The game was delayed 45 minutes and the sad part was there wasn't even any rain yet! At first Yankees starter Hideki Kuroda didn't give an inch when the game began. Daniel Nava led off and grounded out to first before Mike Carp struck out looking. Dustin Pedroia flied out to center to end the inning. Buchholz got the ball in the bottom of the first and Brett Gardner grounded out to first to start. Robinson Cano walked but Mark Teixeira took strike three. Travis Hafner popped up to left to end the inning.
The Sox threatened in the top of the second inning as David Ortiz popped up to second to start. Mike Napoli stroked a base hit to left although Stephen "PU" Drew flied out to left. Jarrod Saltalamacchia got a base hit to right but Jose Iglesias grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Vernon Wells grounded out to short to start the bottom of the second before Kevin Youkilis grounded to third. Ichiro Suzuki beat out an infield single to second but Jayson Nix grounded out to short to end the inning.
Kuroda cruised in the top of the third as Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center to start. Nava also flied out to center before Carp whiffed to end the inning. Austin Romine singled to start the bottom of the third but Gardner lined out to short. Cano hit into a double play to end the inning,.
The Sox finally broke through in the top of the 4th as Pedroia singled and Ortiz singled him over to third. Napoli then hustled to first on a ground ball to beat out a double play to score Pedroia. Kuroda recovered to strike out Drew and Saltalamacchia swinging but the Sox were on the board 1-0.
Buchholz refused to give up the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Teixeira whiffed to start. Hafner took strike three and Wells grounded out to third to end the inning.
Iglesias greeted Kuroda with something very rare in the top of the 5th. Jose smashed a 400 foot home run to extend the lead. For someone who had a reputation of being all-glove and no bat, a home run that far debunks that theory. JBJ grounded out to first but Nava singled to right. Carp whiffed again and Pedroia lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Youk led off the bottom of the fifth against his old teammate and grounded out to third. Ichiro grounded out to first and Clay struck out Nix to keep the shutout going.
The rain began to make its appearance in the top of the 6th. Ortiz also made his appearance felt with an upper deck blast, his 10th of the year, to extend the lead.
Napoli singled as the torrential downpour started. PU Drew flied out to left and thus began the rain delay. It went on for an hour and now the game appeared to be in the Yankees favor. Kuroda was gone, replaced by Boone Logan, but it also meant Buchholz and his 5 scoreless innings was gone as well. When play resumed, Napoli tried for second base but was thrown out by Romine. Saltalamacchia struck out swinging and it was on to the bottom of the 6th. Could the Sox bullpen throw 5 scoreless innings? Could the Sox score more runs? Those were the questions when the rains came again. Andrew Miller was set to come into the game but the rain ended that.
As the rain continued to come down and the delay went past 10...to 11....to 11:30....it was getting ridiculous. It seemed like Major League Baseball was trying to screw with the Red Sox because the Yankees M.O. was coming from behind against the other team's bullpen. With Buchholz out of the game, the Yankees had a chance to win. Thankfully MLB came to their senses and just after 12:15 AM, the game was called. The Red Sox had won 3-0 in 5 1/2 innings.
In a game this short, Hero of the Night is a tough one. Still, without the shutout pitching of Clay Buchholz, the offensive production wouldn't have been game winning.
The Good:
David Ortiz went 2 for 3 and swatted yet another home run in Yankee Stadium.
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Mike Napoli was 2 for 3 with an rbi to raise his batting average to .274.
Jose Iglesias was 1 for 2 with his first home run of the year.
Daniel Nava was 1 for 3.
Jarrod Saltlamacchia was 1 for 3.
The Bad:
Mike Carp was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
PU Drew was 0 for 3 with a strikeout
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 2.
The Ugly:
None
Final Thoughts:
It was cheap but a win is a win. Yankee fans will no doubt cry about it but the bottom line is the Sox have taken 4 of the first 6 games this season series. It sucks to see Ellsbury reverting to his unusually fragile ways but its nice to see the Sox have the depth to survive it. Jackie Bradley Jr's time will come even if it isn't right now and Daniel Nava has been a godsend with the ineffectiveness of Jonny Gomes and the never ending injuries to Ryan Kalish. Buchholz continues to pitch very well and if he can hold up, he's a legitimate Cy Young candidate. The Yankees are getting their injured starters back but if they show their age, they could fade fast. It should be noted the Red Sox already have 35 wins, half of last year's total and its June 2nd. Tomorrow is their first off day in 3 weeks and its been a wild ride since the last one. The win moves the Sox to 35-23, 2 1/2 games in front of the Tampa Bay Rays who are once again the "little engine that could". After an off-day, the Sox return to action Tuesday at home against the Texas Rangers, who started the 2-8 slide the last time these two teams met. Ryan Dempster (2-6) takes on Justin Grimm at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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