As for the game, if last night was the equivalent of the New York Yankees setting Fenway Park on fire with a 22-1 embarrassment, then tonight's game was them pissing on the ashes. Andy Pettite pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning until Mariano Rivera finished off the shutout. Pedro Martinez (9-3, 1.18 ERA) allowed 3 home runs in 8 innings and that was all the Yankees needed. The Sox have given up 25 runs in two games while scoring just 1. The offense can't continue to disappear against good teams but they did tonight as the Yankees blanked the Sox 3-0 at Fenway Park. How many runs did the Sox score Dean Wormer?
At first Pedro cruised in the top of the first inning as Chuck Knoblauch flied out to left to start. Derek Jeter flied out to center before Paul O'Neill watched strike three go by to end the inning. Pettite got the Sox to beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the first inning. Jose Offerman grounded out to second to begin before Jeff Frye did the same. Nomar Garciaparra dumped a base hit to right but Mike Stanley grounded out to third to end the inning.
Pedro turned up the heat in the top of the second inning as Bernie Williams took strike three to start. Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada both went down swinging to end the inning. Carl Everett led off the bottom of the second by lining out to third but Jason Varitek singled to center. Darren Lewis forced Varitek at second and Trot Nixon grounded into a force to end the inning.
Shane Spencer swung at air to open the top of the third before Jim Leyritz also fanned. Scott Brosius flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox pissed their only chance to score away in the bottom of the third although Wilton Veras lined out to first to start. Offerman got a base hit to left, Frye walked and Nomar singled to left to load the bases. Stanley then popped up to right to end the inning.
The Yankees struck first in the top of the fourth as Knoblauch singled to center to begin. The alert Pedro picked him off but Jeter clobbered a home run into the Charles River to put the Yankees up for good. O'Neill grounded out to second but Veras booted a Williams grounder for an error. Martinez flied out to center to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the fourth as Everett popped up to second to start. Varitek walked but Lewis banged into a double play to end the inning.
Pedro recovered to get Posada to pop up to third leading off the top of the fifth. Spencer and Leyritz were both frozen for strike three to end the inning. Pettite matched Pedro in the bottom of the fifth as Nixon flied out to left to start. Veras whiffed and Offerman grounded out to second to end the inning.
Brosius got a base hit to start the top of the sixth before moving to second on the sacrifice bunt by Knoblauch. Jeter grounded back to the mound and O'Neill grounded out to first to end the inning. Clay Bellinger took over for Knoblauch in the bottom of the sixth as Frye grounded out to second to start. Nomar whiffed and Stanley took strike three to end the inning.
The Yankees got to Pedro again as Williams belted a home run into Walden Pond to ice the game in the top of the seventh. Martinez grounded out to second but Posada walked. Spencer was plunked and Nomar booted a ground ball by Leyritz to load the bases. Ricky Ledee pinch ran for Leyritz but Brosius whiffed to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 2-0
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the seventh inning as Lewis grounded out to second to start. Nixon grounded out to first and Veras grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Yankees finished off Pedro in the top of the eighth although Jeter grounded out to short to start. O'Neill then pounded a home run all the way into Newfound Lake to increase the lead. Williams grounded out to first and Martnez flied out to right to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 3-0. Pedro did what he could and nine times out of 10, 8 innings of 3 run ball should be enough to win. This was the tenth time.
Offerman grounded out to short to start the bottom of the eighth before Frye whiffed. Nomar doubled off the Monster to chase Pettite. Gotta give credit to Pettite for outpitching Pedro in a game like this. Mariano Rivera came in for the four out save and Brian Daubach pinch hit for Stanley. Daubach grounded out to short to end the inning.
Derek Lowe came in for the top of the ninth and Posada walked to start. Spencer took strike three before Ledee flied out to left. Brosius struck out swinging to end the inning. Everett whiffed to open the bottom of the ninth but somehow Varitek walked. Scott Hatteberg pinch hit for Lewis only to pop up to short. Nixon flied out to center to end the game. The Yankees had blanked the Sox and guaranteed leaving Fenway in first place with a 3-0 win.
Jackass of the Night is Mike Stanley. He left a man on in the first inning and the bases loaded in the third inning.
The Good:
Nomar Garciaparra was 3 for 4.
Jason Varitek was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.
Derek Lowe pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Brian Daubach was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Darren Lewis was 0 for 3.
Scott Hatteberg was 0 for 1.
Trot Nixon was 0 for 4.
Wilton Veras was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4.
Jeff Frye was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Carl Everett was just 1 for 4.
Pedro Martinez took the loss but went 8 innings and allowed 3 runs while striking out 9.
Final Thoughts:
Don't know what else to say at this point. The Sox get their doors blown off and then Pedro is beaten. If the fans didn't think the Yankees were for real, they will now. The Sox defense, pitching and offense were exposed big time and we still have a game to go in this series. The Sox need to make a trade for a starter and an infielder if they have any hope of catching New York. They're not gonna get it done with Ramon Martnez, Jeff Fassero, Pete Schourek and Brian Rose. The loss dropped the Sox to 35-31, 1.5 game behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to avoid a sweep tomorrow night when Pete Schourek takes the mound up against David Cone at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment