Nothing Youk-an Do About It by Jared Carrabis
Youkilis continues to swing hot stick, leads Sox to third straight victory


While the Celtics began their title defense against Chicago, and the Bruins took a 2-0 series lead over the Habs in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Red Sox made some noise of their own on Saturday night just eleven games into their 162-game schedule.

Now you might be asking yourself, with two Boston teams in the playoffs, how might the Red Sox compete for some attention from Boston sports fans when they're just two weeks into the season? The answer: Kevin Youkilis. The man is simply on fire. There's really no other way to say it. At this point in time, if it's the bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded and you're down by two runs with Kevin Youkilis at the plate, my honest advice: walk him. You're better off giving up that one run, rather than taking your chances facing the likes of Kevin Youkilis in the batter's box.

As it stands right now, Youkilis is second in the American League with a .467 batting average, just one hit away from being tied for the most hits in the AL with 21, he's tied for third with five doubles, and ranks fourth with eleven runs scored. The moral of this story, the guy is on fire. His jersey should display his name, his number and the same warning that Dunkin Donuts puts on their hot cups. Warning: contents of this jersey are extremely hot, throw pitches in this general direction with caution.

The Red Sox jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Jason Varitek lined a double down the right field line to score Kevin Youkilis from second base. How did he get on second base in the first place? Well, first he worked the count full to make sure that he had a productive at bat, and just when Adam Eaton thought he had Youkilis right where he wanted him, BAM! Double on a liner to left.

The very next inning with one out, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz occupied the first and second base bags by collecting consecutive base hits to bring Kevin Youkilis to the plate. Once again, making the opposing pitcher work, Youkilis hammered an 88 MPH changeup into the Monster seats for a three-run home run. Boston would collect another run on an RBI base hit by Mike Lowell to up their lead to 5-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox picked up another run on an RBI single by, guess who? Kevin Youkilis. The Red Sox first baseman finished the night just a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and 4 RBI. Youkilis drove in every man that was on base during any of his at bats, as he stranded zero runners on the night. It's also worth noting that Youk has a .571 batting average at Fenway Park thus far, and is hitting .500 in the Sox' night games in '09.

Josh Beckett shut out the Orioles in five of his six innings of work. The only problem being that the only inning he failed to shut the birds down, he gave up four earned runs. A combination of three hits (two doubles), two walks (one to force in a run with the bases loaded), and a fielder's choice piled on the pitches for Beckett's pitch count. The mighty righty made his exit after completing six frames, facing 28 batters and throwing 105 pitches. Beckett walked four and struck out five, earning his second victory in three starts this season.

Back-to-back shutout innings turned in by Hideki Okajima and his fellow countryman, Takashi Saito, both struck out two, built the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. With a two-run lead to protect for the second night in a row, Papelbon tossed 23 pitches, 11 for strikes, as he retired Aubrey Huff on an 89 MPH changeup to end the game. Papelbon has now saved every game that the Red Sox have earned a victory in on the young season.

On Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox look to make it four straight wins for the first time in 2009. A win on Sunday would secure Boston's first series win of 2009 as well. If the Red Sox are to accomplish this, they will need a solid outing from Jon Lester, who has struggled mightily out of the gate. Lester has lost both of his starts, giving up 11 earned runs on 18 hits. It's not a mechanics and it's not an injury, so let's hope that Baltimore being in town is just what Lester needs to get on the right track. The left-hander is 6-0 lifetime against the O's with a 2.81 ERA.

Go Sox, B's, Celts,
-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Orioles 4, Red Sox 6

Published on April 19, 2009

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