In a series that was make
or break for the Sox, the unthinkable happened....nothing. The Sox
won 2 and the Yankees won 2 putting both teams exactly where they
started on Thursday. A small slump by the Rays widened the gap
between them and the Yankees and inched the Sox within 4 of the wild
card, but nothing was solved in the Bronx.
Today's game was another
microcosm of the season where the pitching staff has to be near
perfect in order to win. Jon Lester (12-7, 2.94 ERA) snapped a
personal 4 game skid and pitched outstanding shut-out ball into the
7th inning. Lester had to be on because the anemic Red Sox offense
once again faltered. The Sox rocked Yankees starter Phil Hughes
around in the first 2 innings, getting six hits and 2 runs off him
before getting only a single hit off of the Yankees staff for the
next SEVEN innings. Bill Hall and JD Drew led the charge and drove in
the 2 lone runs the Sox scored.
In the bottom of the 7th
inning things got a little hairy. The Yankees loaded the bases with
nobody out and Jon Lester managed to strike Curtis Granderson out. In
came Daniel Bard who then struck out Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher to
end the threat. In the 8th inning the Yankees broke through. Mark
Teixera blasted his 28th homer of the year off Bard and A-Rod walked.
Brett Gardner pinch ran for A-Rod and was moved to second on a
Robinson Cano ground-out. Jorge Posada walked as Bard was visibly
exhausted on the mound. Bard managed to get Lance Berkman to pop out
to end his day as Jonathan Papelbon came in and slammed the door. Jon
then worked around around a Derek Jeter walk to strike out
Granderson, Teixera and Swisher to end the game 2-1 and pick up his
28th save of the year.
Lost in all of the Sox
run-scoring ineptitude was the rejuvinated Jacoby Ellsbury who
returned to his base-stealing ways with 4. Ryan Kalish and JD Drew
also joined the stolen base parade and even though it didn't matter
in this game, in future games it definitely will. Ellsbury's speed
and base-stealing ability will impact the rbi stats of anyone hitting
after him.
Even though the Sox didn't
gain ground on the Yankees in the 4 game set, they didn't fall behind
either. They're still within striking distance of the AL East with
over 40 games remaining and they're only 4.5 games behind the Rays in
the wild card. The return of Ellsbury gives the Sox an element they
haven't had all season that worked to perfection last year. Now the
Sox look forward to the return of Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek
which could be the final pieces of the puzzle needed to overtake the
Rays and possibly the Yankees.
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