Sunday, September 16, 2007

A Definition of Ugly

We've seen the scenario against the Red Sox before. Josh Beckett or Curt Schilling or some other tough thrower on the mound and the game turns into a blow out. That was the case yesterday as the Red Sox bounced back from Friday night's bad loss to whip the Yankees 10-1.

Even when things went bad yesterday for the Sox it turned out good. Kevin Youkillis had to leave the game after being hit on the left wrist by a Chien-Ming Wang (ironically it happened moments after FOX showed Joba Chamberlain throwing 2 pitches over Youkillis' head back on August 30) pitch, but his replacement Jacoby Ellsbury drove in 3 runs.

Wang and Beckett, both entered the game with 18 wins and Cy Young aspirations, but only Beckett rose to the occasion. The Red Sox lead 2-1 entering the 6th, having taken the lead an inning earlier. Wang quickly got into trouble as Eric Hinske doubled and Coco Crisp singled to put runners on the corners with no one out. Wang got Julio Lugo on a shallow fly to center, but Crisp stole 2nd to force the Yankees to move the infield in. Dustin Pedroia complied by hitting a grounder to Robinson Cano, who came home with it. Hinske, who's built more like a linebacker than a baseball player, ran over Jorge Posada, but Posada held onto the ball for the 2nd out. (After the game he would go to a nearby hospital to be checked for a concussion - all tests came back negative.)

Wang was 1 out from escaping the inning, but after Pedroia stole 2nd, Ellsbury singled to left for 1 run and David Ortiz doubled in the gap in right-center for a 5-1 Red Sox lead. It also marked the end of the day for Wang, who saw his ERA rise to 3.82. The Yankees bullpen was then torched for 4 runs in the 7th and 1 more in the 8th, and Beckett had his 19th win.

...

Russ Ohlendorf gave up his first runs as a major leaguer, including Hinske's 1st home run since August 2nd.

It took a while, but FOX finally spoke about Kevin Youkillis' habit of diving into the plate, ala Derek Jeter. Youkillis may think the Yankees are throwing at him, but he's been hit by 15 pitches this season. X-Rays were negative on his wrist, leaving him with a bruise and questionable for tonight's game.

Mike Lowell drove in his career high 106th RBI. And the Yankees had Ed Yarnall.

Derek Jeter's 10th home run of the season was his 193rd career HR, moving him ahead of good friend Tino Martinez on the all-time list.

Chien-Ming Wang was up in the zone all day and recorded on 6 of 17 outs by ground out.

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