Final, Yankees 3-2: Shawn Kelly closed the door on the Red Sox in the ninth inning, striking out Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jonathan Herrera before getting Grady Sizemore to fly out to center field for the final out of the inning.
With the win, the Yankees take three out of four from the Red Sox in their first series of the year.
Ivan Nova got the win, giving up two earned runs on eight hits over 7 1/3 innings while Felix Doubront suffered the loss for the Red Sox, surrendering three runs on seven hits.
The Red Sox return to action Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.
End 8th, Yankees 3-2: The warning track has certainly seen its fair share of action tonight.
Alfonso Soriano became the latest victim of an almost-home run, flying out to deep left field for the first out of the inning. The Red Sox put on a serious shift for Brian McCann and it worked like a charm. Jonathan Herrera was playing in right field and he smoothly snagged a hard hit ball by McCann and threw to first in plenty of time for the second out.
Yangervis Solarte dropped a blooper into shallow center field, but Chris Capuano got out of the inning with no damage done, getting Kelly Johnson to ground out.
Mid 8th, Yankees 3-2: Ivan Nova came out for the 8th inning, but he didn’t last long.Â
Nova retired the first batter he faced, Xander Bogaerts, and with that, his night came to an end. A familiar face in Matt Thornton took over on the mound and he almost relinquished the lead. David Ortiz absolutely smacked a ball to deep right field, but Ichiro Suzuki made an unbelievable catch to rob Big Papi.
David Phelps took over for Thornton and Mike Napoli wasted no time in welcoming him to the ballgame as he launched a double down the left field line. Daniel Nava walked to extend the inning and Phelps then hit AJ Pierzynski to load the bases.
Mike Carp entered as a pinch hitter for Ryan Roberts, but Phelps worked some serious magic — especially on the inside part of the plate — to strike out Carp and maintain the one-run lead.
End 7th, Yankees 3-2: Carlos Beltran has been a nightmare for Felix Doubront tonight.
Doubront had no trouble retiring Dean Anna and Brett Gardner to start the inning, but Beltran’s big bat made things interesting with two outs. Beltran doubled on a line drive to left field and he is now 3-for-4 on the night and a triple shy of the cycle. With the extra-base hit, Doubront’s night came to a close and the Red Sox turned to Chris Capuano.
Capuano, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Red Sox this year, got the job done getting Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out to second to end the inning.
Mid 7th, Yankees 3-2: Ivan Nova enjoyed an easy 1-2-3 inning.Â
Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out looking on a pitch up in the zone, Jonathan Herrera sent a hot shot down to third for the second out and Grady Sizemore flied out to deep center for the final out of the season.Â
Defensively, Yangervis Solarte remained at second base so the Yankees dodged a bullet there not losing another man.
End 6th, Yankees 3-2: Brian McCann missed a home run by inches, but the Red Sox will absolutely take it.
McCann came scarily close to tacking on another run to New York’s lead, as he drilled a double off the top of the center field wall to lead off the inning. Whew.
Yangervis Solarte advanced McCann to third on a grounder, but Solarte pulled a Francisco Cervelli and looked to injure himself on the play. We’ll keep you posted on whether or not he’ll remain in the game, but the Yanks are quickly running out of position players, and it’s possible Derek Jeter might have to enter tonight’s game.
Kelly Johnson struck out swinging for the second out of the inning and Ichiro Suzuki sent a bouncer to second to end the inning.
Mid 6th, Yankees 3-2: Mike Napoli’s shot shot cut the Yankees lead to one here in the sixth.
Napoli absolutely tattooed a baseball to bring the Red Sox within one run to lead off the inning. What a blast.
The rest of the inning was anticlimactic as Daniel Nava popped out to left field and AJ Pierzynski and Ryan Roberts were retired on consecutive groundouts.
End 5th, Yankees 3-1: It hasn’t been the easiest night for Felix Doubront, but he’s (somehow) keeping the Red Sox in this game.
Brett Gardner’s leadoff single was all for naught as Carlos Beltran sent a deep fly ball to left-center field that Jackie Bradley Jr., handled with ease, and Jacoby Ellsbury followed the harmless pop-up with one of his own.
Alfonso Soriano ended the inning with a strikeout.
Mid 5th, Yankees 3-1: Well, this was a much less complicated inning than the prior.
Jonathan Herrera lined out to Dean Anna for the first out of the inning before Grady Sizemore singled. The Red Sox couldn’t move him around this, as Xander Bogaerts flied out to center and David Ortiz put a serious charge into a deep fly ball, but he was retired to end the inning.
End 4th, Yankees 3-1: Control issues plagued Felix Doubront in the fourth, but he managed to minimize the damage — mostly.
Back-to-back walks to Brian McCann and Yangervis Solarte warranted a visit from Juan Nieves to the mound and he apparently said the magic words. The next batter, Kelly Johnson, sent a dribbler to second, but Jonathan Herrera could only get the out at second.
Francisco Cervelli appeared to hit into a double play to end the inning, but after injuring himself while running and getting called out, the Yankees challenged the close play at first.
And the Yankees were right to challenge. Brian O’Nora came out and overruled the call, saying Cervelli is safe at first, which prompted John Farrell to come out of the dugout and share his frustration. Farrell’s words get him tossed and he becomes the first manager to get thrown out arguing a replay, so, you know, at least it was an historic ejection.
To complicate matters even more, the Yankees actually score on the play as Brian McCann came around to increase the Yankees lead to two.
Carlos Beltran will take over at first base for the injured Cervelli while Ichiro Suzuki will man right field after pinch running.
Mid 4th, Yankees 2-1: Ryan Roberts added his second single of the night, but that was the only offense the Red Sox could muster.
Daniel Nava chased Jacoby Ellsbury all the way back to the 385-sign, but the outfielder didn’t get enough of the ball to tie up the game. Ellsbury hauled it in for the first out of the inning.
Yangervis Solarte made a nice diving stop to his right to rob A.J. Pierzynski of a base hit and Jackie Bradley Jr. popped out to left field for the third out.
End 3rd, Yankees 2-1: With one swing of the bat, the Yankees have taken over the lead.
After Dean Anna was retired to start the inning, Brett Gardner drove a base hit into right field that just got past a diving Mike Napoli. Carlos Beltran didn’t leave his teammate stranded, launching a two-run blast into the left field seats to take a 2-1 lead.
Felix Doubront retired Jacoby Ellsbury and Alfonso Soriano to end the inning.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Ivan Nova worked a 1-2-3 inning.
Nova, who struggled mightily in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, is settling in against the Red Sox. Xander Bogaerts grounded softly to shortstop to lead off the inning, David Ortiz grounded into the shift and Mike Napoli put up a battle in a 9-pitch at-bat, but he also grounded out for the final out.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: A two-out walk was the only hiccup Felix Doubront faced in the second.
The southpaw got Brian McCann to fly out to center field to lead off the inning before Yangervis Solarte grounded out to third base. A little inconsistency prevailed when Doubront walked Kelly Johnson on four straight pitches, but no damage was done.
Francisco Cervelli popped out to center to end the inning.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox gave Ivan Nova some two-out trouble, and they take a 1-0 lead because of their clutch hitting.
After Daniel Nava grounded out and A.J. Pierzynski struck out to start the inning, Ryan Roberts got the offense rolling with a two-out base hit into center field. Jackie Bradley Jr., followed that up with a single of his own, hitting a grounder up the middle that ricocheted off Ivan Nova’s foot and bounced into right center.
Roberts showed some hustle and advanced to third on the play. Jonathan Herrera then hit a screamer that just missed Nova’s face to drive in Roberts.
Grady Sizemore delivered a line drive into center field, but Brett Gardner had plenty of time to scoop it up and fire it to Brian McCann to get Jackie Bradley Jr. for the final out of the inning.
End 1st, 0-0: Well, this sort of worked out for the Red Sox. The Yankees jumped all over Felix Doubront in the first inning, but they have nothing to show for it.
Brett Gardner showed some pop in his first at-bat of the night as Daniel Nava had to chase Gardner’s rocket all the way to the warning track, using a basket-style catch to record the first out of the inning.
Carlos Beltran then drilled a single into left field on the first pitch he saw from Doubront and Jacoby Ellsbury moved him to third base on a hard-hit double down the right field line. But the Red Sox received some luck from the baseball gods when Alfonso Soriano’s pop-up to center field was caught by Jackie Bradley Jr., who then fired to third in time to get Jacoby Ellsbury who was tagging up. Carlos Beltran had scored, but Ellsbury’s out nullified the run as Beltran crossed after Ryan Roberts applied the tag.
We’ll take it.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Ivan Nova got a couple of key strikeouts to escape the first inning unscathed.Â
After Grady Sizemore grounded out to shortstop to lead off the inning, Xander Bogaerts ripped a line-drive single into left field.
The Red Sox left him stranded on first, though, as David Ortiz struck out swinging on a high breaking ball and Mike Napoli followed suit.
8:07 p.m.: Ivan Nova delivers a first-pitch strike and we are underway in New York.
8:05: We are just moments away from first pitch, so settle in for some good ol’ fashioned Red Sox-Yankees baseball.
6:00 p.m.: The Boston Red Sox will be without Dustin Pedroia tonight as he is out with a sore left wrist, NESN’s Adam Pellerin reports.Â
Pedroia reportedly injured his wrist during a take-out slide that occurred in the Milwaukee series at Fenway. The second baseman will get it checked out in Boston on Monday.
Additionally, the New York Yankees have decided to give Derek Jeter his second day off in a row. Jeter was scheduled to sit Saturday, but manager Joe Girardi told reporters before the game that Jeter was experiencing some tightness in his quad on Friday and they’re being cautious with him.
The Yankees are off Monday so they’re hoping three days off will do the trick for Jeter.
Sunday’s complete lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox (5-7)
Grady Sizemore, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, RF
AJ Pierzynski, C
Ryan Roberts, 3B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Jonathan Herrera, 2B
Felix Doubront, LHP
New York Yankees (6-6)
Brett Gardner, LF
Carlos Beltran, RF
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Alfonso Soriano, DH
Brian McCann, C
Yangervis Solarte, 2B
Kelly Johnson, 3B
Francisco Cervelli, 1B
Dean Anna, SS
Ivan Nova, RHP
5:00 p.m.: The Red Sox will wrap up their four-game series against the New York Yankees on Sunday night, and they’ll send Felix Doubront to the mound as Boston looks to even the series at two games apiece.
After picking up his first win of the season against the Baltimore Orioles, Doubront struggled mightily against the Texas Rangers in his next outing. The southpaw lasted only 2 2/3 innings — the shortest outing of his career — as he got absolutely shellacked to the tune of five runs on six hits and a home run.
Doubront will look to rebound in his third start of the year as he faces another struggling pitcher, Ivan Nova. Nova lasted only four innings against the Baltimore Orioles in his last start, giving up seven runs on 10 hits while throwing only 61 pitches.
The two starting pitchers both come into Sunday’s matchup with ERA’s over 8.50, so tune into ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball for what is primed to be a high-scoring affair between these two rivals.
