Red Sox Bullpen Implodes as Yankees Win
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by Niteowl049
Baseball Notebook
Red Sox Bullpen Blows Lead As Yankees Score 6 in 8th Inning
Entering the eighth inning it looked like the Boston Red Sox had an easy win locked up with a 7-2 lead. However, the New York Yankees turned what looked like an easy Red Sox win into a humiliating loss as the Yankees crossed the plate six times in the top of the eighth inning and held on to win 8-7.
The Red Sox bullpen tandem of Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon combined to give up six runs and six hits in the contest. For the Yankees to win this game had to be a huge boost for the Yankees and if the Red Sox don't win the AL East title this game will be remembered as the turning point of the season. On the other hand if the Red Sox win today they will be right back where they were before yesterday's game.
Today's matchup of Josh Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang who both have identical 18-6 records should be a low scoring game but when these two teams collide anything can happen as Daisuke Matsuzaka can attest to after last night's game. He was six outs from his 15th victory of the season but instead he received a no decision.
Around the Bases
C.C. Sabathia registered 13 strikeouts against the Kansas City Royals but it still wasn't enough for him to win his 18th game of the season and probably ending his chance of a 20 win season. However, the Cleveland Indians came back from a 4-1 deficit to record a 5-4 win with a ninth inning walkoff homer by Casey Blake. Justin Morneau finally hit his 30th home run which was only his second home run since July 23rd. In August and September combined he has two home runs in 155 at bats. Despite his long slump Morneau is fourth in home runs in the AL with only Alex Rodriguez with 52, Carlos Pena with 39 and David Ortiz with 31 ahead of him.
Jose Contreras (9-16) blew any chance of losing 20 games this season by winning 5-3 over the Los Angeles Angels. He has allowed 212 hits in 167 innings this season. Daric Barton of the Oakland A's has only played in five games since being called up from minors but in four of those games he has had at least two hits and is hitting .409. It took him 460 games and 1657 minor league at bats before getting his first major league at bat this month but now he is here he should be around for a long time.
Sammy Sosa hit his 20th home run and drove in five runs in the Texas Rangers' 11-9 loss the A's. He now has 88 RBI's and has a very slight chance of having 100 RBI's this season. MLB.com says the Atlanta Braves kept their playoff hopes alive with their 13 inning win over the Washington Nationals, but with the Braves only three games over .500 and the New York Mets twenty games over .500, don't see the logic in them making that statement. The Philadelphia Phillies still have a chance of winning the NL East being five and a half games behind the Mets and only a game and a half behind in the wildcard race. The two 40 years plus starters Jamie Moyer and Tom Glavine both pitched well, but Greg Dobbs hit a game winning sacrifice fly in top of the tenth inning to give the Phillies a 3-2 win.
The Milwaukee Brewers allowed the Cincinnati Reds to take an early 5-0 lead, but the Reds had to hold on to take a 6-5 win. Ben Sheets, who won his last game despite pitching badly, wasn't so fortunate this time, lasting only three innings. In his last nine innings, he has allowed 10 runs and 12 hits. Prince Fielder hit his NL leading 45th home run in the contest while Adam Dunn hit his 39th for the Reds. Brewers fell to a game and a half behind the Chicago Cubs with their loss and the Cubs win.
Carlos Zambrano (16-12) won his second game in a row after losing five consecutive games and having an 0-4 record in August. He looked like a lock for 20 wins before his slump but if he can pitch like he did in his last two starts the Cubs may find themselves in the playoffs. The loss which was the eighth in a row for the St. Louis Cardinals all but eliminated them from the race when considering they are seven games under .500 while Cubs are five games over .500.
The Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage of a chance to gain ground on the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 7-4 win, as Brad Penny (16-4) took the win. The San Diego Padres won in the tenth inning over the San Francisco Giants and moved to within three games of the first place Diamondbacks in the NL West race. Barry Zito pitched well but is now almost guaranteed not to have a winning season this year as his record remains at 9-12.
It should be noted that the Indians and Angels are now tied for the 2nd best record in the AL. Should it end this way, the Indians get the #2 seed.
As for CC Sabathis, this performance ends a streak of 10 games where he went at least 6 innings and gave up 2 or fewer runs.