G18: Red Sox 4, Yankees 1

Yankees - 001 000 000 - 1  7  2
Red Sox - 001 030 00x - 4  7  1

SWEEP!
The three-game sweep of the Yankees capped a 9-0 homestand -- and extended the Sox's winning streak to 10 games!

This game turned over the course of five pitches (with an intentional walk thrown into the mix) in the fifth inning. Boston had runners at first and second with two outs when David Ortiz doubled to the wall in left. Nick Green scored -- giving Boston a 2-1 lead -- and Jacoby Ellsbury went to third. Pettitte walked Kevin Youkilis intentionally to load the bases for J.D. Drew, who had struck out in his previous two at-bats.

Drew swung through the first pitch. Then, while Pettitte was getting ready to deliver, Ellsbury took off -- and stole home*!!! He was trying to run so fast, he stumbled at the very end and sort of fell/slid head first across the plate, but was in safely ahead of Jorge Posada's tag.

[* It was the first Red Sox steal of home since Jose Offerman on August 30, 1999, though that was part of a double steal. The last straight steal of home was by Billy Hatcher on April 22, 1994.]

Drew looked at another ball, then stroked a double to right, bringing in Ortiz. The Sox led 4-1 and the bullpen -- Hunter Jones, Michael Bowden and Takashi Saito -- shut the door.

Masterson was excellent: 5.1-6-1-1-4, 99.

***

Andy Pettitte (2.53, 193 ERA+) / Justin Masterson (3.18, 163 ERA+)

The last two games -- both played in 4:21 -- have not only been amazing Red Sox comebacks, they have also been crushing losses for the Yankees! Wonderful on every level.

The Red Sox's current nine-game winning streak is the best April stretch in team history. A win tonight would complete a perfect 9-0 homestand! It would also, providing Toronto loses to Chicago (2 PM), put us in first place.

Mike Bauman, MLB.com:

If the Red Sox continue to win games the way they won the past two, this season is eventually going to remind a lot of people of 2004 and '07.

Yes, it is extremely early for major pronouncements, but there is never an inappropriate time to turn seemingly certain defeat into extremely uplifting victory. And extremely early is a terrific time to prove to everybody that you are completely capable of this kind of transformation. ...

There is no need to exaggerate the importance of what the Red Sox were able to accomplish in their first two meetings with the Yankees this season. They performed the way that winning teams -- postseason teams -- perform: with resilience, persistence and determination.

Bryan Hoch, MLB.com:

The tight quarters of the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway Park have taken on a funereal pall after the first two games of the weekend, with Yankees players shuffling about silently and preparing to make their exit ... out the dank concrete corridors of the ancient ballpark.

Current Red Sox hitters have done extremely well against Horseface: .365/.425/.557/.982. Yankee hitters are 9-for-18 against Masterson, though no one has more than five plate appearances.

Masterson:

I feel more assured of myself and who I am, and I feel like I'm understanding my mechanics, like, what makes me good. I think I'm understanding that better. I'm not overthinking.

Gil Velazquez was told he'll likely be optioned to Pawtucket tonight, meaning Julio Lugo will rejoin the team in Cleveland. ... Record of the rivalry at Fenway: 446-446, with four ties.