Red Sox - 000 004 000 - 4 7 0 Yankees - 010 000 100 - 2 7 0
Two home runs in the sixth inning - a solo shot by Jonny Gomes and a three-run blast from Grady Sizemore - gave Jon Lester (6.2-6-2-2-6, 113) some rare run support and lifted Boston past CC Sabathia (7-6-4-2-9, 111) and the Yankees.
Sabathia had been cruising along, having little difficulty protecting a 1-0 lead, thanks to a solo dong from Alfonso Soriano. CC needed only seven pitches to set down the Red Sox in the third inning and just six more in the fourth, but then Xander Bogaerts saw eight pitches all by himself to start the fifth. XB walked, but was stranded at second, as Sabathia was forced to throw 24 pitches in the frame.
In the sixth, Gomes drove CC's 1-0 pitch - an 89 mph fastball - to deep left to tie the game at 1-1. After Dustin Pedroia struck out, David Ortiz reached safely when he checked his swing on 0-2 and tapped the ball towards third base. With the New York infield in a shift, there was no one around to field the ball. Mike Napoli grounded a single up the middle (on a 3-0 count), setting the stage for Sabathia's former teammate Sizemore, who hit a bomb to right-center.
Lester gave up a run with two outs in the seventh, after throwing what he (and pitch/fx) thought was an inning-ending strike three to Brian Roberts. Umpire James Hoye called it a ball and Lester ended up walking Roberts (which sent Ichiro Suzuki, who had singled, to second). Kelly Johnson singled Ichiro home, putting the potential tying runs on base. Junichi Tazawa came in and easily retired Mr. Clutch, Derek Jeter, on a fly to right.
Tazawa breezed through the eighth, ending the inning by striking out Brian McCann with a man on first. Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth, fanning pinch-hitter Brett Gardner to end the game.
Both the Red Sox and Yankees are 5-6.
Gomes, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Sizemore, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Roberts, 3B
Ross, C
Bradley, CF
NYDN:
ReplyDeleteAs the sixth inning erupted in stunningly quick fashion, ruining CC Sabathia's night, you could imagine ex-pitchers of lesser abilities everywhere nodding knowingly and muttering, "Welcome to life with an 89 mph fastball."
It's a world where mistakes aren't fouled off, they're ripped for game-changing hits. It's a world where only the tiniest margin for error exists, and five innings of dominance become practically meaningless in a matter of minutes when you miss your spot a few times — and get an occasional bad break. ...
And, most significantly, it remains to be seen if it's a world in which the former Cy Young winner can survive, never mind thrive.
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NYDN:
For six of his seven innings Friday night, CC Sabathia was nothing short of brilliant. The other inning? He was an emotional mess, costing the Yankees the game. ...
Grady Sizemore's three-run home run was the decisive blow, but it was David Ortiz's check-swing single earlier in the inning that really did in Sabathia. ...
By the time Sabathia was able to compose himself, he had already hung an 0-1 slider to Sizemore — Sabathia's close friend from their days together in Cleveland — that gave the Red Sox a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"I was just upset," Sabathia said of Ortiz's fluke hit. "Just rushing, frustrated, mad. That's something that I've been able to control over the years ... Tonight I was pissed off and made a bad pitch."
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NYP:
Pricey upgrades producing lifeless Bombers offense