It was an ugly night for baseball for the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at Fenway Park. On Saturday afternoon at the Fens, it was a chance to pay the New York Yankees back.
The Red Sox did that and more as they were able to get to A.J. Burnett for seven runs in the first two innings on Saturday. Couple that with a fine pitching performance from young Japanese rookie Junichi Tazawa and two home runs and 6 RBIs from Kevin Youkilis and you have a 14-1 win for the Boston Red Sox.
Their lead now stands at two games in the wild card over the Texas Rangers, who lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. By the way, the Rays are just three games back as well. The Red Sox are still 6.5 games out of first in the AL East.
Tazawa was outstanding on the bump. While he did find himself in trouble at times, he was able to make the pitch he needed to in order to get himself out of that trouble. Tazawa was able to dominate the Yankees hitters because he established his breaking stuff early on in the count. He also mixed his pitches and moved them all over the plate to keep the hitters off balance. He even got a little revenge on Alex Rodriguez as he made him look silly on a nasty curveball for a strikeout to end the third inning.
With Terry Francona replacing Brad Penny in the rotation with Tim Wakefield, Tazawa needed to shine on Saturday afternoon. He passed that test with flying colors and should get another start five days from now. If he doesn’t I’d be quite shocked given the fact that Penny has one win in his last eleven starts.
With Wakefield returning to the rotation on Wednesday and George Kottaras still on the disabled list, everyone is wondering who will catch him. According to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, who answered a tweet from me, said that Victor Martinez will catch him.
It will be Victor Martinez. He’s worked a bit with Wake on catching the knuckler, including in Toronto.
That definitely should be an interesting game to watch on Wednesday night with VMart catching the knuckleball for the first time in a game.
The Red Sox offense is definitely firing on all cylinders right now. Youkilis was the main provider of the offense yesterday with a two home run effort and 6 runs batted in. David Ortiz hit his 20th home run of the season. It’s the seventh straight season in which Big Papi has hit 20 home runs in a Red Sox uniform. Alex Gonzalez added a solo shot to the cause as well.
Of the fourteen runs the Red Sox scored on Saturday afternoon, thirteen of them came with two outs. The only run that wasn’t scored with two outs was the home run by Gonzalez with one out in the second inning. The 13 runs with two outs ties the Phillies for the most runs scored with two outs this season.
It should be a great pitching matchup tonight as two heavyweights get ready to battle on the Fenway Park mound. The national television audience on ESPN will see Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia duke it out.
Before we get to the links, I’d like to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Greg Montalbano. He passed away yesterday after a lengthy battle with cancer. Montalbano was a former Red Sox prospect.
Before Jon, There was Greg [Hugging Harold Reynolds]
Remembering Greg Montalbano [Full Count]
Montalbano loses long battle with cancer [Worcester Telegram]
Greg Montalbano, 31, engineer, Red Sox prospect pitched in minors 5 years [Boston Globe]
Greg Montalbano a fighter on, off field [Boston Herald]
Kevin Youkilis’ big day in memory of ‘GM’ [Boston Herald]
Opportunities bring knocks [Boston Globe]
Wakefield to take Penny’s spot in rotation [Boston Globe]
Plugged in [Boston Globe]
Numbers lately are making for a better Ortiz balance sheet [Boston Globe]
Assault on this battery [Boston Globe]
It all starts with starters [Boston Globe]
Tazawa Pulls Magic Trick [Hartford Courant]
5 Things We Learned About The Red Sox [Hartford Courant]
Yankees-Red Sox: Enough Said [Hartford Courant]
Tazawa wave of the future? [RedSox.com]
Beckett draws ace matchup in finale [RedSox.com]
Red Sox Relievers Puzzled About Wagner Claim [Full Count]
Sounds of the game: Red Sox revenge [Full Count]
11-extra-base hits for Boston [Providence Journal]
As the rotation turns, it looks like Tazawa may take the fifth [Providence Journal]
Red Sox journal: Wakefield takes Penny’s place in rotation [Providence Journal]
Downs and ups of baseball on display at Fenway [Providence Journal]
Surprised at reaction to remarks about current players, Rice says he was misquoted [Providence Journal]
Sox-Yanks [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]
Five Things We Learned: Tazawa Makes A Powerful Case [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Yanks, Burnett Left to Wonder Why It All Fell Apart [Joe Haggerty – WEEI.com]
Payback’s a bash as Red Sox smack Yankees [Boston Herald]
Red Sox show some grit [Boston Herald]
Taz bedevils Bronx Bombers [Boston Herald]
Billy Wagner willing to change Sox [Boston Herald]
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and Providence Journal websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out the NY Post, NY Daily News, Newsday and Lo Hud websites.
