Its a new month but the same old Boston Red Sox as the New York Yankees did what they usually do, beat the Sox late in the game. The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Justin Masterson but he stayed tough after that. The Sox got a sac fly by Mookie Betts against CC Sabathia in the third inning and an Allen Craig home run in the fourth inning to put the Sox ahead. Then the Yankees rallied for a run in the seventh after Ryan Hanigan got hit in the wrist by an errant pitch by Tommy Layne. Alex Rodriguez came off the bench to hit a pinch hit home run off Junichi Tazawa (0-1, 2.31 ERA) in the eighth inning, career shot number 660. The Sox had two men on in the bottom of the eighth but Dellin Betances struck out both Brock "The Hitman" Holt and Xander Bogaerts. Andrew Miller blew the Sox away in the ninth and the Yankees prevailed 3-2 over the Sox at Fenway Park.
The Yankees wasted no time getting to Masterson in the top of the first inning as Jacoby Ellsbury lined a base hit in front of Allen Craig to start. Brett Gardner flied out to left but Mark Teixeira drew a walk on four pitches not even close. Brian McCann also flied out to Hanley but Carlos Beltran doubled to the Monster to score Teixeira. Chase Headley grounded out to second to end the inning with the Yankees up 1-0.
Sabathia got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to the left field warning track to start. Dustin Pedroia popped up to left and David Ortiz popped up to Gardner to end the inning.
Garrett Jones led off the top of the second inning with a liner to Pedroia to start. Old pal Stephen "PU" Drew struck out swinging and Didi Gregorius grounded out to short to end the inning. Hanley Ramirez led off the bottom of the second with a grounder to short. Mike Napoli grounded out to third but Pablo Sandoval got a base hit off the bottom of the Monster. Craig took strike three to end the inning.
Ellsbury grounded out to short to open the top of the third before TV analyst Michael Kay brought up the record amount of snowfall in Massachusetts earlier this year. Gardner slapped a base hit to left but Teixeira hit into a double play to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the third as Xander Bogaerts doubled to the left field wall to start. Ryan Hanigan lined out to the centerfield warning track to move Bogaerts to third, and Xander scored on the sac fly to center by Mr. Mookie. Pedroia walked and Ortiz dropped a base hit to left to move Dustin to third. With a chance to break the game open....Hanley grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
McCann led off the top of the fourth by grounding out Pedroia but Beltran ripped a base hit to right. Headley doubled into the right field corner but Masterson got a big out when Jones whiffed on a high 89 mph fastball. PU Drew grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox surged ahead in the bottom of the fourth as Napoli went down hacking to start. Sandoval hit one up the elevator shaft but Craig hit a home run into the Monster seats to put Boston on top. Naturally YES showed Bucky Dent's home run out of nowhere as Bogaerts walked. The Yankees caught a break when Hanigan doubled down the left field line and a fan reached out to grab the ball. The ball was ruled dead on a ground rule double that prevented Bogaerts scoring. Mr. Mookie grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox up 2-1.
Gregorious grounded back to the mound to start the top of the fifth but Ellsbury slapped a base hit to center. Gardner popped up to left but Teixeira walked. McCann was plunked to load the bases but Beltran grounded out to second to end the inning. Pedroia beat out a roller to Sabathia to start the bottom of the fifth but Ortiz lined to Headley, doubling Dustin off of first. Ramirez hit a ball under Gregorius' glove for an error and the Yankees caught another break when Napoli hit a ground rule double into the bullpen to keep Hanley at third. Sandoval grounded out to short to end the inning.
Headley lined out to Pedroia to start the top of the sixth before Jones popped up to short. PU Drew lined out to the left field warning track to end the inning. Craig watched strike three go by to start the bottom of the sixth before Bogaerts flied out to the left field warning track. Sabathia won a footrace with Hanigan to retire him on a grounder to first to end the inning.
Gregorius walked to start the top of the seventh and that was it for Masterson. He'd be charged with 2 runs in 6 plus innings of work. He allowed 6 hits and 3 walks before Tommy Layne came in to replace him. Ellsbury popped up to short and Gardner struck out swinging, but disaster struck. Somehow Layne's errant pitch managed to hit BOTH Teixeira in the wrist and Hanigan in the hand. Hanigan had to be rushed to Mass General's ICU and Sandy Leon came in to catch for him. Naturally McCann drilled a base hit to left to score Gregorius with the tying run. Beltran popped up to second to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Esmil Rogers came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Mr. Mookie hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Pedroia walked but Ortiz hit into a double play to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Headley grounded out to second to start. Alex Rodriguez pinch hit for Jones and hit his 660th career home run to put the Yankees on top. PU Drew popped up to short but Gregorius lined a base hit to left. A balk moved Didi to second and a wild pitch moved him to third. Ellsbury grounded out to first to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 3-2.
Chris Young came in for Beltran with Dellin Betances coming in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Ramirez grounded out to second but Napoli drew a walk. Sandoval slapped a base hit to left and Brock "The Hitman" Holt pinch hit for Craig. Holt struck out swinging on a nasty splitter and Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning.
Robbie Ross Jr came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Gardner walked to start. Teixeira shattered his bat on a grounder to second but Gardner moved up a base. McCann struck out swinging and Young was intentionally walked. Headley flied out to right to end the inning. Old pal Andrew Miller came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Leon popped up to first in foul territory to start. Mr. Mookie struck out swinging and Pedroia lined out to Headley to end the game. The Yankees had won it 3-2.
Jackass of The Night is Junichi Tazawa. He served up the pinch hit jack to Alex Rodriguez after A-Rod had never hit a pinch hit home run before.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Mike Napoli was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Ryan Hanigan was 1 for 3 before leaving with injury.
Pablo Sandoval was 2 for 4.
Allen Craig was 1 for 3 with a home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Justin Masterson was charged with 2 runs in 6 plus innings of work. He allowed 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2.
Robbie Ross Jr pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4.
Brock Holt struck out as a pinch hitter.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 1 at the plate.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 but drove in a run.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4.
Tommy Layne allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in an inning of work.
Final Thoughts:
This felt like one of those losses from 1999 to 2002 where the Yankees ride out the starter and pounce on the Red Sox bullpen while their own bullpen is lights out. The Sox got 2 runs by the fourth inning and were silenced the rest of the way. Blowing the rally in the eighth inning with Holt striking out was their last big chance. Its a shame because the Sox were essentially one swing from winning this one in the eighth, but it was not to be. Masterson pitched his ass off and Layne couldn't hold the fort. A-Rod hit his 660th home run but it was the first pinch hit home run of his career. Thanks a lot, Tazawa. The Sox haven't been able to gain any momentum at all for one reason or another. Hopefully they can bounce back tomorrow offensively because tonight sucked. The loss dropped the Sox to 12-11, 2 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow afternoon against the Yankees when Wade Miley (1-2) takes on Nathan Eovaldi tomorrow on Fox Saturday Baseball. The game begins at 1:30 PM at Fenway Park.