Game 39 Recap

1. Alex Rodriguez led off the second inning with a single to center field off of Josh Beckett. Robinson Cano grounded one up the middle that looked to be a double play ball, but Marco Scutaro couldn't get a hold of it and failed to get either of the runners.

Francisco Cervelli hit a soft grounder that made Adrian Beltre come in towards home plate, leaving third base unoccupied, allowing the runners to move over. Marcus Thames then worked a walk, loading the bases for Juan Miranda. The recent AAA call up drove in his first run of the year with a single to right and Randy Winn followed with an RBI ground out, putting the Yankees up 2-0.

2. Miranda struck again in the fourth inning on a 2-0 fastball. The pitch from Beckett was on the outside part of the plate but Miranda yanked in on a line, just clearing the wall in front of the Yankees' bullpen. 3-0 Bombers.

3. Brett Gardner got ahead of Beckett 3-0 with one out in the 5th inning before slicing a ball down the right field line (if that's possible for a lefty) for a double. Teixeira followed with a walk and after A-Rod scalded a liner right to Bill Hall in left field, Robinson Cano smacked a two run double to right center and stretched the Yanks' lead to 5-0.

Immediately after Cano's hit, Beckett was pulled from the game, purportedly with some sort of back problem. Neither the announcers nor I noticed anything in real time, but replays showed that Beckett landed awkwardly on the pitch that A-Rod made an out on. The Yankees played the game under protest, claiming that the Sox signaled to the bullpen before they told the umpire that Beckett was hurt. Therefore, their relief pitcher shouldn't have had eight pitches and not an unlimited amount of time to warm up. It was a shrewd move by Girardi considering the Yanks were up 5-0 at this point and given how the game turned out.

4. The Youkstah got one back for the Sawx in the sixth inning when he took a 1-1 fastball from CC into the left field seats to make it 5-1.

5. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but Brett Gardner grounded out softly, allowing Dustin Pedroia to come home for the out and Mark Teixeira popped out to end the threat.

6. Joba Chamberlain came out to pitch the eighth inning and was put in a hole when A-Rod fielded a grounder by Marco Scutaro but his throw pulled Teix off the bag, resulting in an error. Dustin Pedroia then poked a base hit through the right side and J.D. Drew followed with an RBI double down the left field line to make it 5-2.

A base knock by Youkilis made it 5-4 and he advanced to second on a grounder by Victor Martinez. Still with just one out, David Ortiz hit a deep drive to center and judging by his reaction, I assumed it was a home run. It was not, but it hit off the wall in right center and scored Youk, tying the game at 5. Ortiz, who admired his shot instead of running out of the box was gunned down at second. Adrian Beltre grounded out to end the inning but the Yanks' lead had evaporated.

7. With the game still tied in the top of the 9th, Joe Girardi called on Mariano Rivera. Mo got Mike Lowell to ground out but it was all downhill from there. Darnell McDonald lined a single to center field and Marco Scutaro reached when he popped a ball to shallow right field between Thames and Cano. Both were in the neighborhood and Thames called for it but ended up dropping the ball. Instead of having two outs with a man on first, the Yanks had one out with two men on.

Dustin Pedroia moved the runners over on a grounder to first and Jeremy Hermida hit a two out double over Randy Winn's head in left. Winn was playing extremely shallow and whether it was designed or the result of a miscommunication, it put the Sox up 7-5.

8. Like last night, the Yankees put together a rally in the 9th. A-Rod led off the inning by grounding a ball to short that went just under Marco Scutaro's glove, apparently returning the favor from the top half of the inning. Robinson Cano drove in A-Rod with a slicing double that stayed just fair to put the Yanks within one. Cano was nearly picked off on a snap throw by Victor Martinez but then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt that Cervelli damn near beat out.

Marcus Thames came to the plate in an easy RBI situation with a chance to atone for his error and tie the came, but worked a walk. With a chance to cap off an already excellent night, Juan Miranda grounded one back up the middle sharply, but Papelbon snared it and checked the runners before getting the out at first. Randy Winn was the Yankees' last hope. He took a weak hack on a 1-0 heater and Papelbon kept the fastballs coming. He fouled a few back and took two more for balls, eventually working he count full. He swung and missed on a 3-2 fastball low and away for the final out of the game and the Yanks lost 7-6.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• CC Sabathia struggled early, burning through 59 pitches in his first three innings and 90 through five. Although he wasn't efficient - throwing only 66 of 112 pitches for strikes (only three of those swinging) - he still got the job done, holding the Sox scoreless until Youkilis' solo homer in the sixth. His final line was 7 IP, 4H, 3BB, 1ER, 5K, but he got the no decision thanks to Joba's awful 8th.
  
  
• Right as Sabathia was delivering that pitch to Youk, Michael Kay was saying how CC hadn't allowed a run yet. Right in mid-sentence. Some will inevitably get their panties in a bunch about the apparent jinx but I thought the timing was somewhat comedic. Before the Sox came all the way back to win. DAMN YOU KAY, WHY DID YOU CURSE THIS GAME!
  
  
• That home run was the 100th of Youk's career.
  
  
• It ended in an out, but Brett Gardner had a great at bat against Beckett in the first inning. He took two strikes, fouled off two more pitches, took two balls, fouled another off, took another ball, and fouled off the 9th pitch before grounding the 10th to first base. He never swung and missed, made Beckett work and showed his teammates a little something. That's about as successful as a groundout with no one on base can be.
  
  
• Francisco Cervelli and Josh Beckett exchanged some words during Cervelli's at bat in the 2nd inning. Apparently Frankie called time and and Beckett was upset (because apparently he can stay in the set for thirty fucking seconds but the batter can't step out of the box to counteract that).
  
  
• CC Sabathia took exception with Dustin Pedroia complaining about the called strike three that ended the fifth inning and let him know it.
  
  
• Marcus Thames gave Jonathan Papelbon some evil eyes when Paps came up and in during the 9th inning.
  
  
• But no batters were hit during the game and those three incidents were as serious as it got.
  
  
• The two heros of the game last night, A-Rod and Thames, both made errors in the field late in the game but both reached base in the 9th inning.
  
  
• None of Rivera's runs were earned because of Thames' error but he still was tagged with the loss. Thee out of four of Joba's were earned.
  
  
• Not counting the 59 minute rain delay, the game clocked in at 4:09.
  
  
• YES chose Jonathan Papelbon as their player of the game. Um, what? The guy who pitched one inning, gave up a run and came dangerously close to blowing his second save in as many games? How about Youkilis, who went 2-3 with 2BB and 3RBI or Hermida, who drove in the decisive two runs?
  
  
• The Yankees surrendered 5-0 leads in both of these two games and entered the ninth inning trailing by two in both. On one hand, they were lucky to escape with one win considering the deficits they faced with just three outs to overcome them, but on the other hand, it never should have come to that.

The division-leading and MLB-best Rays come to town for a two game set starting tomorrow night. There were a lot of things not to like about this series against the Sox, but Yanks have bigger fish to fry. Or members of the Batoid family, as the case may be.

Game 30 Recap

1. Marcus Thames' defense cost the Yankees once again in the second inning - although this time Javy Vazquez wasn't the recipient of it. J.D. Drew singled to lead off the frame and moved up to second on a curveball in the dirt that got past Francisco Cervelli. Burnett retired David Ortiz on a high fly ball, struck out Adrian Beltre on a nasty hook and was one out away from stranding Drew. However, Jeremy Hermida lined a ball to left field that Thames got to in time, but the ball caromed off of his glove and Drew, who was running on contact, scored easily to put the Red Sox up 1-0.

2. Burnett walked Marco Scutaro on five fastballs to begin the third. The next batter, Dustin Pedroia, ripped a ball right down the third baseline that ricocheted off the part of the wall that faces the plate and back out into left field. When he fielded it, Thames briefly looked towards third base at Marco Scutaro but that moment of hesitation allowed Pedroia to dig for second.

That ended up being just a drop in the bucket. Burnett walked Youk and Drew followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Burnett got ahead of the ghost of David Ortiz 0-2 but threw him three straight balls to fill up the count. Ortiz fouled one off and then sliced a ball down the right field line that bounced into the stands for a ground rule double, scoring Pedroia but holding Youk at third. Someone named "Adrian bel-TRAY" then rapped a two run double to left which was followed by a RBI single by Jeremy Hermida. When the dust settled, the Sox were ahead 6-0.

3. The Yankees got on the board in the top of the fourth inning with a massive home run of the Sports Authority sign on top of the Green Monstah. Two batters later, A-Rod followed with a tater of his own atop the Monster, albeit less convincing, landing just one row deep. Sawx 6, Yanks 2. The pitch was actually a pretty good one,

4. Lil' Dusty worked a one out walk in the fourth and was doubled in by Youk to make it 7-2 Boston.

5. Hermida homered on 1-0 fastball from A.J. Burnett in the 5th, putting the Sawx up 9-2 and chasing Burnett from the game.

6. Ramiro Pena replaced Derek Jeter at shortstop and led off the 8th inning with a single. Robinson Cano drove him in with a base knock of his own with two outs to cut the Yanks' deficit to 6, but that was as close as they would come. Final score, 9-3 Red Sox.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• A.J. Burnett's struggles at Fenway Park continued. He allowed nine runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings, walked three and struck out four. He command wasn't great and it was one of those nights when every hard hit ball (and a few softer ones) found a place to fall.
  
  
• Lester was on point, throwing seven innings of two run ball, allowing six baserunners and striking out seven. He threw 103 pitches and might have been able to at least begin the 8th inning but with a seven run lead, he called it a night.
  
  
• Joe Girardi got tossed in the fourth inning. Thames struck out looking on a curveball that was well outside stuck around to jaw at Tim McClelland, whose strikezone had been erratic (to put it kindly) all night. Girardi came out and separated the two and after they exchanged words and Girardi started walking back towards the dugout and got bounced. He got his money's worth after that, apparently complaining about some low strikes that were being called.
  
  
• A-Rod's homer was his 586th, tying him with Frank Robinson on the all-time list.
  
  
• Romulo Sanchez made his Yankee debut when he replaced Burnett in the 5th. He touched 97 on the ESPN gun but has a wild motion, falling off the mound to left, seemingly off balance and out of control. For whatever reason the RomBomb (just made that up) pitched the final 3 2/3 innings despite the fact that the Yankees have a 13 man bullpen. He was effective though,
  
  
• As proven tonight, ESPN's K Zone is horseshit. Since it always aligns perfectly with the centerfield camera, you can tell it's not based on PitchFX and is just done by some guy in the production booth who decides where to place the strikezone can mark where he thinks the pitch crosses the zone. It's just someone's opinion but the ESPN crew acts like it's some sort of official measure. It's not.
  
  
• For some reason, the ESPN production crew was showing shots from behind the plate when batters were leading off innings early in the game. It was pretty disorienting as it made a flyball by Marcus Thames in the third inning look like a home run.
  
  
• Jon Miller claimed that Kevin Russo made his Major Leauge debut tonight when in fact it was yesterday. When he corrected himself he said that it was his first appearance on Sunday Night Baseball "the only game we really care about". It was the most accurate thing anyone said in the booth all night.

This game was pretty miserable but like we said in the preview, the Yanks were playing with house money. They will see the Sox again for a quick two game set in the Bronx starting on May 17th but won't be back at Fenway until the last series of the season. For now, they head out to Detroit and begin a four game set tomorrow night at 7.

Rays Sweep Sawx, Ruin Patriots' Day

[Screengrab via Schiff, courtesy of 30fps]

It wasn't an especially enjoyable Patriots' Day for the Fenway Faithful, as the Sawx were already losing 6-0 by the time high noon rolled around. John Lackey got pounded, allowing 8 runs in 3 1/3 innings, the biggest blow coming in the form of a 3 run homer to B.J. Upton that Bill Hall ran into the wall, ribs first, trying to catch. Jeremy Hermida broke up Jeff Neimann's shutout with a two run shot in the 7th inning, but it was too little, too late.

The Rays won 8-2, extended their winning streak to 7 and their TV crew captured a most exquisite visual representation of Soxenfreude in the process.