The Red Sox won the game last night in extras to take a much needed series from the Yankees in order to keep any hope of their season alive. Felix Doubront pitched real well, however the hero from the night was consistent Yankee killer Pedro Ciriaco.
Doubront took the mound for the Sox and he showed that he can pitch against any team and any lineup. I heard whispers around twitter and what not that Buchholz should be starting this game instead of Doubront. Dubi showed that not only should he have been starting, but he’s a legit presence in the rotation. Doubront pitched 6 1/3 innings and didn’t give up a run until he gave up a solo HR to Russell Martin to start the 7th. Doubront’s only real issue was that he gave up a lot of walks, however he always limited the damage and never allowed them to come home. Doubront’s line for the night was 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 8 Ks. Doubront left the mound with a tiny 2-1 lead. Matt Albers came out in the 7th and after Ichiro stole 2nd base Jeter was able to hit a single to right field. Ichiro didn’t test Sweeney’s arm and the Yanks had runners at 1st and 3rd with only one out. Andrew Miller took the mound and got Granderson to fly out to shallow left field and then ended the inning by getting Teixeira to ground out. Phew. In the 8th, Miller gave up a double with 2 outs and Bobby V decided to go with his closer. Aceves ended up blowing the save with one pitch, giving up a single to Russell Martin to tie the game. Game tied 2-2. Aceves got the 3rd out and we were on to the 9th.
As for the Sox offense, they got a couple of runs from Kuroda early and then nothing else. In the 2nd, the Sox scored 2 runs with an RBI double from Ryan Sweeney to score Gonzo and Salty. Andruw Jones didn’t play the ball well and it resulted in 2 runs scoring. Sox 2-0. That would be the only runs the Sox could score in the 9 innings, however once the game was tied they turned their attention to Yankee killer Pedro Ciriaco to be the hero. In the 10th inning, Salty began the inning by walking and then there was a little Middlebrooks drama. Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch, however the umpires said that the ball hit the bat and not him. The welt on his hand said otherwise. We initially thought they said he was trying to bunt, but after the game Brooks said that the umpires told him that the ball didn’t hit him. As a result, Bobby V came out and argued loudly and got himself ejected. Along the way, Josh Beckett also got himself ejected for continuing to yell some baseball terms from the dugout to the umpires. Beckett had watched the replay in the clubhouse and had some knowledge to share with the umps. It all mattered not since Middlebrooks hit a single and there were two men on with no outs. Sweeney moved the runners over with a groundout and then Pedro Ciriaco came to the plate. Pedro hit a bloop single to right field and the Sox had a lead 3-2.
Alfredo Aceves may have blown the save, however he stayed on the mound and continued to pitch well until he had a chance to turn the blown save into a win. Aceves pitched himself a 1-2-3 9th to give the Sox a chance in extra innings. When the Sox took the lead in the top of the 10th, Aceves came back out in the 10th to close the game out. Aceves got two outs and then hit Swisher with a pitch. Pitching coach Bob McClure came out to talk to Aceves and Aces assured him not to worry and that he had the inning. It was a sight to see, Aceves tapping McClure on the back instead of the other way around. Aceves was right though as he got Ibanez to strike out to end the game and give the Sox the win.
Red Sox took the series from the Yanks and are once again back to 500. Now let’s keep winning and stay above it.
Red Sox 3 Yankees 2 F/10 BOXSCORE
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