Although the New York Mets won’t officially christen their new ballpark, Citi Field, until April 13th, they did welcome the Boston Red Sox in for a couple of exhibition games tonight and tomorrow afternoon. For the Mets, it was a chance to get some time in their ballpark before the opener while for the Red Sox, it was a chance to get some work in before Monday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Marcus McBeth walked Alex Cora with the bases loaded in the 6th inning to give the Mets a 4-3 lead and their bullpen made it hold up in front of 37,652 rain soaked fans.
Jon Lester got the start for the Red Sox and wasn’t really that impressive. Maybe it was the cold, damp weather but he never really had any command tonight, especially with his fastball. Lester went 4 innings, allowing one run on 3 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4.
Manny Delcarmen had a tough night as he well as he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in an inning. McBeth went an inning, giving up the one run on a hit and three walks while striking out 1 in his inning of work. Hideki Okajima was impressive tonight as he struck out the side in his inning while Jonathan Papelbon worked a perfect inning as well, striking out one along the way.
Six of the eight hits for the Red Sox were doubles. Chris Carter led the way with 2 hits, including a double and an RBI. Angel Chavez added a double and an RBI while Dusty Brown knocked in the other run for the Red Sox with a groundout in the 7th inning. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew and Gil Velazquez had the other doubles.
The Red Sox and the Mets will play again tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 PM at Citi Field. The game will be broadcast on the MLB Network and WPIX in New York. WRKO will have the radio broadcast in the Boston area. For those of you who don’t get the MLB Network or WPIX in New York, you can check out the game for free on MLB.tv.
Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets 4.3.09 exhibition game box score
