Sox Out-Slug Yankees 16-11

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox ⋅ April 26, 2009 at 12:24pm ⋅ Post a comment

The last two Saturdays have not been very kind to New York Yankees pitching. On Saturday, April 18, the Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians 22-4. One week later, it was a similar story, as the Yankees allowed 16 runs and gave up a 6-0 lead to the Red Sox. The Sox capitalized on weak Yankees pitching to out-slug the Bombers in a 16-11 win.

With the Sox down 6-1, Jason Varitek hit a grand slam to make it 6-5, and the Sox didn’t stop there. They found themselves down 10-9 in the seventh inning, when the Yanks walked Jason Bay to face Mike Lowell, who was 0-3 with two strikeouts at that point. Lowell made them pay, launching a go-ahead three-run HR to give the Sox a 12-10 lead. In his next at bat in the eighth inning, Lowell launched a three-run double off the Monster to help give the Sox their ninth straight victory and their biggest comeback win over the Yankees since 1968.

Sox Stud of the Game

Mike Lowell, 3B: Mark Teixeira who? Mike Lowell continued his solid 2009 campaign last night, with two huge hits in the seventh and eighth inning. He finished 2-5 with a HR, double, six RBI, and a run scored.

Sox Dud of the Game

Josh Beckett, SP: Pick a pitcher…any pitcher…when there’s 27 runs scored in the game. Josh Beckett was the worst Sox pitcher of all, allowing eight runs on 10 hits and four walks in five innings pitched. He finished with just three strikeouts, and his season ERA balooned to 6.00.

Game Notes

W: Hideki Okajima (1-0)
L: Jonathan Albaladejo (1-1)

The game took four hours and 21 minutes, becoming the fifth nine-inning game between the Sox and Yanks since 2006 that lasted longer than four hours. It tied for the sixth-longest nine-inning game in baseball history.
The Yankees are the fourth team since 1900 to allow 15 runs in a game three times in the first 17 games of a season.
A.J. Burnett didn’t fare much better than Josh Beckett, allowing eight runs on eight hits and three walks in just five innings.
Robinson Cano homered twice for the Yankees and finished with five RBIs, and is now hitting .366 on the season.
Dustin Pedroia finished 3-3 with two walks, two runs scored, and an RBI to raise his batting average to .314.