09/15: No Comeback Today, Just a Whole Lot of Yucky Badness
Posted by: Patrick
Yeah, that pretty much covers it. Yucky badness.
After 4 and 1/2 innings, the game was a pitchers duel, with Wang and Beckett both holding the respective offenses to 1 run, both of which were scored in the 1st. Jeter hit a deep solo shot to center in his first at bat and Mike Lowell singled in Dustin Pedroia to tie it up. Then, we had the zeros. The Red Sox got to Wang again in the bottom of the 5th, as J.D. Drew singled with 2 outs to score Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury had got into the game because Wang hit Youkilis with a pitch. Looking at the replay, it just looks like a high pitch that tailed in that Youkilis falls into because of his swing and the way he stands. At any rate, that didn't stop Beckett from plunking Giambi, our first baseman, the next time he came to the plate. Whatever.
Wang just couldn't get out of the 6th. After allowing a lead off double and then a single that pushed the runner to 3rd, he got Julio Lugo to fly out. Pedroia hit a ground ball to Cano which Cano picked cleanly, making a great throw to the plate. Jorge caught it and had just a split second to turn and tag Eric Hinske, who barreled into him, forearm up into Posada's neck, knocking his mask off, at full speed. It was a terrific, terrific play by Posada and you can watch it here. Looking at that replay, it appears that Posada was signaling to Cano to take the out at 1st.
With that second out, it looked like we might get out of the inning. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Jacoby Ellsbury signed in Crisp and Ortiz doubled in Pedroia and Ellsbury to make it 5-1. By the end of the inning, Wang had been relieved by Edwar, who struck out Lowell for the final out.
In the 7th, Ramirez walked Drew and struck out Varitek and was then relieved by Ron Villone. Villone walked Hinske and was taken out of the game in favor of Bruney. The first batter he faced, Coco Crisp, hit a ground rule, RBI double. Bruney walked Lugo and struck out Pedroia before being pulled for Sean Henn. Henn allowed a 2 RBI single to Ellsbury and then walked David Ortiz. This brought in Ross Ohlendorf for his second major league appearance. He walked Mike Lowell with the bases loaded, allowing the 9th Red Sox run to cross the plate. Finally, J.D. Drew was struck out and the half inning was over. All told, it took more than 30 minutes for the Red Sox to score those 4 runs, thanks to 4 walks and 4 pitching changes.
Ohlendorf would come out and pitch the 8th in garbage time, allowing a solo shot to Eric Hinske. The Yankees offense looked terrible, making it that much easier for Beckett to win the Cy this year. We had 4 hits and 3 walks. 2 of those hits came from Jeter. 1 came from Abreu and the other was provided by Cano.
With the loss, the Yankees will fall back to 5.5 games back in the division, giving the Red Sox a magic number of 9 with 27 combined Yankees and Red Sox games left in the season (with 2 of those being tomorrow in 1 game, of course). It'll be Clemens vs. Schilling tomorrow in the rubber game.
After 4 and 1/2 innings, the game was a pitchers duel, with Wang and Beckett both holding the respective offenses to 1 run, both of which were scored in the 1st. Jeter hit a deep solo shot to center in his first at bat and Mike Lowell singled in Dustin Pedroia to tie it up. Then, we had the zeros. The Red Sox got to Wang again in the bottom of the 5th, as J.D. Drew singled with 2 outs to score Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury had got into the game because Wang hit Youkilis with a pitch. Looking at the replay, it just looks like a high pitch that tailed in that Youkilis falls into because of his swing and the way he stands. At any rate, that didn't stop Beckett from plunking Giambi, our first baseman, the next time he came to the plate. Whatever.
Wang just couldn't get out of the 6th. After allowing a lead off double and then a single that pushed the runner to 3rd, he got Julio Lugo to fly out. Pedroia hit a ground ball to Cano which Cano picked cleanly, making a great throw to the plate. Jorge caught it and had just a split second to turn and tag Eric Hinske, who barreled into him, forearm up into Posada's neck, knocking his mask off, at full speed. It was a terrific, terrific play by Posada and you can watch it here. Looking at that replay, it appears that Posada was signaling to Cano to take the out at 1st.
With that second out, it looked like we might get out of the inning. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Jacoby Ellsbury signed in Crisp and Ortiz doubled in Pedroia and Ellsbury to make it 5-1. By the end of the inning, Wang had been relieved by Edwar, who struck out Lowell for the final out.
In the 7th, Ramirez walked Drew and struck out Varitek and was then relieved by Ron Villone. Villone walked Hinske and was taken out of the game in favor of Bruney. The first batter he faced, Coco Crisp, hit a ground rule, RBI double. Bruney walked Lugo and struck out Pedroia before being pulled for Sean Henn. Henn allowed a 2 RBI single to Ellsbury and then walked David Ortiz. This brought in Ross Ohlendorf for his second major league appearance. He walked Mike Lowell with the bases loaded, allowing the 9th Red Sox run to cross the plate. Finally, J.D. Drew was struck out and the half inning was over. All told, it took more than 30 minutes for the Red Sox to score those 4 runs, thanks to 4 walks and 4 pitching changes.
Ohlendorf would come out and pitch the 8th in garbage time, allowing a solo shot to Eric Hinske. The Yankees offense looked terrible, making it that much easier for Beckett to win the Cy this year. We had 4 hits and 3 walks. 2 of those hits came from Jeter. 1 came from Abreu and the other was provided by Cano.
With the loss, the Yankees will fall back to 5.5 games back in the division, giving the Red Sox a magic number of 9 with 27 combined Yankees and Red Sox games left in the season (with 2 of those being tomorrow in 1 game, of course). It'll be Clemens vs. Schilling tomorrow in the rubber game.
