One day when Josh Beckett takes the mound for the Boston Red Sox, he’s going to get more run support than he needs with the way he’s been pitching this season. But if you ask Beckett, it’s not about individual numbers, it’s whether or not the team wins the game.
Well thanks to Josh Reddick delivering the third walkoff hit of the week, the Red Sox picked up a 3-2 win in 10 innings over the New York Yankees on Sunday night at Historic Fenway Park.
With the win, the Red Sox regained sole possession of first place over the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers do hold a seven-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the wild card.
If it weren’t for Marco Scutaro and Dustin Pedroia earlier in the game, the Red Sox may not have had the opportunity to win the game. With Jed Lowrie being activated before tonight’s game, Scutaro could be facing decreased playing time coming up. But on Sunday night, he came through with a four-hit effort.
But none was bigger than a leadoff double in the 9th off of the Godfather of closers in Mariano Rivera. After Jacoby Ellsbury sacrificed him over to third, Dustin Pedroia brought Scutaro home with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2. Pedroia had been 0-for-10 with five strikeouts and two walks before that.
Even with an off day today for the Yankees, their skipper Joe Girardi decided to bring in Phil Hughes in the 10th rather than have Mariano pitch another inning. Hughes got Kevin Youkilis to fly out for the first out but David Ortiz doubled. Darnell McDonald came in to pinch-run for Big Papi.
The Yanks decided to intentionally walk Carl Crawford, who had another three hits on the evening, to set up the heroics for Reddick.
One bad pitch from Beckett to Eduardo Nunez cost him the lead but other than that, he was outstanding on the bump. His curveball was just downright filthy. He was able to use that effectively to get him the final out of his outing to strikeout Don Mattingly Eric Chavez.
Beckett went six innings on a hot and humid night at the Fens, throwing 101 pitches. He allowed six hits, the one run, with two walks and five strikeouts. Matt Albers gave up the go-ahead run at the time on a home run by Brett Gardner but Dan Wheeler, Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard picked him up with Bard getting the win after the walkoff hit by Reddick.
Had the Red Sox not left a small village on the basepaths against Yankees starter Freddy Garcia, this game could have been over much earlier with the way Beckett was pitching. After playing the hero on Saturday, Ellsbury struggled on Sunday as he left eight men on base of the 12 the team left on during the game.
Unless something funky happens, these two teams should be heading to the AL playoffs later this season. Obviously they won’t matchup with each other until the ALCS at the earliest. So while this is just the regular season, the Red Sox winning last night continued their mastery of the Yankees this season (10-2).
We all know the playoffs are a different animal. But finishing in first place and holding home field advantage in the playoffs can hold a lot of weight for the local nine in the postseason.
We’ll be back later with this evening’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now enjoy the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Five Things We Learned on a night of a rare Red Sox rally [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Richly deserved [Boston Globe]
We’ve learned a lot about these rivals [Boston Globe]
Billionaire Slim cashes in on invite [Boston Globe]
At first, they’re a pair [Boston Globe]
Lowrie coming along for the ride [Boston Globe]
Red Sox walk off on top [Boston Herald]
Josh Reddick: The kid’s all right [Boston Herald]
Jed Lowrie healthy addition [Boston Herald]
Carl Crawford takes right turn on left [Boston Herald]
Four-sighted Marco Scutaro [Boston Herald]
Yankees decide to sit Jorge Posada [Boston Herald]
Sox beat Yanks in walkoff style, 3-2 [CSN New England]
Beckett continues to dazzle despite no decisions [CSN New England]
Lowrie to be activated Monday [CSN New England]
Scutaro, Reddick play bigger than their bodies [CSN New England]
Notes: Francona proud of Sox’ 1-4 hitters [CSN New England]
‘His feel for the game is phenomenal’ [ESPN Boston]
Rapid reaction: Red Sox 3, Yankees 2 [ESPN Boston]
Scutaro comes through under the wire [ESPN Boston]
Beckett solid, but 10th win still elusive [ESPN Boston]
Reddick was firing on all cylinders [ESPN Boston]
Video: Postgame analysis [ESPN Boston]
Reddick caps classic [ESPN Boston]
State of the Nation: Sox-Yankees Special [ESPN Boston]
FanSpeak: Talking with Sox fans [ESPN Boston]
Red Sox-Yankees must mean another Jorge Posada drama [Full Count]
Closing Time: Josh Reddick walks off in 10th, gives Red Sox AL East lead [Full Count]
Josh Beckett improves on impressive resume against Yankees [Full Count]
Mariano Rivera takes defeat like a Hall of Famer would, with dignity [Full Count]
Daniel Bard’s 2011 season reminiscent of Mariano Rivera’s 1996, could closing be next? [Full Count]
Watching Josh Reddick grow up into a very smart Red Sox player [Full Count]
Marco Scutaro, Josh Reddick Part of Productive Night for Bottom Half of Red Sox Order [NESN.com]
Sox win in walk-off to reclaim AL East [Providence Journal]
Ellsbury proving it in the clutch [Providence Journal]
These are difficult days for Yankees’ Posada [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Lowrie expected to return Monday [Providence Journal]
Beating Rivera now may help Red Sox later [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
