My Recap from Baseball Digest Online.
Yankees Shellac Smoltz, Finally Beat Bosox
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |  | R | H | E | |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | |
| NY Yankees | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 13 | 18 | 0 |
WP - Chamberlain (8-2) LP - Smoltz (2-5)
John Smoltz was one of the premier pitches of the 1990’s and was still going strong when the 21st century began, but a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery has taken its’ toll on the 42-yr old right-hander. He was a shell of his former self last night as the Yankees finally beat the Boston Red Sox, pounding Smoltz and company to the tune of a 13-6 win.
Joba Chamberlain was nearly as ineffective as his counterpart. He walked 7 batters and barely made it through 5 innings to pick up the win. Thankfully for him, the Yankees offense was on a no-holds barred mission. Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, and Jorge Posada paced an 18-hit attack with 3 hits apiece and the 6 thru 9 hitters combined for 10 RBI.
Home runs by Dustin Pedroia and Casey Kotchman had propelled the Red Sox to a 3-1 entering the 4th inning, but the Yankees jumped all over Smoltz and his replacement, Billy Traber, to take control of the game.
Posada led off the frame with a double and scored on Robinson Cano’s single back up the middle. Yankees fans held their breath after watching Posada get thrown out at the plate after trying to score from 2nd on Nick Swisher’s single two innings earlier. (Posada, inexplicably, did not slide on the play in which he would most likely have scored. Instead he gingerly put a hand up to the mask of catcher Victor Martinez, who easily tagged him out. 75 instant replays later, everyone was still scratching their heads. Thankfully for Posada’s ego there was no play at the plate in the 4th.)
Swisher followed Cano’s single with a walk and Melky Cabrera put the Yankees on top with a 3-run home run into the second deck in right (he must have gotten permission from Teixeira). Smoltz finally retired Derek Jeter for the inning’s first out, but after a walk to Damon and a double by Teixeira, manager Terry Francona ordered Smoltz to intentionally walk Alex Rodriguez, before he removed his starter.
Lefty Billy Traber, recalled earlier in the day, retired Hideki Matsui on a run producing force out, but Posada put an exclamation point on the inning with a 3-run blast that traveled well over 400 ft. to dead center field.
Handed a 9-3 lead, Chamberlain still struggled. He walked the bases loaded with one out in the 5th and allowed an RBI single to Mike Lowell. Shots of manager Joe Girardi on the dugout steps revealed the inner turmoil going on his mind, whether to take out Chamberlain or let him finish the 5th inning. Thankfully for Girardi, Chamberlain decided his own fate, getting back to back strike outs of Kotchman and Nick Green to retire the side.
Game Notes
The Yankees won despite pitching ugly and I mean ugly. Yankees pitchers issued 12 walks - Chamberlain (7), David Robertson (1), Phil Coke (1), Mark Melancon (1), Anthony Claggett (2)- the most in a victory in 42 years. With 10 strikeouts there was a lot of no-contact. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Chamberlain became the first Yankees pitcher in 23 years to beat the Red Sox despite issuing at least 7 walks. Doug Drabek accomplished the feat back then.
Jorge Posada honored Thurman Munson with a number 15 on his mask. Last night marked the 30th anniversary of the post-funeral game in which Bobby Murcer drove in all 5 runs in a 5-4 Yankees victory over Baltimore. YES announcer Ken Singleton, who worked last night’s game, was the O’s right fielder that night and Eddie Murray, the O’s then 1st baseman, was also in attendance for last night’s game and stopped in the booth.
During the game the Yankees announced the acquisition of right-hander Chad Gaudin from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later or cash. Gaudin will initially pitch out of the bullpen, but could supplant Sergio Mitre in the rotation.
Muhammad Ali was on hand last night to present Hal Steinbrenner with the “Six Star Diamond Award” for Yankee Stadium and Legends Hospitality, LLC with the “Five Star Award” for the food services and hospitality excellence at the new Stadium. The Yankees played highlights of Ali’s boxing career on the video screen, including his matches at the old Yankee Stadium.
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