Lester got the ball in the top of the first inning and Derek Jeter led off by striking out swinging on a full count. Nick Johnson grounded out to third before Mark Teixeira took strike three to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Burnett in the bottom of the first inning as Jacoby Ellsbury's pop up fell into no-man's land for a leadoff single. Ellsbury took off for second but Jorge Posada threw the ball into center, moving Jacoby to third. Dustin Pedroia lined out to second but Victor Martinez drew a walk. Kevin Youkilis hit a fly ball to center and Ellbury made a mad dash home to score on the sac fly to give the Sox the lead. Ortiz grounded into the shift to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
The Yankees tied it in the top of the second as Alex Rodriguez led off with a tapper back to the mound to start. Robinson Cano broke his bat on a base hit up the middle before Jorge Posada walked. Nick Swisher doubled down the right field line to score Cano with the tying run. Marcus Thames drew a walk and Sox pitching coach John Farrell sprinted to the mound to tell Lester that Slumdog Millionaire was on in the clubhouse. Lester got so excited that he struck out Curtis Granderson swinging to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Adrian Beltre led off the bottom of the second with a base hit to center but JD Drew whiffed on a curve in the dirt. Mike Cameron struck out but Beltre swiped second on the throw down. Marco Scutaro popped up to Teixeira in foul territory to end the inning.
As the top of the third inning began, NESN flashed the injury report. Boof Bonser would begin his rehab with Pawtuckett on Thursday and Daisuke Matsuzaka would begin his with Pawtucket on Saturday. Jed Lowrie was out with mono and Junichi Tazawa was out for the year with Tommy John surgery. Johnson led off the inning by flying out to right to start. Teixeira missed a home run by 10 feet by the left field foul pole before grounding out to short. A-Rod grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox took command in the bottom of the third as Ellsbury doubled down the right field line to start. Pedroia also missed a home run by 10 feet by the left field foul pole before he lined out to a diving Granderson in center. V-Mart bashed his first home run of the season into the Boston bullpen to put the Sox on top. Youk was rung up on a fastball on the outside corner and Ortiz grounded into the shift to end the inning but the Sox were on top 3-1.
Lester walked Cano to open the top of the fourth but Posada banged into a double play. Swisher was plunked but Lester struck out Thames to end the inning. Beltre led off the bottom of the fourth by lashing a base hit to center. Drew popped up to left but Cameron was plunked. Scutaro banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Yankees roared back in the top of the fifth as Granderson lashed a base hit to right to start. Jeter lined a base hit to center that sent Granderson to third and Johnson was hit with a pitch to load the bases. Teixeira beat out a double play ball to score Granderson and A-Rod doubled to the left field wall to tie the game. Cano put the Yankees on top with a sac fly to score Teixeira and Posada flied out to left to end the inning. Lester didn't have it at all and left after 5 innings, 4 runs allowed and trailing 4-3.
The Sox answered in the bottom of the fifth although Jeter made a great jumping catch to rob Ellsbury of a base hit to begin. Pedroia drilled a base hit to right and motored around home to tie the game on a wall ball double by V-Mart. Youk was rung up for strike three and Ortiz went down hacking to end the inning but it tied 4-4.
Manny Delcarmen made his season debut in the top of the sixth and Swisher doubled high off the wall to start. Brett Gardner pinch hit for Thames and moved Swisher to third with a grounder to second. MDC got a big out when Youk robbed Granderson of a hit with a diving catch. Jeter grounded out to short to end the inning. Alfredo Aceves took over for the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth and Jeter made another great jumping catch to rob Beltre of a hit. Drew grounded out to first but Jeter threw a routine grounder by Cameron into the dirt for an error. Scutaro grounded into a force to end the inning.
"Flamethrower" Daniel Bard came in for the top of the seventh and Johnson walked to start. Ellsbury made a great diving catch to rob Teixeira of a bloop single before A-Rod was rung up on a bad call for strike three. Cano grounded out to second to end the inning. Ellsbury grounded out to first to start the bottom of the seventh before Pedroia popped up to center. V-Mart lined out to left to end the inning.
The Yankees took command in the top of the eighth inning as Hideki Okajima came in to crap his pants. Posada hit a ground rule double into the right field corner but Okajima got Swisher to ground out to short. Gardner sliced a base hit to left but Posada remained at second and Granderson flied out to the left field warning track. Jeter hit a routine grounder to Scutaro but Youk couldn't pick the low throw by Marco and everyone was safe to load the bases. The Yankees pounced on the mistake a Johnson walked home Posada to put the Yankees up for good. That was it for Okajima who had to throw over 30 pitches, leaving the bases loaded. Scott Atchison made his Red Sox debut and first appearance in the United States since 2007 by getting Teixeira to fly out to right to end the inning with the Yankees ahead 5-4.
Daniel Robertson came in to face Youk in the bottom of the eighth and Youkilis got a base hit to left. Yankees manager brought in Damaso Marte to face Ortiz only for Marte to throw the pickoff throw away to advance Youk to second. Ortiz failed to advance Youk by popping up to center and that was it for Marte. Joba Chamberlain came in to face Beltre and struck Adrian out. Drew whiffed to end the inning as Sox fans groaned.
The Yankees got a big insurance run off Atchison in the top of the ninth although Drew ran down an A-Rod fly ball to the right field warning track. Cano didn't miss like A-Rod did, pounding a home run into the right field corner to ice the game. Posada whiffed and Swisher took strike three to end the inning but the Yankees were up 6-4.
Mariano Rivera came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Cameron popped up to short to start. Somehow Scutaro doubled to the left field wall to bring the tying run to the plate. Ellsbury took strike three on the outside corner and Pedroia flied out to right to end the game. The Yankees avenged opening day with a 6-4 win over the Sox.
Jackass of the Night is Hideki Okajima. Yes the error didn't help but he still put two men on and walked in the go-ahead run when one more out got out of the inning.
The Good:
Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and 2 runs scored.
Victor Martinez was 2 for 3 with a walk, 3 total rbis and a 2 run home run.
Kevin Youkilis was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Adrian Beltre was 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
Manny Delcarmen pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
David Ortiz was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
JD Drew was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Mike Cameron was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Jon Lester lasted just 5 innings and allowed 4 runs in his season debut.
Scott Atchison allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Marco Scutaro was just 1 for 4 and committed an error.
Final Thoughts:
That's why the Yankees are the world champions. When the bullpen needed to step up, they did and when the Sox needed theirs, they didn't. Not much the Sox could do against Rivera but they could have avoided getting to that point if they finished off the eighth inning rally. A loss like this stings because two in a row against the Yankees puts the pressure on them for tomorrow night's game. Now its anyone's ballgame for bragging rights this early in the season. Tomorrow night is the rubber game between the two teams with John Lackey making his Red Sox debut taking on Andy Pettite of the Yankees. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park,
