As for the game, those dirty double crossers! After New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was caught on camera with pine tar on his hand last week in Yankee Stadium, Boston media raked Sox manager John Farrell over the coals for not calling attention to it. Tonight, he had no choice as Pineda had it all over his neck, practically daring the Sox to say something. Well Farrell did, and Pineda was ejected in the second inning. The real story of the game was the pitching of John Lackey (3-2, 4.22 ERA) who stoned the Yankees cold for 8 innings while allowing just one run. The Sox used a balance attack to drive in runs when they needed as they beat the Yankees 5-1 at Fenway Park.
Lackey got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to short to start. Derek Jeter grounded out to first but Carlos Beltran singled to center. Brian McCann flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox wasted no time getting to Pineda in the bottom of the first as Grady Sizemore tripled into the right field corner to start. Dustin Pedroia grounded a base hit to center to score Grady but David Ortiz flied out to the centerfield wall. Mike Napoli got a broken bat bloop single to right to move Pedroia to third but Mike Carp popped up to left. AJ Pierzynski hit a bullet to Jeter but Derek couldn't come up with it to score Pedroia. Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Alfonso Soriano went down hacking to start the top of the second before Mark Teixeira looked at strike three. Brett Gardner struck out swinging to end the inning. The Yankees embarrassed themselves in the bottom of the second as Brock Holt lined out to center to start. NESN cameras picked up pine tar on the neck of Pineda as Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to left. Finally Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough and came out to tell home plate umpire Gerry Davis that there was pine tar on Pineda's neck. The umpires checked Pineda's neck and immediately ejected him. Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out to argue and umpires simply laughed at him. David Phelps came in to pitch and got Sizemore to strike out swinging to end the inning but Pineda was gone.
Brian Roberts beat out a roller to third to start the top of the third before being forced at second by Kelly Johnson. Ellsbury struck out swinging as Roberts stole second base. Jeter struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox took command in the bottom of the third as Pedroia hit a routine grounder to Jeter who threw low to first for an error. Ortiz made Jeter pay with a base hit to right and Napoli hit a fly ball down the right field line. Gardner couldn't come up with it and it bounced into the seats for the ground rule double to score Pedroia. Carp struck out swinging but Pierzynski walked to load the bases. Bogaerts flied out to right but Ortiz scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead. Holt walked to re-load the bases but JBJ took strike three to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Beltran grounded out to second to open the top of the fourth but Carp failed to catch a bloop by McCann for a "single". Soriano and Teixeira both struck out swinging to end the inning. Sizemore watched strike three go by to start the bottom of the fourth before Pedroia got a base hit to right. Ortiz walked and both runners moved over on the grounder to third by Napoli. Old friend Matt Thornton game in to face Carp and Mike took strike three to end the inning.
Gardner got a base hit to right to start the top of the fifth but Roberts popped up to short. Johnson hit a ground rule double into the bullpen but Ellsbury struck out swinging. Jeter grounded out to second to end the inning. Pierzynski popped up to third to start the bottom of the fifth and Bogaerts grounded back to the mound. Holt walked but JBJ lined out to left to end the inning.
The Yankees struck back in the top of the sixth as Beltran doubled to center to start. McCann chopped a grounder back to the mound to move Beltran to third and Carlos scored on the Soriano sac fly to the right field wall. Teixeira struck out swinging to end the inning with the Yankees down 4-1.
Beltran scores a run
Preston Claiborne came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Sizemore struck out swinging. Pedroia flied out to center and Ortiz grounded out to third to end the inning.
Gardner grounded out to second to start the top of the seventh but Roberts lashed a base hit to right. Johnson took strike three and Ellsbury grounded out to first to end the inning. Napoli got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the seventh but Carp lined out to right. Napoli was thrown out at second trying to steal and Pierzynski flied out to right to end the inning.
Lackey returned for the top of the eighth with Jonny Gomes in left, and Jeter grounded back to the mound to start. Beltran was frozen for strike three and McCann flied out to center to end the inning. That was it for Lackey as he was outstanding, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits in 8 strong innings.
The Sox struck again in the bottom of the eighth as Bogaerts hit a roller to Johnson, who threw the ball away for a single and an error to move Xander to second. Holt got a base hit to right to score Xander and wrap up the scoring. Adam Warren came in to pitch to JBJ and Bradley forced Holt at second. Sizemore hit a grounder to Warren who threw low to Jeter for another error. Pedroia grounded into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-1.
Bogaerts scores a run
Koji Uehara came in to close out the top of the ninth and Soriano got a base hit off the Monster to start. Teixeira and Gardner both struck out swinging to leave it up to Roberts. Brian struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won 5-1.
Sox win
Hero Lackey
Hero of The Night is John Lackey. He was outstanding, holding the Yankees to just 1 run on 7 hits and 11 strikeouts.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Mike Napoli was 3 for 4 with an rbi.
AJ Pierzynski was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Brock Holt was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Mike Carp was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Grady Sizemore was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Honorable Mention:
Jonny Gomes played left field in the final innings.
Final Thoughts:
Yankees radio announcer Suzy Waldman openly complaining about Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz when their pitcher just got caught red handed (or pine tarred) is just embarrassing deflection. Farrell knows all about gamesmanship as an ex-pitcher but in that situation. He himself said before the game that Pineda needed to be more discreet about it but Pineda was just daring them to call them out for it for having it in plain view. Typical New York Yankee arrogance that in the last 13 years has been getting increasingly ridiculous the less rings they win. Lackey was outstanding tonight and looked almost as good as he was against the Detroit Tigers back in October. The Yankees had no chance in this one the way they bobbled balls and couldn't hit. Its nice for the Red Sox to be on the other side of that for once. Hopefully the Sox can ride this momentum on a good winning streak to end the month. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Yankees tomorrow night when Felix Doubront (1-2) takes on CC Sabathia of the Yankees. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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