 2 runs.
ELBOW TO THE FACE – GAME LVP
Jonathan Herrera. Herrera did walk once but also struck out
twice in his 4 plate appearances.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Mike Carp’s caught stealing in
the 7th ending a rally with a runner at 3rd.
NEXT
Sunday, April 13th in New York,
vs. the Yankees.
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