The Red Sox rode the hot bat of Julio Lugo enroute to a 11-4 victory over the Yankees. Lugo was 3 for 4, with a HR, double and three RBIs. He also stole two bases. Kevin Youkilis chipped in with three RBIs as well.
As far as the pitching went, it was pretty bad for both teams. Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled mightily with his command most of the time. He ran into trouble in the fourth inning when he walked the bases loaded. Hip hip Jorge Posada then hit one off the end of his bat that fell in front of a sliding Manny Ramirez that scored GayRod from third. Matsuzaka then settled down for two batters, striking out Robinson Cano and getting Doug Mientkiewicz to pop out. Johnny “Traitor” Damon then singled to right field, which scored Hideki Matsui and the Giambino. Derek Jeter followed Damon with a single that scored Posada. All in all, the Yankees plated four runs in the inning to go up by two.
The long layoff must have affected Yankees starter Andy Pettitte because he became unraveled in the top of the fifth. He got Dustin Pedroia to fly out to right. Lugo then singled and stole second base before Youkilis singled him over to third base. Big Papi then singled scoring Lugo. Pettitte then walked Manny to load the bases but got J.D. Drew to strike out. He then proceeded to walk Mike Lowell driving in the second run of the inning. With Jason Varitek at the plate, he uncorked a wild pitch that scored Big Papi. Varitek walked ending Pettitte’s night after 102 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. Scott Proctologist came in and got Coco Crisp to fly out to end the inning.
Matsuzaka settled down in the fifth and sixth innings getting all six batters he faced out, including his third strikeout of Cano. Matsuzaka departed after six innings. He gave up five hits, four runs, walked four and struck out seven hitters.
Lugo got the Sox an insurance run in the sixth inning when he hit his first home run in a Sox uniform. He had gone 240 at-bats without a home run. Hat tip to Amalie Benjamin for the information. They added another run when Lugo hit a double that scored Pedroia, putting the Sox up three runs.
Hideki “Darkman” Okajima came in and was very effective again, only allowing a Giambino single. This setup what I thought would be Jonathan Papelbon coming in to finish off the Evil Empire barring any more Red Sox runs. This wasn’t the case though.
Manager Joe Torre brought in his closer, Mariano Rivera, to keep the game close and to get him some work. The Red Sox once again had his number. He did get Drew on a strikeout but then the wheels fell off. Mike Lowell singled, putting his hitting streak at thirteen games. Varitek singled and so did Crisp. Crisp’s single scored Lowell from second base. Crisp then stole second base before Rivera walked Pedroia. This ended Rivera’s night.
Mike Myers, no relation to the man who played Austin Powers, came in and walked Lugo, scoring Tek from third base. At that point, Lugo was a triple short of the cycle. With the infield back, Youk grounded out to Cano at second scoring Coco from third. Big Papi followed him with a single that scored Pedroia providing the final margin of 11-4.
Joel Piñero came in and finished the Yanks off.
All I have to say is that game was ugly. But I am pumped that the Red Sox sent the Yanks to their seventh consecutive loss. I am sure Big Stein won’t take too much more of this. Something needs to be done to that team. Their starters have now failed to get out of the fifth inning yet again.
As far as Dice-K is concerned, he needs to get better command of his pitches. Maybe it was the circus-like atmosphere in New York or the pressure of the rivalry, but he hasn’t looked that good his past two starts. Hopefully, he settles down and pitches like we know he is capable of. He did get the win though.
