YOOOOUUUK!! by Jared Carrabis
Jason Bay's two-run shot ties it in the ninth, Youk's solo blast in extras seals the deal


38,163 screaming fans, four hours and twenty-one minutes of baseball, a blown save for Mariano Rivera in the ninth, and a walk-off home run in extras. Yep, just another Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway Park.

Believe me, if you haven't seen this game, and you plan on it, I strongly advise you to fast-forward until the top of the ninth inning. Friday night's match up between the Red Sox and Yankees started out as a frustrating night of baseball for Boston. Over the first five innings of baseball, the Red Sox grounded into four double plays, three of which were inning-ending twin-killings.

With runners in scoring position, the Red Sox offense was far from productive, going 3-for-14. The lack of offense with ducks in the pond was the lone reason for the Red Sox stranding thirteen men on base. Despite catching some Z's throughout much of the game, the Sox did, however, strike first in the bottom of the first inning against Joba Chamberlain.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2-for-6) led off the game with a line drive single into right field. While the Yankees anticipated the speedy Ellsbury to swipe second base, Chamberlain balked the center fielder over the second on his own. With Dustin Pedroia at the plate and Ellsbury standing in scoring position, the man with 50 stolen bases in 2008 completed his theft of third base before popping up and scoring the game's first run on a passed ball charged to Jose Molina. The steal for Ellsbury was his seventh on the young season.

Jon Lester got off to a great start, blanking the Yanks through the first three frames. Lester ran into some trouble in the top of the fourth, allowing two runs to score on an RBI double by Cody Ransom and a groundball out to the left side of the infield by Derek Jeter. When the books closed on Lester after six innings, the left-hander scattered seven hits, gave up just the two runs that came in the fourth, walked three and struck out seven. Lester threw 114 pitches (67 for strikes), facing 27 Yankee hitters in his six innings of work.

Lester's counterpart, Joba Chamberlain, lasted a mere 5.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned), while scattering nine hits across the diamond. Chamberlain walked four and only struck out two before departing after 90 pitches. Chamberlain was chased from Friday night's action after an RBI single to right field by Nick Green tied the game at two. Scoring on the RBI base hit by Green was Mike Lowell, who was 2-for-5 on the night to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

The Yankees began their rally after the departure of Jon Lester. Hideki Okajima made his way to the mound in the top of the seventh in relief of Lester and was horrific. The lefty reliever faced four batters and gave up a lead-off double and three straight singles consecutively. Already being charged with a run, Okajima got the hook, as Manny Delcarmen entered a bases loaded situation with no outs.

Delcarmen retired the first batter he faced in Nick Swisher. With the bases still full in a one-run game, Robinson Cano hit a fly ball to left field that would be caught after a diving effort by Jason Bay. Johnny Damon scored on the sacrifice fly that was credited to Cano, but had that ball dropped in, at least two runs would have crossed home plate. Delcarmen went on to retire Melky Cabrera to end the Yankee's bases loaded, no out threat, only allowing one inherited runner to score.

With two earned runs being charged to Okajima, who failed to retire a single batter he faced, the Red Sox now faced a two-run deficit. After back-to-back scoreless innings turned in by Takashi Saito and Javier Lopez in the eighth and ninth innings, the Red Sox found themselves still trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Mariano Rivera entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to face Dustin Pedroia with men on first and second. Rivera made quick work of the reigning MVP, striking him out looking on a 92 MPH cutter.

David Ortiz (1-for-6) led off the bottom of the ninth with his third strikeout of the night. With one out, Kevin Youkilis ripped a base hit back up the middle, almost taking Rivera's face with it. With Youkilis standing at first, JD Drew grounded out to Robinson Cano at second, advancing Youkilis into scoring position for Jason Bay. On the second pitch of his at bat, Bay smashed a 92 MPH cutter from Rivera to deep center field that landed in the first row of the Monster seats, just to the left of the flagpole. Fenway erupted as the great Mariano Rivera had once again blown a save against the Boston Red Sox. The hero this time, Jason Bay on a two-run shot to even the score at four runs a piece.

With the score all knotted up, Jonathan Papelbon emerged from the bullpen in the top of the tenth inning to insure that the score would remain as is. Jose Molina led off the inning with a rip back up the middle to put himself on base for the fourth time (two singles, two walks). Ramiro Pena tried to bunt Molina into scoring position, but Kevin Youkilis was aware of the Molina's lack of speed and threw out the lead runner in Molina at second base.

Later in the inning, with two outs and runners at the corners, Mark Teixeira found himself in a crucial situation during his first game as a Yankee at Fenway Park. With the go-ahead run just 90 feet away, Jonathan Papelbon blew the Yankees' free agent "prize" away on a 96 MPH fastball to end New York's threat. Teixeira was 2-for-5 on the night with an RBI.

The Red Sox failed to score in the bottom half of the tenth, but thanks to another shutout inning by Ramon Ramirez, the game entered the bottom of the eleventh still tied at four. With a tie that needed to be broken before Terry Francona had no choice but to use his starting pitcher for Sunday out of the bullpen, Justin Masterson, the Red Sox went to work against Damaso Marte. David Ortiz led off the inning with his fourth strikeout of the night to bring Kevin Youkilis to the plate with one out.

With the count even at two, Youkilis belted a 94 MPH fastball that cruised out of Fenway Park in a hurry. The walk-off blast by Youkilis sailed through the middle of the Sports Authority and Volvo signs as if it were a field goal before landing somewhere on Lansdowne Street. The home run for Youkilis was his fifth of the season and his second career walk-off job. Youk was 2-for-4 with two walks on the night to raise his average to an AL best, .433.

The middle game of this three-game set features two former World Series Champion pitchers with the Florida Marlins. Josh Beckett and AJ Burnett will square off for the first time since both pitchers have become free agent additions to opposing teams within the Red Sox/Yankee rivalry. Beckett will be making his first start since accepting his five-game suspension for throwing at the head of former Yankee, Bobby Abreu. Beckett picked up a win in his last outing, giving up three earned runs over six innings. The Red Sox ace has held his opponents to a .229 batting average through his first three starts and holds a lifetime 7-4 record against the Yankees with a 5.33 ERA. The Red Sox will have their hands full against Burnett, who is 5-0 against Boston with a 2.56 ERA in eight career starts.

-Jared Carrabis

Final Score: Yankees 4, Red Sox 5 / 11 innings

Published on April 24, 2009

---

Tweet