Is Dustin Pedroia’s Three-Home Run Performance Against Rockies or Jon Lester and Bullpen’s Shutdown of Yankees the Better 2010 Red Sox Game That Aired on NESN?

by NESN Staff on Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 1:34PM

Dustin Pedroia‘s three home runs against the Rockies squares off against Jon Lester and the bullpen’s special delivery against the Yankees in the first round of the Best 2010 Red Sox Game That Aired on NESN competition.

Dustin Pedroia hits three home runs in win over Rockies, June 24 at Coors FieldDustin Pedroia’s broken foot robbed the Red Sox of their heart and soul last season. But the day before he suffered the injury and one night after Jonathan Papelbon gave up two ninth-inning home runs to lose, Pedroia gave a virtuoso performance at Coors Field. On June 24, the second baseman hit three home runs. His first blast made it 1-1 in the fourth. His second, a two-run shot in the eighth, put Boston on top 11-8. After Papelbon coughed up the lead once again in the ninth, Pedroia smacked his third homer of the night in the 10th — another two-run shot — to make it 13-11 and give the Red Sox their seventh win in nine games. Oh yeah, Pedroia also doubled and singled in his 5-for-5 masterpiece. The shot of him mouthing “Hi Mom” and smiling into the NESN cameras after his third home run was one of the great images of the 2010 season.

Jon Lester and bullpen silence Yankees bats, Aug. 9 at Yankee StadiumMere hours after Josh Beckett lost in Yankee Stadium and the Red Sox fell to seven games back of their division rivals, Jon Lester picked up the slack in a matinee finale in the Bronx on Aug. 9. The left-handed ace pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings but left with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. Enter Daniel Bard. The hard-throwing reliever needed just six pitches to overpower Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher, who both were victims of swinging strikeouts. Closer Jonathan Papelbon recorded a four-out save, finishing in style by striking out the side in the ninth. With the tying run on second and Mark Teixeira at the plate as the winning run, Papelbon got him to chase a slider away to seal the 2-1 victory.