Josh Beckett continued his terrific pitching last night and gave New York nothing, as the Red Sox coasted to an easy 7-0 win at a rainy Fenway Park.
I was having a discussion with some of my buddies at Professor Thom's last night about what to do with David Ortiz during the second inning when the Man Himself stepped into the batters box and clocked an A.J. Burnett pitch into the deepest part of Fenway Park to put the Red Sox on the board, and they never looked back. The joint was rocking, and it stayed that way the rest of the night. It was Papi's third home run of the year, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Against the Yankees.
Beckett continued his renaissance, and looked like the pitcher who mowed down the opposition in 2007 postseason. He went six innings, as I'm sure Terry Francona pulled him because of the rainy and chilly conditions. Beckett struck out eight, walked two and allowed New York just one hit.
Burnett was simply awful, allowed five runs, and was gone by third. His was his second meltdown at Fenway this season. The Yankees got this guy because of his so-called mastery of the Red Sox, but he blew a 6-0 lead back in April, and couldn't get the ball over the plate last night, walking five. His ERA against the Red Sox this year is now a tidy 12.91.
Nick Green completed the scoring with a home run off Jose Veras late in the game, and the Sox bullpen shut down New York the rest of the way, allowing just one hit the final three innings.
The Red Sox have now taken the first six games from New York this season, the first time they have done that since 1912.
Tim Wakefield takes the ball for the Red Sox tonight, and Chien-Ming Wang, he of the extraordinarily high ERA, will provide the opposition.
Seven would be sweet, wouldn't it, John? Watching Beckett last night was SO much fun. His last seven starts...5-0 with an ERA of 1.70. NICE!
ReplyDeleteI was there. From what I could make out behind my drunken haze, hell of a game :-)
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