April 20, 2007

G15: Red Sox 7, Yankees 6

Yankees - 001 130 010 - 6 11 0
Red Sox - 000 200 05x - 7 13 0
Ho. Lee. Shit!

Two home runs from Rodriguez (he's the 1st AL player to hit 12 HR in a season's first 15 games (Mike Schmidt did it in 1976) (plus Slappy's got 30 (!) RBI)) put New York up 5-2 after five innings. The Yankees added a run in the 8th (Slappy doubled (he should have been rung up on the pitch before) and scored on Giambi's single).

So ... MFY 6-2, bottom of the 8th: Myers in to face Ortiz. Flo ripped a double that one-hopped the left-center field wall. Vizcaino in (perhaps Torre, with a 4-run lead, should have kept Myers in to face Manny and then the LH Drew). Vizcaino has walked six in only 9.1 innings so far this year and he stayed true to form by walking Manny.

Drew grounded out to second, moving the runners to second and third. Lowell grounded a single past Slappy, who dove to his left, and into left. Tizzle scored, 3-6. Vizcaino was pulled and in came Rivera. It was Fruitbat's first appearance since Sunday, when he surrendered a three-run, game-winning home run to Marco Scutaro in Oakland.

Varitek (whose first HR of the year in the 4th gave Boston two runs), took a ball, a strike, then fouled off three picthes, before lining a belt-high cutter out over the plate into right for a single. Manny scored, 4-6.

Crisp, who tumbled backwards over the bullpen wall trying to catch for Slappy's second home run back in the fifth, lined the ball down the right field line and into the corner. Lowell and Varitek both scored and Coco ended up on third with a triple! 6-6!

With the infield in, Cora singled to left center. Three batters and three hits and four runs in against Rivera. Cora's bloop hit actually hit the infield dirt behind Jeter before bouncing into left center. Crisp scored and Boston took a 7-6 lead! Unbelievable.

With Papelbon unavailble, Tito called on Okajima to face Jeter-Abreu-Slappy and close it out. I liked the choice, as the Oka-bot has been masterful this year. Jeter (bbc) grounded out second to first (tapping a splitter off the end of his bat). Abreu (bssbb) walked, though ball 3 could (should?) have been called strike 3. Okajima jams Slappy (cbbbc) with a fastball and he lofted a soft liner to Cora at second. Two outs. DH Kevin Thompson (who ran for Giambi in the 8th) (csffb) struck out swinging on a splitter in the dirt.

When asked in spring training about the media frenzy surrounding Matsuzaka, Okajima said: "I don't mind being a hero in the dark." Friday night, he was a hero in the blinding spotlight of The Rivalry.

And the day after the Yankees rally from being down 6-2 in the 9th inning and win 8-6, they blow a 6-2 lead in the 8th inning and lose 7-6.


The box says:

Rivera: .2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, blown save and loss, 8.44 ERA



***


Andy Pettitte (1.50, 1.222) / Curt Schilling (2.84, 1.053), 7 PM

Lineups:
Damon, CF Lugo, SS
Jeter, SS Youkilis, 1B
Abreu, RF Ortiz, DH
Rodriguez, 3B Ramirez, LF
Giambi, DH Drew, RF
Posada, C Lowell, 3B
Cano, 2B Varitek, C
Cabrera, LF Crisp, CF
Mientkiewicz, 1B Pedroia, 2B

This weekend, it's two rookies for New York: Jeff Karstens/Josh Beckett and Chase Wright/Daisuke Matsuzaka. ... Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano are all on the disabled list.

The Red Sox were 8-11 against the Yankees last year, 2-7 at Fenway.

Boston's starting rotation has a 2.61 ERA (1.94 in the last nine games). The Sox lead the AL with a 2.58 ERA and Tim Wakefield tops the AL with a 1.35 ERA. ... Jonathan Papelbon threw 20 pitches on Wednesday night and 26 yesterday afternoon. He will likely not be available for tonight's game.


The Yankees lead the league with 6.5 runs scored per game. They scored six times in the bottom of the ninth yesterday to sweep Cleveland. The game-winning hit was Alex Rodriguez's 10th home run of the season (he is the first AL player to hit 10 home runs in his first 14 games).



Gerry Callahan predicts that Boston's third baseman in 2008 will be Alex Rodriguez. But he also thinks Slappy McBluelips's lips are pink, so how prescient could he be?

18 comments:

MikeT9485 said...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zenslinger said...

For me, this is a little bit like Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS in this regard: I'm ashamed of myself for giving up. A-Rod just...he just -- well, I have to hand it to old Slappy, he's on a Big Roll.

Had to be away from the TV / crap Mosaic picture (which is all I can get at home for some reason) while the Sox came back. I assume the rationale for Okaji over Papelbon was: a) they'll need Papelbon later in this series and b) they might have needed him later in this game, maybe?

In-credible.

MikeT9485 said...

It keeps going. I swear there's an exclamation point out there. Anyway, I didn't know I was a Boston Christmas Trees fan. I hope they never wear green again, no matter who it's in honor of.

MikeT9485 said...

Zen,

Papelbon threw 56 pitches over the past two nights and was not available tonight. However, he'll be there to close out the next two games if needed. I'm so f****** excited! I have to be up at 5:45 tomorrow and I don't even care!!!!

Mikw

allan said...

Zen, I admit that when NY was up 6-2, I figured this one was a loss also. Not crushing but simply one of those nights.

Glad to be dead wrong!

COCO'S BACK ... AND HE'S BACK BIG!!!

CORA!

SNUFFER JR.!

NY will now rely on two rookies going against Beckett and Dice!!

thatdietcokegirl said...

HEY A-ROD, ALL YR THUNDER ARE BELONG TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jim said...

I never learn. Cursing at the TV the whole night about the goddam offense, then the 8th. COCOCOCO (and nary a fan interferes along the right field corner). Then Okajimer. Sweet.

Sean O said...

I WAS THERE. AMAZING.

Just unbelievable. i'm in awe. Coco, my nemesis, came through in the biggest way possible. What. a. game.

9casey said...

I watched this whole game on a cell phone. With my obnoxious Yankee friends butting in on both A-Fraud's HR's........

I will wait till the a.m to talk to them about Mo........

The Cora - Pedroia situation should be interesting.It seems like when Cora plays he always does something to help the team win.

I don't think you are always putting your best team on the field when there is a situation where you always pinch hit......

Theo spoke about Pedroia on WFAN today and said they have to stick with him...we will see.....

I could watch Rivera's face time and time again when he gives it up.....He is so shocked and bewildered.......

And what was with that crap he threw to Lugo.......

Could make for intersting TV in the twilight with Beckett hitting 95.......

s1c said...

What was it Okajima said in spring training about being a hero in the dark? Well, he was a hero today (and Marsh blew that 2-2 pitch). The big hero in my opinion was Coco lining that cut fast ball into the corner for a triple. I still think he should be batting 2nd in the order but he came through tonight. c

allan said...

Forgot to put that in about the hero in the dark. I scribbled it on my scorecard when he took the hill. Thanks for reminding me!

Sean O said...

I want my Hero in the Dark shirt tomorrow. Someone has to make it, en masse.

Tonight, after watching the bottom of the 8th on, is the first time I ever felt any good vibes about Coco. His reaction to the triple was incredible, really. He wasn't smiling nonchalantly, or reveling in finally throwing off what has weighed him down as of late. He showed a fire and an intensity I had never seen before, in what may be the first time since he was traded from Cleveland.

This game could really be a watershed moment for Crisp. Even if he's still not making great contact (and his ridiculously low BABIP isn't helping his case), he showed today that he's willing to literally run through walls to win.

Inches from catch of the year, mere inches.

laura k said...

I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

(ps I never gave up. Not for a second. Try it - it's fun!)

Chick said...

I love MO...ya gotta!

Pandyora said...

Amazing game! My voice is still hoarse. A couple of random thoughts:

Granted, my seat wasn't exactly behind home place (try RF grandstand), but I agree s1c - it seemed that Randy Marsh's zone was all over the place last night, especially on breaking pitches. In the 5th inning, Marsh botched a call that should have been Abreu's third strike. Instead, Abreau walked, setting up Slappy McBluelip's second HR.

Also, kudos to Sox fans for not reaching down and grabbing up Coco's triple during the comeback. Had a bonehead fan interfered, Coco would have been stuck on second, the Yankee's infield would not have been playing in on the grass, and Cora's soft lob would have been an out instead of the go-ahead RBI.

allan said...

Sean, I thought that about Coco as well. Maybe this will lessen some of the obvious frustration he has been feeling and let him be more relaxed. Having Crisp hitting as he did in Cleveland at #7 or #8 in the order will be a huge weapon.

Okajima is more than a LOOGY and has really impressed me so far. Great changeup and always throwing strikes. Good signing by Theo.

Benjamin said...

A-Rod isn't the first. Mike Schmidt hit 12 homeruns in the first 15 games of 1976.

allan said...

Thanks. (Stupid NESN!)