House Warming Party by Jared Carrabis
Sox top the Yanks in first game at new Yankee Stadium


On Monday night, the New York Yankees welcomed the Boston Red Sox into The House That Jeter Built for their very first match up in the brand spankin' new Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees were hoping that the ghosts of Yankee past would follow them to the $1.5 billion Stadium, but in game one of this series, they could barely even get their own fans to follow them. The official attendance is listed as 46,426, but after a two-hour and twenty-minute rain delay, there were no more than 15,000 baseball fans left to enjoy the luxurious seating in the Bronx (tear). And I say "baseball fans", because Red Sox Nation was well represented well after the near two and a half hour rain delay.

If you don't mind, I'd like to refer back to a quote from Sunday's blog leading into this series, "If Lester can get back to being the consistent top of the rotation starter that we all know he can be, the Yankees will be in for another long night against the left-hander." Well, how does striking out five of the first six batters Lester faced sound for getting back to being the consistent ace we've come to recognize him as over the past year? Lester fanned Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira to begin his outing before painting a 93 MPH 4-seamer to strike out Melky Cabrera looking in the second inning followed by a knee-buckling curveball to free up Jose Molina on a called third strike to end the inning.

Lester was phenomenal in his start against the Bombers pitching seven strong innings. Although his line indicated that he gave up three earned runs, those three runs came on back-to-back home runs by Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira. The two-run shot for Damon and the solo blast for Teixiera were the only two blemishes on the night for the left-hander. His ten strikeouts were a season-high, snapping his previous mark of nine K's against Baltimore on April 19.

In fact, his ten strikeouts on Monday night tied his career high. Lester struck out ten batters in his second Major League start (I was there) against the Washington Nationals on June 21, 2006. The left-hander hurled 111 pitches with 76 going for strikes (68%). Lester faced 29 Yankee batters before concluding his outing after seven great innings.

The Red Sox got on the board early by striking first on a walk to Dustin Pedroia, followed by David Ortiz's eighth double of the season down the right field line and finally a passed ball charged to Jose Molina allowed Pedroia to come in from third to score. The Red Sox plated another run in the second when Mike Lowell led off the inning with a solo blast that landed several rows deep out in left field.

Boston continued to add onto their lead one run at a time in the third inning when Mike Lowell struck again with a two-out RBI single to drive in JD Drew. The very next inning, the Sox added another run when Jacoby Ellsbury reached second on a ground-rule double, only to be driven in after Big Papi's second double of the night. Ortiz reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks (one intentional). By the end of the night, Ortiz had raised his average to .222. Again, not great, but better than what it was. While Ortiz seemed to have found himself at the plate, he did seem a little bit lost before the game.

"I went to the kitchen, and next thing I know, I was in the gym," laughed David Ortiz. "I was like, 'What?' Then I went to the dugout, and I'm like, 'Hey, I'm going to get lost here.'"

Anyways, back to the game. With a 4-0 lead, the Yankees climbed back into the thick of things on the back-to-back home runs by Damon and Teixeira that I mentioned earlier. The two long balls that came off of Lester got the Yankees within a run in the bottom of the fifth. With little to no breathing room to spare, Jason Bay clubbed a two-run bomb off the left field foul pole for his sixth home run of the season. The two runs driven in by Bay on his monster shot of a home run off of Alfredo Aceves proved to be the most crucial runs of the game. Bay was 3-for-5 on the night with 2 RBI.

Theo, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you probably don't read SoxSpace. However, if you or anyone that you know can see this, please extend Jason Bay. I know you've been coveting Matt Holliday, but I mean what does Jason Bay have to do to prove to you that he's a perfect fit for this team? .321 batting average, 6 HR (three of those home runs either tied the game in the ninth, or drove in the eventual game-winning runs in extra innings or nine), 22 RBI and is OPS is over 1.000 at 1.101.

Theo, I love ya, but please don't make me beg. Let's bring some ink and paper into this guy's life so that he knows he's going to be here for a while. You know you want him, I want him, Red Sox Nation wants him and there isn't a guy in that Red Sox clubhouse that doesn't want him beyond the 2009 season; make it happen. Oh yeah, and Matt Holliday is hitting .223 with 2 HR, 15 RBI and a miserable .621 OPS. I know you don't negotiate during the season, but rules are meant to be broken, especially when it's a rule that you made yourself. There are certain exceptions, and I don't think I stand alone when I say, "He's worth it." Oh, and one last thing, don't give me that "economy" excuse. You should have enough to pay this guy's entire contract extension based on all the money I spend on Red Sox merchandise alone.

Back to the game again. Ramon Ramirez gave up his first earned run of the season (was the most innings without giving up an earned run this season up to that point) after allowing Mark Teixeira's fifth home run of the season and his second of the game. Jonathan Papelbon took over in the bottom of the eighth inning with a five-out save being the task at hand. Papelbon recorded the two outs that he needed to send this game into the ninth.

The Red Sox left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth and just minutes into the bottom half, Red Sox fans were ripping their hair out (those that were still awake) watching as Papelbon allowed the winning run to stand at home plate with no outs. Giving up a single to Brett Gardner to begin the inning, followed by Derek Jeter getting hit by a pitch that ran too far inside, Papelbon faced Mark Teixeira with one down later in the inning. Teixeira, who had homered twice on the night, had the chance to earn his stripes with one swing of the bat. Instead, Papelbon blew 95 MPH heat by his swinging stick to record the second out of the inning.

Papelbon made things interesting after a double steal put the tying run in scoring position, he walked Nick Swisher to put the winning run aboard. With a two-run lead, two outs and the bases loaded, Red sox Nation watched nervously as Robinson Cano fell behind in the count 1-2. On the fourth pitch of the at bat, Papelbon reached back and blew a 95 MPH fastball by the bat of Cano to end the Yankees' threat, ending the game. The five-out save for Papelbon was his seventh save of the season, as Boston improved to a perfect 4-0 against the Yankees in 2009. Lester earned the victory, evening his record to 2-2.

Final notes, Kevin Youkilis left the game after the fourth with an aggravated back. The tightness in his lower back may keep him out of the lineup on Tuesday for precautionary reasons only. A trip to the DL is not likely. In the case that the Red Sox hold him out of the lineup, all you fantasy baseball players out there can expect Jeff Bailey to take his place at first. Jonathan Papelbon's five-out save racked his pitch total up to 32 pitches. In the event that the Red Sox should be in the position where a closer is needed, expect Takashi Saito to get the call, not Papelbon. Nick Green's .283 batting average, 1 HR, 10 RBI and .792 OPS may be too much for Boston to ignore. Green was given the start over Lugo on Monday and could even be given the nod for consecutive starts by being inserted into Tuesday's lineup.

On Tuesday, Josh Beckett will be given the chance to redeem himself. The right-hander has given up 15 earned runs in his last two starts. It's been ugly, but he can bounce back because he is that good. Although this will be Beckett's first start in the new Yankee Stadium, he held a 4-2 record at the old Yankee Stadium which is good enough for me. Opposing Beckett will be Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain has never won a game in the month of May in his career.

-Jared Carrabis

Red Sox 6, Yankees 4

Published on May 05, 2009

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