Jeremy Spoke in Class Today
The 59-minute delay of the first pitch and a shattering defeat the night before left the Red Sox with more time to stew in their misery. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Victor Martinez are in couples therapy (in a start with Jason Varitek Matsuzaka pitched one run over seven innings but with Martinez he has allowed 21 hits and 18 earned runs over 14⅔ innings) and Mike Lowell is seeking a divorce from the Red Sox (he vented his frustration to the media), but on the field Boston battled back from a five-run deficit for their first win at Nouveau Stade Fascist this season.
Josh Beckett weathered his second consecutive poor start against the Yankees, lasting just 4⅔ innings with a line of 5 hits, 5 runs (3 earned), 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts. He was pulled in the fifth inning due to injury and the Yankees played the game under protest because they believed the starter didn’t seem to be injured. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the Yankees have doctors and trainers who can diagnose ailments from a distance on their payroll; they can pay for anyone.
The visitors had little success against C.C. Sabathia; over seven innings the only run scored was Kevin Youkilis’s sixth inning solo shot. After Marco Scutaro reached base on Alex Rodriguez’s error to start the eighth set-up man Joba Chamberlain seemed out of sorts. Dustin Pedroia singled to right and J.D. Drew doubled to plate the first run of the inning. With runners on second and third and none out Youkilis lobbed a broken bat bloop to right to bring his team within a run. Chamberlain probably regretted not going with his first instinct to plunk his nemesis.
David Ortiz just missed a two-run homer, his fly ball glancing off the top of the wall in right to ricochet to Brett Gardner. Youkilis galloped across the plate for the tying run but Ortiz was out at second. The designated hitter tarried a bit out of the box in his attempt to discern if the ball he struck was a can of corn or a home run, as the difference between the two in Yankee Stadium is ever so slight.
Mariano Rivera was summoned to hold the tie and give his team a chance to score in the home half of the ninth. Lowell pinch hit for Bill Hall and this time he didn’t have to complain about being pinch run for since he grounded harmlessly out to third.
Darnell McDonald notched his only hit of the night; a liner to center off one of the greatest relievers ever is another memory McDonald can add to his major league scrapbook as he won’t be on the team much longer with the impending returns of Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury. Marcus Thames trotted in to field what should have been the second out of the inning on Scutaro’s fly ball to shallow right, but instead it dropped to the field.
Jeremy Hermida, who replaced Drew in the eighth, lined the ball over the head of Randy Winn in left, plating the go-ahead and insurance runs. Rivera observed Winn’s retreating back as he pursued the ball to the wall, wondering just as Jerry Remy did why the outfielders were playing so shallow.
Even though Daniel Bard is pitching better than Jonathan Papelbon and only threw two pitches, Terry Francona went to Papelbon to close out the game. Papelbon did so, but not without a bit of drama with Rodriguez reaching on a fielding error by Scutaro and scoring on a double by Robinson Cano. The victory, however, was attenuated by last night’s debacle and clubhouse turmoil. A battle was won, but internal wars seem to be raging.
Right around the time Bard was securing a win for which he only faced a single batter, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Vince Carter missed two three throws with 30.6 seconds left. J.J. Reddick then advanced the ball prior to calling timeout, which meant he had to inbound from half-court instead of from a spot of Orlando’s choosing. The Celtics held off the Magic 95-93 and take a 2-0 series lead back to the Garden.
| Game 40: May 18, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox20-20 | 7 | W: Daniel Bard (1-1) S: Jonathan Papelbon (10) |
| 2B: J.D. Drew (10), Jeremy Hermida (6) HR: Kevin Youkilis (7) | ||
| Yankees 25-14 | 6 | L: Mariano Rivera (0-1) |
| 2B: Brett Gardner (4), Robinson Cano – 2 (10) HR: Juan Miranda (1) | ||
