Photo Credit: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Last night, the Red Sox hoped to continue their winning ways against the Yankees. Jon Lester was taking the mound on 7 days rest in the Bronx. Before Lester even took the mound, the Sox spotted him a 3 run lead. Ellsbury hit a leadoff homerun against Garcia, Pedey walked, Gonzo hit a triple and Youk brought him home on a sac fly.
Lester stumbled out of the gate. He threw over 30 pitches in the first inning that included him hitting both Mark Teixeira and Russell Martin. Teixeira was hit in the knee and had to be helped off the field. It’s no secret that I don’t like the Yankees, but I don’t want anyone to be hurt like that…so hope he is alright. Lester gave up a run on a single to Cano, but limited the damage to that.
The Sox ran Freddy Garcia from the game by adding on with another run in the 2nd with a Pedroia RBI. Ayala came in for an inning and change and then he was replaced by Hector Noesi. Noesi threw inside to Papi in the 5th and then Papi smashed a HR off of him. Did Papi think he was trying to throw inside and hit him? I’m not sure, but he sure had an embellished bat flip before he took off and ran the bases. No matter the drama, the Sox were winning 6-1 at that point. Noesi did settle in after that and he kept the Yankees in the game and saved their bullpen. I have to say I was impressed with what Noesi did. It was his longest relief performance in the majors to date.
Lester was constantly playing with fire in the game. He was allowing baserunning, but for the most part was not allowing them to score. However, he gave up 2 runs in the 5th on 2 RBI double to Nick Swisher. Lester did go back out and have a nice 1-2-3 6th inning before handing the game over to the bullpen.
Bobby Jenks came out in the 7th. He was taken off the mound before he even finished with one batter. Salty came out and immediately asked for the trainer. TV coverage showed Jenks mouthing “it’s my back.” Jenks was removed from the game and replaced with Matt Albers. It was reported that it was officially “back tightness” for Jenks. Albers came in with a 3-1 count from Jenks and walked Posada. After that he got a fly out and a DP to get out of the game.
Bard came out for the 8th and his stuff just looked filthy. Papelbon entered the 9th since he is appealing his suspension. Pap created a little drama in the 9th. He walked Gardner and then Jorge Posada singled to bring Gardner home. Pap finished off the game with a filthy at bat against ARod getting him to strike out swinging to bring the Sox the win.
Red Sox 6 Yankees 4 BOXSCORE
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
