There's a New Sheriff in Town

On one side was the crusty old gunslinger. On the other side, the kid trying to prove himself in a hell hole. At the end of the night it was the old gunslinger who lost his composure and started firing stray bullets and it was the kid who remained tried and true. Old John Wayne movie? Nah, just the first of a three game set between the Yankees and Red Sox in Fenway Park.

Josh Beckett, not so old, but plenty crusty, started out like a house afire. He struck out five of the first six Yankees. But as the night wore on, the veteran right-hander lost control. Nick Swisher drove a hanging curveball from Beckett in the 4th over the wall in center for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

Beckett completely fell apart in the 6th, and though scoring, the Yankees weren't happy about it. Joe Girardi's squad had already lost Nick Johnson to a wrist injury (more on that further down) when Robinson Cano took a Beckett cutter to the inside of his left knee. Cano tried to stay in the game, but left shortly thereafter for a pinch-runner. He told the media after the game he wanted to get out before it felt worse. Girardi later said he wouldn't be surprised if Cano has to miss a game or two.

With two aboard and one out, the Red Sox elected to intentionally walk Brett Gardner to load the bases and set up a potential double play. But Beckett's 3-2 fastball nearly knocked Francisco Cervelli on his behind and forced in a run. Cervelli was visibly disgusted as he moved towards first base, having been dusted earlier in the game for calling a timeout when Beckett (or Suckett as I prefer) was about to pitch.

After a Randy Winn single gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead, Beckett drilled Derek Jeter in the back to force in another run. It also brought the Yankees bench to the top step of the dugout where Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia were among those jawing at the Red Sox starter.

After run producing singles by Marcus Thames and Mark Teixeira, Sox manager Terry Francona finally pulled his ace from the game. Afterwards, Beckett told the media he wasn't sure why he lost his command so quickly, and the Yankees Derek Jeter said there was no way Beckett was throwing out him with the bases loaded.

It will be interesting to see though if anything develops over the final two games. Once cooler heads prevail, it's quite possible the Yankees will feel Beckett really wasn't throwing at them and will let things go. Or they'll feel it doesn't matter whether it was on purpose or not and someone on the Red Sox will have to eat some rawhide. I have to agree with Michael Kay (yeah, it happens) that Beckett's expression and demeanor certainly were not of a guy who cared about where his pitches were going at that point.

Lost in all this, of course, was the terrific job once again done by Phil Hughes. He improved to 4-0 with a stellar seven innings of work. He allowed a pair of runs, scattered seven hits, walked one, and struck out seven. He had great command of all his pitches and made more than a few Red Sox look silly at the plate.

Notes

Nick Johnson will be placed on the DL and was being sent back to New York to evaluate his right wrist. It's been bothering him for a while, but felt worse after Johnson took some swings in Friday night's game.

Prior to the game, the Yankees sent down outfielder Greg Golson and brought up pitcher Romulo Sanchez. The Yankees will bring up a player for Saturday's game, likely an infielder to help out with Cano hurting. It's possible Juan Miranda will eventually get a call too with Johnson on the DL.