Extra, Extra: Red Sox Win!

It only took a week and seven tries but the Boston Red Sox finally won a game yesterday afternoon.

They beat the Yankees 9-6 at Fenway Park at their home opener despite John Lackey's best efforts to sabotage the game.

As is the custom on Opening Day at Fenway, nobody got booed on the Red Sox (1-6) even the players that deserved it like Lackey, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Marco Scutaro, J.D. Drew, etc.

Nope, the day is all about the C-list celebs and Boston's elite rubbing elbows with each other while enjoying Fenway's newest garbage food (sushi).

Lackey (1-0) went five innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Sadly, that pathetic display earned him a win on this strange day.

How bad was Yankees (4-3) starter Phil Hughes? Well in just two innings, he allowed six earned runs on seven hits with two walks. New York's prized young pitcher is clearly hurt or something since he has no velocity right now and he made Lackey look like a quality MLB pitcher (a nearly impossible task).

As expected, it was a slugfest. The Red Sox had 12 hits and the Yankees had eight.

Dustin Pedroia led Boston with three hits and three RBIs, J.D. Drew had two hits and two RBIs while Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Saltalamacchia each added two hits.

The Red Sox bullpen stepped up with four scoreless innings. Alfredo Aceves was followed by Bobby Jenks, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon (they all threw scoreless innings). Papelbon was the most impressive in his first save opportunity of the season. He struck out two, didn't allow a hit or walk in an economical 11 pitches.

Brett Gardner led New York with two hits, two runs and two walks while Robinson Cano had two hits and two RBIs.

Cano gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run double.

Pedroia answered with a solo homer just over the Monster in the bottom of the first (second straight year he's homered on Opening Day).

Gardner's RBI double in the second made it 3-1 New York.

The Red Sox offense finally exploded for a big inning, five in the second inning. Marco Scutaro's fielder's choice cut it to 3-2. Pedroia put Boston up 4-3 with a two-run single, Gonzalez and Ortiz followed with RBI singles.

Lackey is nothing if not giving and he gave up a run in the third (Nick Swisher groundout), fourth (Derek Jeter RBI single) and fifth (A-Rod homer) to tie it up. Thanks you Muppet-faced bum.

Two of Boston's biggest liabilities came through with the two biggest hits. Saltalamacchia had an RBI double in the fifth and Drew delivered a two-run single in the seventh.

Clay Buchholz opposes Ivan Nova this afternoon in a matchup that obviously favors the Red Sox. Hopefully they can take advantage and rack up another win.

Yanks win on walk-off bomb in epic fashion

After being down 5-0 in the first inning last night at Yankee Stadium, the Sox were poised to pull off their best win of the season.

Boston (19-20) led 9-7 going into the ninth but one-trick pony closer Jonathan Papelbon couldn't end it as he gave up the tying two-run bomb to A-Rod and a walk-off two-run homer to Marcus Thames.

The swing of emotions was dramatic as the best win turned into the worst loss , something that the Sox might not recover from this season that always looks fated.

In true Dice-K fashion, he gave up one run in the second but settled down enough to get into the fifth inning.

David Ortiz's solo homer cut it to 6-2 in the fifth and J.D. Drew made it 6-5 New York (25-13) with a three-run homer off Phil Hughes.

Marcus Thames showed Dice-K the door in the fifth with an RBI double, giving the Bombers a 7-5 lead. Matsuzaka gave up seven earned runs in 4.2 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

Hughes wasn't good either: five earned runs on six hits in five innings with a walk and three strikeouts.

The long ball was Boston's friend as Victor Martinez hit a solo shot in the sixth (7-6 NY) while Youkilis (two-run) and V-Mart went back to back in the eighth to give the Sox a 9-7 lead.

It was Papelbon's first blown save of the season but he fell to 1-3. He gave up four earned runs on three hits and threw 19 pitches so who knows if he's available tonight.

I'm not feeling good about Josh Beckett's chances tonight when he faces C.C. Sabathia. Beckett has been nothing short of pathetic this season and this does not look like the night to get untracked.

Goodnight and Good luck (not really) Yankees

8-0 in 2009. The Boston Red Sox continued their incredible stretch against the New York Yankees with a come-from-behind 4-3 win last night at Fenway.

Yankees ace CC Sabathia (5-4) threw 123 pitches over seven plus innings in a very impressive effort but New York (34-26) was done in by its sub par bullpen. I seem to remember saying back in April that the bullpen was the difference between these teams (pats self on back).

Brad Penny in a likely job audition for the Mets, Phillies, etc. was great as he threw six scoreless innings. Penny gave up six hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

David Ortiz continued to return to life as he hit an opposite field homer in the second to give Boston (36-24) a 1-0 lead. It was Big Papi's third bomb in the last five games.

Yanks rookie catcher Francisco Cervelli tied it with an RBI double in the seventh off Manny Delcarmen. Later in the inning, A-Rod delivered with a two-run double off Delcarmen to make it 3-1 New York.

In the eighth, the Red Sox do what they do best: wear out pitchers. It all started with Dustin Pedroia's 10-pitch at bat (resulting in a walk) against Sabathia that pushed him closer to leaving the game.

J.D. Drew singled home Nick Green to cut it to 3-2 Bombers. Jason Bay tied it with an RBI single which scored Pedroia and Mike Lowell got the job done with a sacrifice fly that brought home Drew.

Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth for his 16th save and the Sox took a two-game lead in the AL East. The Yankees and Red Sox won't meet again until August 6th.

Starting tonight, Boston travels to Philly to meet the World Champion Phillies. Citizens Bank Park is a glorified little league park and the Phillies can crush the ball, plus they're one of the National League's best teams, so it should be a fun three game series.

It's Gonna Be a Long Offseason in the Bronx

All season long, even before the rash of injuries, it was clear that the New York Yankees were a flawed team. They weren't built for success in the postseason (not enough arms, defense or OBP guys). Still, in my wildest, PCP-induced dreams, I could have never imagined that the Yankees would miss the playoffs for the first time in 14 years and be all but dead before the calendar even says September.

In its second to last game at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox blew out the Yanks, 11-3. In the process, they showed New York a blueprint for why they've won two World Series championships in the last four seasons while the Yankees are 0-for the new Millenium. The keys to the 2008 Red Sox: Quality starting pitching, patient hitters and young studs getting plenty of playing time.

Boston (77-55) once again wore out Yankees (70-62) pitchers, with 13 hits and six walks. Dustin Pedroia led the way, going 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs on his first career grand slam. Jason Bay was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run. David Ortiz was on base four times with two hits and two walks while Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits and scored twice.

Veteran Paul Byrd (9-11) gave his team all you can ask of a fifth starter: six innings, two runs, five hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

Sidney Ponson (7-5) wasn't so lucky for New York. He went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts. The duo of Jose Veras (five runs) and David Roberston (two runs) made sure that the Yankees faithful went home early as the Sox exploded for seven runs in the eighth.

A-Rod had two doubles, a run and RBI but nobody will remember that since his team got smoked and it occured after his nightmarish performance the night before.

Jason Bay drove in Pedroia and Ortiz with an RBI double in the first. Bobby Abreu scored on A-Rod's double in the first, making it 2-1 Red Sox.

Robinson Cano tied it in the fourth with an RBI single but Boston scored twice in the fifth to regain the lead. Kevin Youkilis walked with the bases loaded and Bay had a sacrifice fly score Pedroia.

The eighth was a hit parade for the Red Sox. Bay tripled in Pedroia, Alex Cora had a sacrifice fly which scored Bay, Coco Crisp knocked in Jed Lowrie with a single and then Pedroia blasted his grand slam to left center.

Jason Giambi homered in the ninth but by that time, most of New York's fans were gone or had turned off the YES Network.

Mike Mussina and Jon Lester-the two surprise aces of their respective teams this season-duel this afternoon in the finale.

Sox bullpen coughs up another one

The script was altered from Saturday afternoon but the end result was the same last night at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox let another game get away that they had in their pocket.

New York won 5-4 in 10 innings last night as rookie Brett Gardner (2 hits, run, RBI, stolen base) grounded a single up the middle off Jonathan Papelbon (3-3) which scored Robinson Cano (2 hits, 2 RBIs) with the winning run.

Boston (52-39) was up 3-1 after five innings and 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh but the bullpen once again couldn't hold the lead.

Cano tied it up in the seventh with a two-run triple off Javier Lopez.

Tim Wakefield and Joba Chamberlain had nearly identical lines. Wakefield went 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits, a walk and five strikeouts. Joba went six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

A-Rod had a solo homer to left in the second off Wakefield and Derek Jeter had an RBI single in the sixth which scored Gardner.

Kevin Youkilis (2 hits) scored on Joba's wild pitch in the fifth and Dustin Pedroia came through with a clutch two-run single which put the Sox up 3-1 at the time.

Kevin Cash extended Boston's lead to 4-2 in the seventh with an RBI double plating Julio Lugo.

Manny Delcarmen got four outs without allowing a hit while Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless ninth.

Cano singled to start the 10th vs. Papelbon and moved over on a bunt by Melky Cabrera. After striking Wilson Betemit out, Gardner had a great at-bat (spoiling a bunch of two-strike pitches) before shooting one up the middle past Papelbon and a diving Alex Cora (at shortstop).

Kyle Farnsworth pitched a scoreless eighth for New York before Mariano Rivera (3-3) had two scoreless innings.

The Red Sox finished 3-7 on a pretty bad road trip. They didn't play well against an average team in Houston, ran into a red-hot team at the wrong time (Tampa Bay), and won the first two in the Bronx before choking away the last two.

Things don't get easier as the hottest team in baseball (winners of 17 of their last 20), the Minnesota Twins, comes to Fenway for three games starting tonight.