Postgame, Red Sox 11-6: Look for more on the site in regards to Tim Wakefield, Alfredo Aceves and David Ortiz, who put the kibosh on the whole bat-flipping controversy with some forceful words.
We will wrap up the blog with a few injury notes. Terry Francona said that tests ruled out everything for Jarrod Saltalamacchia other than that he was “good old-fashioned sick.”
Francona said that it could have been a case of food poisoning. In any event, it is something he will get over in time. Jason Varitek will catch Josh Beckett on Thursday. Francona said that Luis Exposito will probably still be around, just in case.
Saltalamacchia did show up at during the game but was long gone by the time reporters went to the clubhouse.
As for Jed Lowrie, his MRI came back clean. Francona: “He should play tomorrow.”
If and when he does, Lowrie will be part of what figures to be an interesting game. The Yankees will be desperate, the temperatures will be approaching 100 during the afternoon and likely in the 90s at first pitch and Josh Beckett will be opposing CC Sabathia.
Good stuff to hold you over while you wait for Game 5. Thanks for following along tonight. We’ll be back at the stadium Thursday afternoon to bring you all the updates.
Final, Red Sox 11-6: The note was given earlier on, but it bears repeating now that this one has gone final. The Red Sox have won their first five road games against the Yankees for the first time in 99 years.
In other words, they haven’t dominated this much in New York to begin a year since they were paying visits to the Highlanders and Yankee Stadium (the first one) was a far-fetched dream.
The latest victory puts Boston alone in first place and moves Tim Wakefield to within four wins of 200. I’m off to visit what figures to be a very happy clubhouse. Back up soon.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 11-5: It has gotten rather ugly here. Carl Crawford hit a solo shot and J.D. Drew added a two-run bomb to blow this one open.
The three runs allows Terry Francona to stick with Alfredo Aceves to finish this one out. He may have been intending on doing that anyway, but now has the luxury of sparing the pen.
End 8th, Red Sox 8-5: Just building on a prior post pertaining to the way these games have gone, it seems as if there are 20 moments a game which find Yankees fans go “Yayyyy” and then quickly “Ohhhhh” because their hopes were dashed by something.
That took place in the eighth. After Brett Gardner reached on a horrendous safe call at first base and stole second, there was a “Yayyy” as Eduardo Nunez lined a shot to left. Could it be 8-6? Ohhhh…no, it was hit right to Carl Crawford. End of inning.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 8-5: After Adrian Gonzalez strikes out with two men on to end the top of the eighth, Alfredo Aceves strolls to the mound to work another inning.
Matt Albers had been warming. Right now, nobody is. My guess is Daniel Bard works the ninth.
9:52 p.m.: After allowing the first three men he faced to reach, including one on a walk that forced in a run, Boone Logan actually did a pretty good job.
He retired the next five in order before being replaced by Lance Pendleton with one out in the eighth.
Still, how much could the Yankees use Alfredo Aceves right now.
End 7th, Red Sox 8-5: It feels as if all five games the Red Sox have played here have had the same feel.
Boston builds a lead, gives up a few in the middle innings to allow the fans to get into it, and then slams the door.
The heart of the Yankees order does nothing against Alfredo Aceves in the seventh and Boston is six outs from improving to 7-1 vs. New York. Oh, and climbing into first place on their own.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 8-5: Boone Logan gets three quick outs in the seventh. The Yankees have scored all their runs in the last three innings. Alfredo Aceves will try to end that run right now, otherwise this will become a bit less comfortable for the Red Sox.
Not that a three-run lead against New York is comfortable, but you get what I’m sayin’.
Anyone watching this thing in Boston?
End 6th, Red Sox 8-5: This place was as loud as can be just moments ago. An inning-ending double play hit into by Derek Jeter just sucked the life out of it.
Huge for Alfredo Aceves to get out of that mess, especially considering he had a 3-1 count on Jeter with the bases loaded. Jeter took the 3-1 offering and then hit a three-hopper to Kevin Youkilis.
Both teams got a run in the sixth, but both had the bases loaded when the inning came to an end.
The Yankees seemingly had another when one of Aceves’ offerings went to the backstop, but speedy Brett Gardner did not budge from third.
9:28 p.m.: The Yankees have pulled to within 8-5, have the bases loaded and Derek Jeter at the plate with one out. Yes, this place is loud.
9:18 p.m.: Tim Wakefield allows two to reach in the sixth and yields way to Alfredo Aceves. If the Red Sox can get the final 11 outs, Wakefield will tied Bullet Joe Bush and Claude Osteen for 119th on the all-time wins list.
Aceves is facing Eduardo Nunez and Francisco Cervelli. With no Bobby Jenks, he will probably pitch the seventh as well. Also, Jonathan Papelbon threw a lot of pitches last night so they may want to stay away from him. We will see.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 8-4: And just as we write Boone Logan’s obituary, he strikes out Kevin Youkilis to finish the sixth and leave ’em loaded.
Still, if you think Boston is in dire straits with its bullpen (Jenks, Hill, etc.), then just look at New York’s. It is down two setup men, nobody else seems capable of stepping up right now and the starters aren’t lasting very long, which doesn’t let Joe Girardi hide anyone.
9:06 p.m.: Boone Logan comes on to face Jacoby Ellsbury in a lefty-on-lefty matchup with two outs in the sixth. He gives up a single, then walks Dustin Pedroia and then walks Adrian Gonzalez to force in a run.
The Yankees bullpen is in tough shape right now.
9:03 p.m.: If you could meet this publishing tool we use, you would hate him too. It just wiped away my note about A.J. Burnett getting pulled two outs into the sixth.
Because it’s 103 degrees, I’ll just leave it at that rather then rehash all my clever Burnett notes.
Also, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has a stomach illness. And Daisuke Matsuzaka will have surgery Friday on his elbow.
End 5th, Red Sox 7-4: Tim Wakefield and Derek Jeter climb career lists every single time they play it seems.
Wakefield is still in line for career win No. 196, but Jeter made it a bit tighter.
After Francisco Cervelli singled in a run to make it 7-2, Jeter followed with an RBI double, the 2,989th hit of his career. He then scored on a relatively shallow fly to left, taking advantage of Carl Crawford’s mediocre arm. The run was the 1,720th of Jeter’s career, moving him into a tie for 24th all-time with Jesse Burkett
Mid 5th, Red Sox 7-1: Although he has a 1-2-3 fifth, this is a decidedly un-clutch performance by A.J. Burnett. The Yankees needed a good start in the worst way, and they didn’t get it.
At 94 pitches, Burnett may be able to give them six, which is something considering he was on the ropes in the fourth.
I still have the hiccups.
End 4th, Red Sox 7-1: The Yankees needed a home run several times last night but never got one. They had runners on all over the place and one blast could’ve dramatcially altered the game.
Of course, they get one tonight and it comes with nobody on and seven runs down. Alex Rodriguez does the deed, hammering his 624th career homer.
The inning ended with Tim Wakefield on the ground in foul territory. Wake had beaten Brett Gardner to the bag on a grounder to first but tripped over Gardner’s head (he had slid in head-first) and went tumbling. Both players seemed OK after a brief stay on the ground.
Also, I have the hiccups, which just seems so 1980s. Who gets hiccups these days?
Mid 4th, Red Sox 7-0: The Red Sox are just laying waste to this place, either by hen-pecking the Yankees to death or by getting big bombs like the one David Ortiz hit in the first.
Ortiz led off the fourth with a walk and Carl Crawford singled. A groundout moved both to scoring position and the Yankees elected to put J.D. Drew on and try to get the double play with Jason Varitek up.
They got the groundball they needed, but it was a slow one. Robinson Cano was almost too focused on trying to make the strategy pay off and rather than using the momentum of his hard charge and coming home to get the slow-footed Ortiz, he flipped backwards to second for a force. But Varitek was easily safe and the run scored.
To add insult to whatever that was, Jacoby Ellsbury then lined an RBI double to right and Dustin Pedroia singled in a run with a ball in the hole with which Derek Jeter could do nothing.
As we sit here, the Red Sox have outscored the Yankees 35-13 over the last six games, five of which have taken place in New York.
End 3rd, Red Sox 4-0: Tim Wakefield survives his first “jam” of the night by working around a leadoff double by Francisco Cervelli.
Derek Jeter was a strikeout victim, Curtis Granderson grounded to first and Mark Teixeira flew to right.
Just to put this run of success at the Yankees in perspective, the club has not won its first five games in New York in any season since 1912. Of course, Boston enters tonight 4-0 in Yankee Stadium this year.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 4-0: A better inning for A.J. Burnett in the third, partly because his catcher didn’t have to make any throws.
Burnett struck out Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis after getting Dustin Pedroia on a deep fly to center.
On a side note, the Red Sox completed their draft this afternoon. Among the picks taken was Matt Gedman, son of former Boston catcher Rich Gedman.
End 2nd, Red Sox 4-0: We had our first Tim Wakefield-Jason Varitek moment in the second, but it didn’t end up hurting anyone.
After Nick Swisher reached with an infield hit that can only come off of a knuckleball, he moved to second when a Wakefield pitched broke way inside and got past Varitek.
Brett Gardner followed with a walk but Wakefield escaped by getting Eduardo Nunez to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Go Bruins.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 4-0: The Red Sox have a winning formula. Reach first, steal on Francisco Cervelli, take third when he throws the ball into center field and score from third on an out.
It happened for the second time in as many innings, this time with Marco Scutaro doing the damage. He got on with an infield hit and eventually scored on J.D. Drew’s sacrifice fly.
In case you missed the Tweet earlier, Rich Hill will undergo Tommy John surgery Thursday with Dr. Andrews in Florida.
End 1st, Red Sox 3-0: A.J. Burnett probably didn’t have time to even grab the towel and a sip of water. Tim Wakefield threw only eight pitches and got three outs in the air to coast through the first.
I had time to finish my ice cream. Just enough.
Mid 1st, Red Sox 3-0: When asked about the possibility for some sort of drama tonight in the wake of the David Ortiz bat flip, Terry Francona said: “David’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”
Ortiz took care of a 3-2 fastball from A.J. Burnett by crushing a two-run homer to right, his 15th of the year. Just on fire right now.
Jacoby Ellsbury is batting .356 (16-for-45) in the first innings of games this year, and that number was below .300 not that long ago. He has been doing his job and more as a leadoff hitter of late.
Ellsbury singled, stole second, went to third on the throwing error and scored on an Adrian Gonzalez grounder to second.
7:11 p.m.: Jacoby Ellsbury has already singled, stolen second base and moved to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Yes, we are off and running.
6:34 p.m.: The official word on Bobby Jenks is a back strain. You get the sense that if there was a six-day DL, the Red Sox would use it, but someone had to take the hit with just one available catcher.
By sending Jenks to “The List,” Boston has some protection in the event Jason Varitek needs a breather. We hope to learn more about Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s condition later on.
In other news, Franklin Morales threw 35 pitches in a side session on Monday, and threw again today. He is on the verge of going out on a rehab assignment.
Also, Darnell McDonald is 8-for-19 (.421) with two home runs for Pawtucket. His rehab is obviously going very well and Terry Francona indicated a return is imminent. It will probably happen after this whole mess settles down and the Red Sox can take stock of what they have. Just too many guys up in the air right now.
And. Now. Dinner.
6:17 p.m.: In case you are wondering the last time Tim Wakefield threw to Jason Varitek in a regular season game, it was 2008, but only for one inning. Before that it was 2005. So, just one inning in six years.
They have been paired with one another in exhibition games only since then.
It makes one wonder what will happen if and when the Yankees get some guys on base. We could have an absolute track meet on our hands. That is no disrespect to Varitek, who has unleashed some solid throws of late, but he will be dealing with a different beast tonight.
Chief among those of concern will be Brett Gardner, who is batting seventh for New York in this lineup:
Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, RF
Brett Gardner, LF
Eduardo Nunez, 3B
Francisco Cervelli, C
The only Yankees starter with a career average over .300 against Wakefield is Granderson, who is 6-for-18 (.333) with a home run, a triple and three walks.
5:23 p.m.: As that last post was fired off, we got word that Bobby Jenks will in fact go on the DL and Luis Exposito is being called up to back up Jason Varitek.
5:14 p.m.: Back upstairs to give you the skinny on what is a wild pregame here. Both teams are doing all they can to fill several gaps.
To begin with, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is not at the stadium as I type this. He was sent to a local hospital after throwing up many times this morning, around 11 a.m.
Terry Francona said the club is waiting to see if Salty can get back up and serve as the backup catcher. If not, a move might need to be made. That is the reason for Jason Varitek being in the lineup to catch Tim Wakefield, an extreme rarity.
The Sox are also on the fence regarding Jed Lowrie. As of a few minutes ago, the team was waiting on results of an MRI on his left shoulder, as well as one on Bobby Jenks’ back. We know Jenks is not available. If the tests come back clean on Lowrie, he would be available off the bench and probably in the lineup Thursday against lefty CC Sabathia. If not, he will most assuredly hit the DL, especially with the team down a catcher and a pitcher, essentially.
We will get you the updates on any roster moves Boston needs to make.
New York already has made its moves. It put Joba Chamberlain on the DL and sent Hector Noesi down. Chamberlain has a strained flexor mass. Noesi threw a bunch of innings last night and wasn’t going to be available for some time, so the need for more arms was imperative. The Yankees brought in Amauri Sanit and Jeff Marquez to fill out a beaten up bullpen.
With Chamberlain joining Rafael Soriano on the DL, David Robertson will slide into the setup role and guys like Luis Ayala and Boone Logan will fill the void.
The Yankees are also without Jorge Posada due to a family issue and Russell Martin is out with a sore back, so they are down to one catcher as well.
More on all of this in a bit.
3:24 p.m.: Marco Scutaro is getting his second straight start since returning from the DL. We will see if there is anything more to Jed Lowrie’s shoulder issue, or just a matchup thing. Scutaro has markedly better numbers against A.J. Burnett.
Here is the lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Carl Crawford, LF
Marco Scutaro, SS
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Also note Varitek in there with Tim Wakefield on the mound. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is normally behind the plate with the knuckleballer, and has done a nice job of it. Varitek usually catches Josh Beckett, who is on the mound tomorrow. This deserves, and will receive, an explanation, which we will provide after hearing from Terry Francona.
2:58 p.m.: Greetings from Yankee Stadium, where at least one dozen souls will spontaneously combust before the night is through.
It is hot. Very, very hot. Three blocks in a row that I passed on my walk over had popped open the water plug, just for old time’s sake.
Obviously, it will cool off a bit tonight, but just a bit. Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.
And while much was made of the breezes in this place when it had its wild home run binge in 2009, the air is often still. I konw that first-hand after a morning spent playing on the losing side in the Boston-New York media game. We had a few lengthy innings on the defensive end of things, and sweat was flying off of your favorite media members.
The lineups for the real game should be over soon. Sit tight, and stay cool.
9 a.m.: Tim Wakefield will make his sixth start of the season and his first ever in the new Yankee Stadium when he leads the Red Sox into a matchup of first-place teams Wednesday night.
The veteran is 11-17 with a 4.90 ERA in his career against the Yankees. He is 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA in his last three starts for Boston, which moved into a first-place tie with New York after Tuesday’s 6-4 win.
The Yankees will start A.J. Burnett. The righty is 5-1 at home this year.
New York will probably be without first baseman Mark Teixeira. He was hit on the right knee by a Jon Lester pitch Tuesday night and left the game. Teixeira will be reevaluated Wednesday.
The Red Sox might have a limited bullpen due to a back injury suffered by Bobby Jenks. He also left the game prematurely and will have an MRI on Wednesday morning, although he does not consider it to be serious.
First pitch for this one is 7:05 p.m. NESN will be there for all the action.
