Final, Yankees 14-5: Finally, the beatdown has ended.
The Red Sox turned in a sloppy performance in the series finale as the Yankees rolled to a 14-5 victory at Fenway Park. Boston produced just four hits and committed five errors in the blowout loss.
Felix Doubront certainly wasn’t helped by his defense, but he turned in another poor start. The left-hander gave up seven runs (three earned) on six hits over 2 2/3 innings.
CC Sabathia went six innings for New York. He gave up two runs on three hits while striking out eight and walking three.
The Red Sox now will travel to Toronto for three games against the Blue Jays. Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle will pitch Friday’s series opener.
Mid 9th, Yankees 14-5: Mike Carp had himself an eventful pitching debut.
Carp, who featured fastballs and knuckleballs, walked five batters, induced a double play, allowed a run and escaped a bases-loaded jam.
Carp even got into a full count against old friend Jacoby Ellsbury before walking the Yankees outfielder.
Brian McCann grounded into the double play. Kelly Johnson popped out behind the plate with the bases loaded to end the inning.
End 8th, Yankees 13-5: The Red Sox went down in order in the eighth inning.
The bigger story, however, is that Mike Carp will pitch the ninth inning for Boston. He’s the first position player to pitch for the Red Sox since Darnell McDonald.
Consider the white flag waved.
Mid 8th, Yankees 13-5: The Yankees tacked on a run in the eighth.
Jacoby Ellsbury doubled with one out to put runners at second and third. Edward Mujica then unleashed a wild pitch that resulted in New York’s 13th run of the ballgame.
End 7th, Yankees 12-5: Shane Greene, who was called up Thursday, had a hard time finding the strike zone in his major league debut.
The Red Sox scored three runs in the seventh inning to cut the Yankees’ lead to 12-5. None of the runs were earned, but Greene clearly didn’t have it in his first taste of big league action.
Derek Jeter made an error in the seventh inning that put runners at the corners for Shane Victorino. Victorino struck out, but a passed ball charged to Brian McCann in the at-bat allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. to score from third base.
Greene walked Jonathan Herrera, who pinch-hit for David Ortiz, and Mike Napoli to load the bases. That’s when Joe Girardi called upon Adam Warren.
Jonny Gomes lifted a sacrifice fly to right field for Boston’s fourth run, and Xander Bogaerts plated the Red Sox’s fifth run with a double into the right-center field gap.
Mid 7th, Yankees 12-2: The Red Sox need this game to end. Then, they need to act like it never happened.
The Yankees got to Craig Breslow for five runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 12-2. Boston has committed five errors.
Brian McCann singled and Brett Gardner walked to begin the seventh. Brian Roberts then hit a ground ball to third base that actually bounced off Brock Holt’s knee. (Yeah, it’s that kind of night.)
Yangervis Solarte stepped up with the bases loaded and sent a single into right field that scored Gardner and McCann. Solarte has driven in four runs out of the No. 9 spot in New York’s order.
Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a line drive into the right field corner. The ball bounced and hit a fan, resulting in an RBI, ground-rule double.
Derek Jeter made it 12-2 with a sharp single that plated two runs.
Xander Bogaerts failed to cleanly turn a double play after Carlos Beltran grounded to Dustin Pedroia at second base. Breslow then walked Alfonso Soriano and Mark Teixeira before John Farrell turned to Edward Mujica to finally close off the inning.
End 6th, Yankees 7-2: CC Sabathia is in the driver’s seat.
Xander Bogaerts reached on an infield single with one out, but that was the only blemish of the sixth inning for Sabathia.
Sabathia sandwiched Bogaerts’ single with a pair of strikeouts. Jonny Gomes and Brock Holt both went down looking.
David Ross grounded to third base to end the inning.
Mid 6th, Yankees 7-2: Burke Badenhop was excellent for the Red Sox after taking over for Felix Doubront.
Doubront lasted just 2 2/3 innings for Boston before manager John Farrell turned to his bullpen. Badenhop entered and held the Yankees scoreless for 2 2/3 innings.
Badenhop was replaced by Craig Breslow in the sixth inning after getting Derek Jeter to ground to Xander Bogaerts at short.
Breslow surrendered a one-out double to Carlos Beltran upon entering, but otherwise got the job done.
End 5th, Yankees 7-2: CC Sabathia took care of business in the fifth.
Shane Victorino, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli went down in order against the Yankees lefty.
Ortiz and Napoli struck out, giving Sabathia six K’s for the game.
Mid 5th, Yankees 7-2: Burke Badenhop was perfect in the fifth.
Badenhop can be very effective when he’s keeping the ball down and inducing ground ball outs. The right-hander induced three ground ball outs in the fifth inning.
Brian Roberts, Yangervis Solarte and Jacoby Ellsbury all grounded out.
End 4th, Yankees 7-2: CC Sabathia’s control hasn’t been there.
Sabathia has given the Red Sox some opportunities. He hit Jackie Bradley Jr. on the elbow in the fourth inning.
Bradley was the only Red Sox hitter to reach, though. Sabathia struck out David Ross and Dustin Pedroia.
Mid 4th, Yankees 7-2: Brock Holt likely will be sent back to Pawtucket when Will Middlebrooks returns this weekend. If so, it won’t be before Holt made his presence felt at the big league level.
Holt, who has provided a spark since getting called up last week, made a diving catch in the fourth inning to take a hit away from Carlos Beltran. The Red Sox were pulled over into the shift, and Holt was the only player manning the left side of the infield.
Alfonso Soriano planted a double off the left field wall, and Brian McCann walked with two down. Burke Badenhop, who will be counted on to provide some innings because of Felix Doubront’s short outing, managed to keep New York off the scoreboard, though.
End 3rd, Yankees 7-2: The Red Sox have begun chipping away.
Dustin Pedroia worked a leadoff walk, although CC Sabathia thought he had the Red Sox second baseman put away with a 2-2 fastball on the inside corner.
Shane Victorino followed with his first hit of 2014. Victorino, who struck out on three pitches in his first at-bat, yanked a 2-2 pitch into the left field corner for a double.
David Ortiz gave Boston its first run with a sacrifice fly to center field. The wind really messed around with the baseball, but Jacoby Ellsbury managed to make the catch.
Jonny Gomes made the score 7-2 with an RBI double into the left-center field gap.
Mid 3rd, Yankees 7-0: This game just keeps getting uglier.
Mark Teixeira began the third inning with a solo homer. The ball landed on the ledge in front of the first row of Monster seats and back onto the field. The umpires immediately signaled that it was a home run, which was the correct call.
The Yankees weren’t done.
Brett Gardner hit a ground ball into the middle of the infield that Felix Doubront couldn’t handle. He then stole second base and third base, as Doubront simply couldn’t hold runners in this outing.
Brian Roberts knocked in Gardner with a single before doing some damage on the bases himself. Roberts stole second base, and Jacoby Ellsbury plated him with an RBI single.
John Farrell saw enough and replaced Doubront with Burke Badenhop, who struck out Derek Jeter to end the inning.
End 2nd, Yankees 4-0: The Red Sox couldn’t take advantage of two walks in the second inning.
Jonny Gomes and Brock Holt both worked free passes in the second, but neither player crossed the dish.
David Ross lined out to third base and Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out swinging.
Mid 2nd, Yankees 4-0: The Red Sox are off to a very sloppy start.
Brett Gardner walked to begin the second inning. It then looked like Boston would benefit from a double play — Brian Roberts put the ball on the ground — but a rare miscue by Dustin Pedroia opened the floodgates for a three-run inning.
Roberts grounded to third base, where Brock Holt made the play and fired to second base. Pedroia lost the ball while transferring to his throwing hand — which, according to MLB’s new rule, means the runner was safe at second base — and the Red Sox were unable to record an out.
Felix Doubront delivered a wild pitch that enabled both Gardner and Roberts to advance. Yangervis Solarte knocked them in with a double down into the left field corner.
Solarte took third base on Jacoby Ellsbury’s bouncer to the right side. Derek Jeter reached when his hot smash to third base kicked off Holt’s glove and over toward the line for an infield single.
We had ourselves a review with Carlos Beltran batting. Doubront uncorked another wild pitch, but home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi ruled the pitch hit Beltran in the foot. It wasn’t even close to hitting Beltran, though, and Joe Girardi decided to challenge the play because a wild pitch resulted in New York adding its fourth run. The play was overturned, Solarte scored and Ellsbury was awarded second base.
End 1st, Yankees 1-0: Shane Victorino saw just three pitches in his first at-bat of the season. He struck out.
Victorino went down swinging against CC Sabathia in the first inning after Dustin Pedroia grounded to short for the first out.
Sabathia plunked David Ortiz with an 0-2 pitch and immediately showed disgust in himself. It didn’t matter, as Mike Napoli softly grounded to third base to end the inning.
Mid 1st, Yankees 1-0: Xander Bogaerts’ defense still is a work in progress. The young shortstop had a hard time handling a hot shot in the first inning.
Felix Doubront began his night by striking out Jacoby Ellsbury. Doubront placed a fastball at the bottom of the strike zone in a 2-2 count to freeze Ellsbury.
Derek Jeter then grounded back to Doubront before Carlos Beltran took aim at Bogaerts. Beltran’s one-hopper kicked off Bogaerts and into center field. The trainer came out to check on Bogaerts, who appeared to get struck in his throwing hand, but the 21-year-old remained in the game.
Alfonso Soriano made Bogaerts’ miscue hurt. He lined a double into the right-center field gap to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead.
7:12 p.m.: Felix Doubront misses inside to Jacoby Ellsbury, and we’re underway at Fenway Park.
6:40 p.m.: Keep in mind, Thursday’s Red Sox-Yankees game will air on NESNplus. The Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings will continue their first-round playoff series on NESN.
If you’re unsure of your NESNplus channel, be sure to check out the link below.
Click here for Thursday’s NESNplus channel listings >>
5:29 p.m.: The feeling around the Red Sox in the wake of Michael Pineda’s 10-game suspension continues to be that the pitcher simply was too blatant in his use of pine tar.
John Farrell insisted he doesn’t have an opinion as to whether Pineda’s suspension was too long or too short, instead saying the consequences are to be expected when a pitcher goes that far in pushing the envelope.
Farrell also said he doesn’t think the Pineda situation warrants any rule changes across Major League Baseball.
5:23 p.m.: Jonny Gomes got the nod in left field Thursday, and it’s likely he and Grady Sizemore will platoon in left based on the opponent’s starting pitcher — Gomes vs. lefties, Sizemore vs. righties.
John Farrell didn’t rule out any outfield combinations while discussing Shane Victorino’s return before the game. There could be an instance in which Sizemore shifts over to center field with Gomes in left field, or there could even be an instance in which Jackie Bradley Jr. shifts over to right field when Victorino is out of the lineup. Ballparks and starting pitchers will dictate the Red Sox’s lineup on a given night.
5:20 p.m.: Red Sox manager John Farrell said Thursday that third baseman Will Middlebrooks is expected to return this weekend in Toronto and will likely fly north with the team after Thursday’s game.
Middlebrooks, of course, has been on the disabled list since April 6 because of a calf strain he suffered while running sprints during pregame warmups.
5:15 p.m.: Shane Victorino will bat second in his season debut. Dustin Pedroia will hit atop the order.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said before Thursday’s game that he hopes the combination of Pedroia and Victorino at the top will provide some stability, particularly in the on-base department. Boston’s leadoff spot has been a revolving door thus far, but the Sox are getting closer to fielding what they hope will be a consistent lineup.
Thursday’s lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox (10-12)
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Shane Victorino, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jonny Gomes, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Brock Holt, 3B
David Ross, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Felix Doubront, LHP (1-2, 5.48 ERA)
New York Yankees (12-9)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Derek Jeter, SS
Carlos Beltran, RF
Alfonso Soriano, DH
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Brian McCann, C
Brett Gardner, LF
Brian Roberts, 2B
Yangervis Solarte, 3B
C.C. Sabathia, LHP (2-2, 5.19 ERA)
5 p.m. ET: The Boston Red Sox should receive a boost Thursday, as outfielder Shane Victorino has been activated off the 15-day disabled list.
Victorino has been sidelined since the beginning of the season because of a hamstring strain he suffered during the Red Sox’s final spring training game. The 33-year-old is returning at the right time for Boston, as the Red Sox will go up against CC Sabathia in their series finale against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.
Felix Doubront will take the ball for the Red Sox, who received a fantastic pitching performance from John Lackey on Wednesday. Lackey’s effort was overshadowed, to some extent, by Michael Pineda’s second-inning pine tar ejection, but the Boston hurler was brilliant. John Farrell said before Thursday’s game that Lackey’s start arguably was the right-hander’s best in a Red Sox uniform.
Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Be sure to catch the action on NESNplus and stick around with NESN.com’s live blog.
