Boston Red Sox 11 New York Yankees 4 (April 27, 2007)
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0 commentsWhat promised to be one of the more hard-fought games in this series ended up a blowout as the Boston Red Sox (15-7, 1st in AL East) handed the New York Yankees (8-13, 5th in AL East) their 7th straight loss by a final score of 11-4. Daisuke Matsuzaka (W, 3-2) won his 2nd game of the year against the Yankees, throwing 6 innings and allowing 4 earned runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Andy Pettitte (L, 1-1) took the loss as he unraveled in the fifth inning. Pettitte went 4 2/3, allowed 5 runs on 6 hits, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. In that fifth inning, he walked in a run and allowed another to score on a wild pitch.
| W: | Daisuke Matsuzaka | (3-2, 4.36) |
| L: | Andy Pettitte | (1-1, 3.00) |
| S: | N/A | N/A |
The Boston offense was really sparked today by the top two men in the lineup, as Julio Lugo went 3-4 with 2 walks, a HR, 2 SB, and 3 RBI, a triple short of the cycle, and Kevin Youkilis also knocked in 3, including his second HR of the season. David Ortiz added two RBI. Mike Timlin, Hideki Okajima, and Joel Pineiro pitched 3 shutout innings in relief of Matsuzaka.
The entirety of the Yankee offense came against Matsuzaka in the fourth, as he struggled for his requisite one inning. Johnny Damon knocked in two, Derek Jeter one, and Jorge Posada one. The whole Yankee lineup was once again healthy, something that didn't happen against the Red Sox last weekend, as Posada and Hideki Matsui were both out with injuries.
Mariano Rivera came into the ninth inning to get some work in, down 3 runs, and absolutely blew up, allowing four more and only recording one out. The last time Rivera was taken out of the game in the middle of the inning was almost two years ago to the day, against the Red Sox. The Yankees are the only team in the majors who have yet to record a save, and they remain dead last in quality starts. Rivera's velocity was back where it usually is, but he was not locating any of his pitches at all. The Yankees really need some consistency from, well, any of their pitchers if they are to have a prayer of getting back into it this season. It's early, but they've fallen 6.5 games behind Boston and there are really no answers in sight for their pitching staff that aren't named Roger Clemens.
Notes: The Yankees used five or more pitchers for the eighth straight game, one shy of a major league record... This is neither here nor there, but Michael Kay is the worst announcer in the history of broadcasting... Alex Rodriguez continued to struggle against Matsuzaka, going 0-3 with a walk and a run scored... Mike Lowell has a 13-game hitting streak, and Jeter has now hit in 15 straight... Jeter has also reached base safely in 55 of his last 57 games, stretching back to last season.
Coming Up Next: The Yankees need Jeff Karstens (0-1, 14.54) to put together a strong outing tomorrow to save their bullpen. He will face Tim Wakefield (2-2, 2.08).
Date
April 27, 2007
