G122: Yankees 4, Red Sox 1

Red Sox - 000 000 100 - 1  5  0
Yankees - 101 101 00x - 4  8  0

Ichiro Suzuki and Derek Jeter each had three hits and scored two runs, and Kuroda (8-4-1-0-4, 112) had little problem with an impotent Boston lineup.

Jeter doubled and scored on Curtis Granderson's two-bagger in the first inning and then doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the third. Beckett's (6-7-4-3-6, 98) wild pitch came immediately after Jeter and Nick Swisher pulled of an uncontested double steal. Ichiro hit solo home runs to right field in the fourth and sixth innings.

Adrian Gonzalez popped his 15th home run in the seventh inning. He was one of only two Boston runners to venture past first base. (Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled and was stranded at second in the fifth.) The three other hits: singles by Nick Punto, Ryan Lavarnway, and Carl Crawford. Not only did New York not issue any walks, but the Red Sox had only three 3-ball counts all night.

Josh Beckett / Hiroki Kuroda

Ellsbury, CF
Crawford, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Lavarnway, C
Saltalamacchia, DH
Podsednik, RF
Ciriaco, SS
Punto, 3B

On July 29, Kuroda pitched eight strong innings against the Red Sox (8-7-2-1-4, 102), a game Boston won in 10 innings. ... Kuroda and Beckett were the starting pitchers on July 6, the night both teams scored five times in the first inning.

Stuff To Read: WEEI's Alex Speier has a good article on Pedro Ciriaco. Speier also wonders if it's time to start playing the kids. ... At Over The Monster, Brendan O'Toole muses about white flags and Carl Crawford's elbow. ... John Thorn asks: Who invented the shortstop position? ... The Chicago Reader has all you need to know about eating squirrels.