The Red Sox took to the field looking much different last night, but for at least the first game, it looked like it worked. Yoenis Cespedes wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he made it to the park in time to be watching from the bench. The Sox had Allen Craig in the outfield, activated Will Middlebrooks from the DL and recalled Mookie Betts. Anthony Ranaudo was also making his major league debut and starting in place of traded starter John Lackey. Ranaudo walked a few too many people, but otherwise was impressive on the mound. The Sox bats got him enough runs to have him get his first major league win in Friday night’s win over the Yankees.
The game stayed tied until the 3rd inning when the Sox bats finally broke through and got to former Sox bullpen arm Chris Capuano. Pedey hit an RBI ground rule double and then Papi hit an RBI single to have the Sox up 2-0. Ranaudo gave one of those runs right back in the top of the 4th when he gave up a leadoff homerun to Carlos Beltran. Sox 2-1. In the bottom of the inning the Sox were able to get the lead back to 2 when David Ross hit an RBI single to score Middlebrooks from 2nd. Sox 3-1. In the bottom of the 6th the Yankees kept crawling back when they got within one run again. Ellsbury got on and then tried to steal second base. Ells was initially called out, but on review the call was reversed and he was safe. Carlos Beltran continued to have Ranaudo’s number and hit an RBI single to score Ellsbury. Sox 3-2. Ranaudo was done after 6 innings and his pitching line was 91 pitches, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB and 2 Ks. All in all, not too shabby for his first major league start. Ranaudo will end up getting sent down after the game to make room for Joe Kelly on the roster, but it is all but certain he will be back up with the big club sooner rather than later.
Tommy Layne took the mound in the 7th inning. Layne was recalled from Pawtucket as one of the bullpen arms to replace the traded arms of Miller and Doubront. Christian Vazquez was also in the game behind the plate as David Ross left with continued problems with plantar fascia. Layne had himself a nice 1-2-3 inning to keep the Sox in the lead. In the bottom of the inning the Sox got what would end up being a much needed insurance run. Pedroia hit an RBI single to score Mookie Betts from 2nd base. Sox 4-2. Tazawa took the mound in the 8th and didn’t have his best outing. Derek Jeter hit a leadoff homerun off Tazawa to have the Yankees once again within a run. Sox 4-3. Ellsbury hit what looked like it would gonna be a double or even a triple to deep center, but Mookie Betts made what ended up being the catch of the game. Not too bad for a guy who is actually a second baseman. Tazawa continued to get himself into trouble, but luckily he was able to wiggle out of it and end the inning with the Sox still in the lead. Koji Uehara took the mound in the 9th and had himself a nice 1-2-3 inning to secure the win for the Sox.
Red Sox 4 Yankees 3 BOXSCORE
WP: Ranaudo (1-0) LP: Capuano (1-2) SV: Uehara (22)
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