As good as Chien-Ming Wang was in 2-hitting the Red Sox in Fenway Park last Friday, that's how bad he was last night. The Wanger was handed 3-1 and 7-3 leads, but couldn't hold either. As a matter of fact he stood to be the losing pitcher when the Red Sox went ahead 9-7, but the Yankees bullpen outpitched their New England brethren and the Yankees escaped with a 15-9 victory.The Yankees had built those early leads with the help of some long balls in the 1st inning. Bobby Abreu smacked a 2-run homer, his second, and Alex Rodriguez followed with a solo blast deep into the Red Sox bullpen in left-center. A-Rod's home run, his fourth this season, pushed him past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for sole possession of 15th place on the all-time home run list with 522 career blasts.
But Wang's pitches were off target all night. He had a 4-run lead entering the fateful 5th inning when the game got out of his hands. He gave up a lead off double to Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz followed with an RBI single. Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis both singled up the middle to load the bases with no one out. When J.D. Drew delivered a 2-run single to right, Wang's day was done.
Ross Ohlendorf came on and struck out Jason Varitek looking for the first out of the inning. But Sean Casey singled to center to tie the game. Ohlendorf K'ed Julio Lugo, but a walk to Jacob Ellsbury loaded the bases for Pedroia, who delivered again, this time with a 2-run single to left-center. In an odd inning for Ohlendorf he than blew a fastball past a swinging Ortiz for the third out.
But the Red Sox 9-7 lead was short lived. Julian Tavarez had replaced starter Clay Buchholz in the 4th inning and quickly ran into trouble in the Yankees half of the 5th. Tavarez retired Rodriguez to start the inning, but Hideki Matsui singled and scored on Jorge Posada double to left, with Posada moving to 3rd on the throw home. After a walk to Jason Giambi, a slumping Robinson Cano came through with a game tying single to right. Chad Moeller walked to load the bases and then Melky Cabrera hit the game turning ground ball.What could have been an inning ending double play turned a 2-run play and the lead for the Bombers. Moeller was forced at 2nd, but Lugo's relay to 1st was off target, allowing Cano to join Giambi in crossing home plate.
Meanwhile the Yankees pen closed the door on any more Red Sox rallies. LaTroy Hawkins, who has been getting more attention for his number (he made the switch to 22 last night) than his actual pitching efforts, threw 2 scoreless innings to allow the Yankees to take control of the game back. Hawkins who was rattled for 6 runs in a 2-3 of an inning performance on April 4, has now turned in 5 straight scoreless performances (covering 7 innings). He picked up his first win as a Yankee and his first in the American League since 2006 when he was with Baltimore.
The Yankees blew the game open on 2-run doubles by Posada and Giambi in the 9th. Mariano Rivera had been warming up to appear in his third straight game for the first time since 2001, but the insurance runs allowed him to take the night off.
News and Notes
The good news continues for Harlan Chamberlain. According to Joe Girardi, Joba's Dad is on a ventilator about 40-50% of the time, and was able to sit up in bed some yesterday. No timetable has been set for Joba's return.
Brian Bruney bounced back from his bad outing on Monday with a 1.2 scoreless innings last night. Billy Traber did his job, retiring the only batter he faced, David Ortiz.
Jimmie Foxx is the next player up for A-Rod to catch on the home run list. Foxx hit 534 home runs in a 20-year career. Somewhat overlooked has been the number of runs A-Rod has scored in his career. He passed Eddie Matthews for 60th place all-time on Tuesday, and will very shortly jump all the way up to 54th.
Chad Moeller is the type of back up catcher the Yankees have had until Jose Molina came to town. Decent glove, no bat. But last night Moeller was on fire, going 3-4 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
It turns out that Wilson Betemit's eye problems are much worse than pink eye. The Yankees infielder is dealing with corneal ulcers. He's beeing treated with eye drops and will be re-examined next week. It didn't effect his play during the day, but he was having difficulty seeing during night games.
Depsite 9-7 records, the Yankees and Red Sox now both sit atop the AL East.
| Boston | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Ellsbury, CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .233 |
| Pedroia, 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .318 |
| Ortiz, DH | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .121 |
| Ramirez, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .323 |
| Youkilis, 3B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .368 |
| Lowrie, 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Drew, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .349 |
| Varitek, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .260 |
| Casey, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .321 |
| Lugo, SS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .273 |
| Totals | 41 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 27 | |
| BATTING 2B: Ramirez (7, Wang), Varitek (4, Wang), Pedroia (5, Wang). TB: Pedroia 3; Ortiz; Ramirez 4; Youkilis; Drew 3; Varitek 2; Casey 2; Lugo. RBI: Ramirez (15), Lugo (2), Casey 2 (7), Ortiz (4), Drew 2 (10), Pedroia 2 (5). 2-out RBI: Ramirez; Pedroia 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Youkilis; Pedroia 2; Ellsbury; Ortiz; Casey. Team LOB: 11. FIELDING E: Lugo (6, throw). Outfield assists: Drew (Cabrera at 2nd base). | ||||||||
| Boston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Buchholz | 3.2 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6.75 |
| Tavarez (L, 0-1) | 1.1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7.04 |
| Aardsma | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 |
| Timlin | 1.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27.00 |
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Cabrera, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .295 |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .324 |
| Abreu, RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .288 |
| Rodriguez, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .313 |
| Matsui, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .327 |
| 1-Damon, PR-LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Posada, DH | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .270 |
| Giambi, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .139 |
| Cano, 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .177 |
| Moeller, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
| Totals | 39 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 12 | |
| 1-Ran for Matsui in the 8th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Moeller (1, Buchholz), Posada 2 (2, Tavarez, Timlin), Rodriguez (6, Timlin), Giambi (2, Timlin). HR: Abreu (2, 1st inning off Buchholz, 1 on, 1 out), Rodriguez (4, 1st inning off Buchholz, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Cabrera; Jeter 2; Abreu 4; Rodriguez 6; Matsui 2; Posada 4; Giambi 3; Cano; Moeller 4. RBI: Abreu 2 (9), Rodriguez (9), Moeller (1), Jeter 2 (6), Posada 3 (6), Cano (4), Cabrera (6), Giambi 2 (6). 2-out RBI: Moeller; Jeter 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Jeter; Moeller. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Cabrera (2, 3rd base off Tavarez/Varitek). | ||||||||
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Wang | 4.0 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3.81 |
| Ohlendorf | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.27 |
| Hawkins (W, 1-0) | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7.00 |
| Traber (H, 1) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Bruney (S, 1) | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 |
Wang pitched to 4 batters in the 5th.
Ohlendorf pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.
WP: Tavarez.
IBB: Matsui (by Timlin).
HBP: Rodriguez (by Aardsma).
Pitches-strikes: Buchholz 85-53, Tavarez 34-17, Aardsma 25-14, Timlin 28-17, Wang 69-37, Ohlendorf 32-16, Hawkins 32-21, Traber 1-1, Bruney 35-21.
Ground outs-fly outs: Buchholz 4-5, Tavarez 3-0, Aardsma 1-4, Timlin 0-2, Wang 7-3, Ohlendorf 0-0, Hawkins 2-2, Traber 0-1, Bruney 1-3.
Batters faced: Buchholz 20, Tavarez 9, Aardsma 8, Timlin 8, Wang 24, Ohlendorf 7, Hawkins 7, Traber 1, Bruney 8.
Inherited runners-scored: Tavarez 2-1, Ohlendorf 2-2, Hawkins 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Tim McClelland. 1B: Larry Vanover. 2B: Mike Everitt. 3B: Mike DiMuro.
Weather: 59 degrees, clear.
Wind: 10 mph, R to L.
T: 4:08.
Att: 54,667.
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