Red Sox 2009 Season Game Thread

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Boston Red Sox (33-24) -vs- New York Yankees (33-23)





Location: Fenway Park





















Game 1



Tuesday, June 9 - 7:10 ET









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BOS: RHP Josh Beckett (6-2, 4.09) vs NYY: RHP AJ Burnett (4-2, 4.69)



70.1.........IP........71

1.365.....WHIP.....1.394

117......ERA+......96

68.........K's.........6530........BB's......32

3.67........FIP......4.92



Red Sox: Beckett turned in one of the finest performances of his career in his last start, pitching a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings. Over 7 1/3 innings, he allowed two hits and no earned runs, striking out nine. Beckett is on a roll, turning in a quality start in his last six outings. This is Beckett's sixth start of the season at Fenway, where he is 2-0 with a 4.25 ERA. Beckett has pitched twice against the Yankees this season, going 1-0 with a 9.00 ERA.















Yankees: Part of the reason the Yankees signed A.J. Burnett this offseason was his success against the Red Sox -- and a rain delay Friday gave them an opportunity to push Burnett back for Tuesday's series opener in Boston. He is 5-0 with a 3.52 ERA lifetime against the Red Sox, though his last start at Fenway was his worst ever against the Sox, one in which he served up eight runs over five innings. Still, Burnett is coming off one of his best starts of the season -- seven innings, three runs and eight strikeouts against the offensive-minded Rangers. He will pitch on two extra days of rest.









Game 2



Wednesday, June 10 - 7:10 ET







BOS: RHP Tim Wakefield (7-3, 4.50) vs NYY: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (0-3, 14.46)

70.........IP........18.2

1.400.....WHIP.....2.571

106......ERA+......31

41.........K's.........1431........BB's......9

4.60........FIP......6.03





Red Sox: The knuckleballer was strong in his last start, allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings in a win over the Tigers. Wakefield walked none and struck out three en route to career victory No. 185. This is Wakefield's fifth start of the season at Fenway, where he is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA. This is Wakefield's first start of the season against the Yankees. He has had mixed results against New York in his career, going 10-17 with a 5.03 ERA.















Yankees: Before deciding to schedule Wang for last Thursday's game against the Rangers, the Yankees made sure to discuss the byproduct of that decision: Wang would also fall in line for a start against the Red Sox in Boston. Hardly pitching well enough to justify that faith, Wang allowed five runs to the Rangers over 4 2/3 innings at Yankee Stadium, flashing his old velocity but not his old results. Still, he is scheduled to start at Fenway Park, where he has posted a 3-3 record and 5.11 ERA over the course of his career.



















Game 3



Thursday, June 11 - 7:10 ET















BOS: RHP Brad Penny (5-2, 5.85) vs NYY: LHP CC Sabathia (5-3, 3.56)





60.........IP........861.600.....WHIP.....1.128

82......ERA+......127

32.........K's.........6119........BB's......27

4.62........FIP......3.77

Red Sox: Penny was cruising in his last start, pitching a shutout through four, when one bad inning ruined his night. He mislocated a fastball to Ian Kinsler, and the second baseman hammered it over the Green Monster to cap a four-run fifth inning. Penny took a 5-1 loss. In five starts at Fenway this season, Penny is 3-1 with a 6.51 ERA. Opponents are hitting .309 against Penny on the season. This will be his first start against the Yankees in a Boston uniform. Penny has won his only career regular season start against New York, allowing three runs over five innings. He went 2-0 against the Bombers in the 2003 World Series, posting a 2.19 ERA over 12 1/3 innings.













Yankees: Sabathia pitched better than his line indicated on Saturday vs. Tampa Bay, lamenting two bad pitches -- a changeup to Willy Aybar and a cutter to Ben Zobrist. Both landed beyond the outfield fences in New York as Sabathia took a no-decision in a 9-7 loss to the Rays, charged with five runs on five hits in an eight-inning, 102-pitch effort. There was discussion if Sabathia could have come back for the ninth, and certainly he has been able to go deep for the Yankees -- since pitching a complete game on May 8 at Baltimore, he has not gone any fewer than seven innings. This will be his first start as a Yankee vs. the Red Sox -- he is 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA in seven career starts vs. Boston.

























Offensive Leaders











.349 - Kevin Youkilis Team: .273........ AVG.........312 - Derek Jeter Team: .27916 - Jason Bay Team: 65..... HR.....17 - Mark Teixeira Team: 87.470 - Kevin Youkilis Team: .357......OBP.......403 - Alex Rodriguez Team: .3581.100 - Kevin Youkilis Team: .808......... OPS.........1.008 - Mark Teixeira Team: .840178 - Kevin Youkilis Team: 105........ OPS+......161 - Mark Teixeira Team: 111

.467 - Kevin Youkilis Team: .354........ wOBA.......423 - Mark Teixeira Team: .368

Josh Beckett has been absolutely mowing as of late. Hopefully he keeps it up tonight.

I think he will. He got his game on now and is locked in. Idc what team he is pitching againist if he keeps on thowing his curveball and changeball for strikes and dotting his fastball no one is gonna touch him. I think the Sox take 2 out of 3 with them losing the final game of the series I dont think Penny can hold that offense down.

Have a good feeling. I can honestly see a sweep coming, with the pitching match-ups as they are.

I say the Redsox drop game 2, and not so sure how Wakefield will do

Beckett is rolling right now.

easy there, it's only been one inning. I'm just hoping they get this game in, weather looks shitty in boston.

One thing I just noticed is how Bay's BA has dropped. He has dropped like 23 points in the last 2 weeks.

batting average can be sacrificed if his OBP and power numbers stay strong.

**** YEAH BIG PAPI

big papi with a HR!!!!

Wow was anyone on??

2 Run SHOT

Yeah Lowell was on.

Papi goes Yahtzeeeeeeeeee

Oh baby.

Nice RBI hit Drew.

Can Bay do it?



Nope, oh well, great inning.

Nick Green with an RBI double

Flashes of new Ortiz that last AB.

BOSTON -- Josh Beckett allowed only an infield hit in six innings, and David Ortiz hit his third homer of the year to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.



The Red Sox improved to 6-0 against the Yankees franchise for the first time since 1912, when they beat the Highlanders in 14 straight -- including the first-ever game in Fenway Park.



Beckett (7-2) struck out eight and walked two before leaving with a 6-0 lead after six innings, having thrown 93 pitches. The only hit he allowed was Robinson Cano's fourth-inning grounder to the left of second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who dove to come up with the ball but couldn't make the throw that had little chance of getting the batter anyway.



It was ruled a base hit by official scorer Mike Shalin.



Beckett struck out Jorge Posada to end the inning, then retired the last six batters he faced, fanning three of them, for his third consecutive victory. In all, only three batters hit the ball out of the infield against him.



A.J. Burnett (4-3) allowed three earned runs on five walks and five hits before leaving with two outs in the third and taking out his frustrations on a dugout watercooler. He gave up Ortiz's two-run shot to straightaway center field in Boston's four-run second, when Alex Rodriguez double-clutched on a grounder for an error and gave Boston an extra out.



Burnett walked Mike Lowell to start the inning, then Ortiz hit a 2-2 pitch over the high center field wall about 400 feet from home plate. It was the second homer in three games for the struggling slugger, who hit 54 in 2006 but has been moved from third to sixth in the Red Sox order as he tries to pull his batting average above .200.



Burnett struck out Jason Varitek, but Mark Kotsay walked and Nick Green hit the ball to third base that handcuffed Rodriguez. Dustin Pedroia grounded out before J.D. Drew doubled in two runs. Green's RBI double in the third made it 4-0 and chased Burnett.



Burnett, who had won two starts in a row, came into the game with a 5-0 record and 3.52 ERA in nine career starts against the Red Sox. But he also struggled in his first time facing them with the Yankees, when he did not factor in the decision after allowing eight runs and eight hits in five innings on April 25.



Brett Gardner had the Yankees' only other hit.



Game notes

Burnett was suspended for six games for throwing inside to Texas' Nelson Cruz, but the Yankees righthander remains in the rotation during his appeal. ... Boston CF Jacoby Ellsbury got the night off with a sore right shoulder. Tests showed it was just a bruise. ... Yankees RHP Brian Bruney (15-day DL with a strained right elbow) threw a bullpen side and feels strong enough to return to the active roster. ... The Red Sox passed the 1 million mark in home attendance in their 27th home date.



http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290609102

Fast Facts



• The Red Sox matched their third-largest shutout win at home against the Yankees. It was also their first of the season.



• Dating back to last season, the Red Sox have won seven in a row vs. the Yankees. It's their longest win streak vs. the Yankees since 1984-1985.



• David Ortiz homered to extend his hit streak to seven straight (.276 average in that span). All three of Ortiz' home runs this season have come at home.



• A.J. Burnett lasted just 2 2/3 innings and allowed five runs as he lost to Boston for the first time (5-0 entering). It's just the fourth time in his career he's lasted just 2 2/3 innings or fewer in a start and the first time since April 2007 at Detroit.



-- ESPN Stats & Information

You know Ortiz is really struggling when fans celebrate a hitting streak in which he hits .276.

I read an article saying that he is not getting unlucky because at the time his BABIP was .295.



Maybe he is hurt. Or is starting to come out of his slump.

Figures this fat **** hits a homer against the Yankees, and not anyone else (except for two other teams for those smart asses who will come in and point out he has 3, not 1).

He, like most of the rest of the league, does not like the Yankees, and feel they must beat them at all costs.

Supposedly...This whole thing is because of eye problems. He was getting them checked out sometime this week or something, I heard it on the NE Sports Talk Radio this weekend.

I wish we could say he's back but that'll take like 10 more Homers...

If he can come back strong, I can see them taking the lead away from the Yankees.

[quote name='The Guru' post='43789' date='Jun 10 2009, 12:45 AM']If he can come back strong, I can see them taking the lead away from the Yankees.[/quote]

Same here, especially because it's not like the Yankees are blowing people away really.

Exactly, and when the Yanks face good teams (Phils, Red Sox, etc.) they are not doing very good.

Josh Beckett is rolling right now and Jon Lester seems like he has got it back. If these two guys are back then its going too be very tough to beat us in the AL East. Great win tonight hope we can keep it going with Wake tomorrow night vs Wang who has been horrible for the Yankees so far this season.