What Goes Around, Comes Around by Jared Carrabis
Sox spank the Yanks, Youk leads the charge


After the New York Yankees handed the Red Sox a 20-11 stomping on Friday night, Boston's 8-0 start against the Bronx Bombers seemed like a distant memory from a season far ago.

On Saturday, the Red Sox offense reminded their fans what that 8-0 start was all about; domination. When the Sox banged out eight consecutive wins against their rivals, the team wasn't just "getting by" on a nightly basis; this Red Sox team was beating the Yankees in all aspects of the game. Their starting pitching was better, their hitting was better, they ran the bases better, they played better defense and their bullpen was unstoppable.

Over their five-game skid against Joe Girardi's squad, the Red Sox's offense had vanished, their bullpen was unreliable and the team's momentum had more than run dry.

With all the pre-game hype leading up to Saturday's match-up of AJ Burnett Vs. Junichi Tazawa, the fans of New York and media alike saw this head-to-head battle heavily in favor of the men in pinstripes. We were looking at a pitcher who, when he last faced Boston, allowed just one hit over 7.2 innings on August 7, going up against a 23-year-old starter, who just last year was pitching in an industrial league in Japan.

I got into a Twitter battle with ESPN's Skip Bayless before the game, as Bayless Tweeted that the Sox would be down, "8-1 in the fourth" because Tazawa's pitching would be like "batting practice" to the Yankees. I, of course, stood by my team, and by the fourth inning, Bayless was right. Well, sort of. There was a seven-run deficit, but it was in favor of the Boston Red Sox, who held a 7-0 lead over the New York Yankees.

Tazawa wasn't given much of a chance at all against the hottest offense on the planet, especially coming off a night where the Bombers sent 20 men across home plate. Despite the pessimistic predictions, Tazawa silenced the doubters (like Skip Bayless) by blanking the Yankees through six innings of work. The right-hander scattered eight hits, walked two and struck out two, without allowing a single Yankee to touch home.

Behind him, the Red Sox's offense was busy smashing the cover off the ball against Burnett. The Sox got on the board early, when in the bottom of the first, David Ortiz doubled with two outs to drive in a pair. In the very next at bat, Jason Bay stepped up and knocked in Ortiz to put the Sox out in front by a 3-0 score after one.

In the bottom of the second, the Sox were back at it again. With a 1-2 count, Alex Gonzalez muscled a Burnett curveball offering over the Green Monster for a solo shot.

Later in the inning with two outs and two men on, Kevin Youkilis launched his first of two home runs on the evening. The ball landed safely on Lansdowne Street for a three-run shot to give Boston a 7-0 advantage.

As Tazawa cruised along, David Ortiz continued the spanking by blasting his 20th home run of the season over the Green Monster. The following two at bats were back-to-back two-out doubles by Bay and JD Drew to bring home another run.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Red Sox, again, waited until there were two outs before they began to inflict more damage on the Yankees' team ERA. A double by Dustin Pedroia and a single by Victor Martinez put two men aboard for Youkilis, who went to town on a 2-0 fastball from Alfredo Aceves. The ball was crushed for Youk's 22nd home run of the season and his second of the game.

Boston carried a healthy 12-0 lead into the seventh inning, where Daniel Bard took over for Tazawa. Bard got Jerry Hairson Jr. swinging to open the inning, but Nick Swisher tagged the young righty for a solo shot over the wall to erase the shutout.

In the bottom half of the eighth, the Red Sox had no shame in running up the score after New York put a 20-spot on the board just a game prior. Once again starting the inning with two outs, three straight doubles by Pedroia, Casey Kotchman and Youkilis drove in a pair of runs to bring Boston's run total to 14.

The Yankees went quietly in the ninth, as the Sox capture the middle-game of this three-game set here at Fenway Park. The Red Sox can bring themselves back within striking distance in the American League East with a win on Sunday.

Yankees 1, Red Sox 14

Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:

AJ Burnett may be one of the top pitchers in the game, but at Fenway Park, his pitches must look like they're the size of a beach ball coming in at slow motion. On April 25th, in his first start at Fenway as a Yankee, Burnett allowed eight earned runs on eight hits, two of which were home runs. On June 9, Burnett lasted just 2.2 innings at the Fens, giving up five runs on five hits, also including a long ball. Then there was Saturday's nine-hit, nine-run attack, which included three bombs by the Sox's offense. Hey, maybe Fenway isn't so friendly after all?

Alex Gonzalez's second inning solo blast was his first home run in a Red Sox uniform since he went deep on August 1, 2006.

Thirteen of the Red Sox's 14 RBI were driven in with two outs. Neither team committed an error, which makes this all the more impressive that all of these runs came home without any assistance from a shaky defense.

David Ortiz homered for the 20th time in 2009 on Saturday. It's Big Papi's seventh straight season with 20 or more home runs with the Red Sox, which joins him with the likes of Ted Williams, Dwight Evans and his former teammate, Manny Ramirez, as the only Sox players to accomplish this feat. Nineteen of Ortiz's 20 HR have been hit since June 6, and the Red Sox have won 18 of the 20 games that Ortiz has homered in.

After Kevin Youkilis went deep twice with 6 RBI, he completed his eighth career multi-home run game.

Jayson Stark of ESPN Tweeted that he went back 50 seasons and "couldn't find any Yanks-Red Sox series where one team won by 9+ one day, the other won by double digits the next day."

Sunday's pitching match-up:

This is the match-up that we've all been waiting for. We all rolled our eyes when we saw the match-ups for the first two games, even though one ended up as a complete surprise. Which just goes to show you that "on paper" means nothing in this game. Well, on Sunday, baseball fans all across the world will get the privilege to see Josh Beckett take on the hefty lefty, CC Sabathia. These two have had their battles in the past, with the most memorable match-ups coming in the 2007 ALCS, when Beckett got the better of Sabathia on both occasions to win the '07 ALCS MVP.

Both of these two pitchers are tied for the league-best with 14 wins. The last time Sabathia faced the Red Sox in the Bronx, he dominated them. The last time Beckett faced the Yankees in the Bronx, he dominated them. Whether you're a Red Sox fan, or a Yankee fan, you're in for a treat.

Sabathia is 4-0 in the month of August, and Beckett is 2-0 against the Yankees and is 8-0 with a 2.58 ERA at Fenway park in 2009. Neither starter has a clear-cut advantage over the other, which should make this Sunday Night Baseball game even more enjoyable to watch. If I had to pick one, bias aside, I'd still go with Beckett, just because his numbers at Fenway this year are that impressive.

Eye on the scoreboard:

Yankees 1, Red Sox 14
Rangers 4, Rays 5

Result: The Red Sox pick up a game on the Yankees and creep 6.5 back of their divisional rivals. After a dramatic walk-off win against the Rangers on Saturday, the Sox up their lead in the Wild Card to two games, while the Rays are now just a game behind Texas and three back of Boston.

The return of Tim Wakefield:

Tim Wakefield, who hasn't made a start since July 8 Vs. the Oakland Athletics, will be returning to the Red Sox's rotation this Wednesday. After getting shelled, yet again, on Friday night, Brad Penny will lose his spot to Wakefield, as the knuckleballer tries to bring to this team what he brought prior to the All Star Break, which resulted in his first career All Star selection. In Wake's final rehab start with Pawtucket, the 42-year-old pitched five innings of two-hit, one-run ball.

Billy Wagner rumors:

Rumors were flying around the Internet on Friday that some "mystery team" had claimed veteran closer, Billy Wagner, off waivers from the New York Mets. Well, as it turns out, that "mystery team" was your very own Boston Red Sox. Once it was confirmed that it was, in fact, Boston who claimed Wagner, the two teams now have until 1pm on Tuesday to work out a deal for the left-hander. Wagner would be under contract for 2009 and has a club option for the 2010 season worth $8 million with a $1 million buyout.

Wagner also has a no-trade clause in his contract, but his agent told the media that the closer would accept a trade to a World Series contender, such as Boston. "Certainly, the Red Sox would give him a chance to win a World Series, and this year that’s first and foremost," Bean Stringfellow said. "From where we sit, that’s all that matters right now."

If the Sox could work out a deal for Wagner, he'd be owed about $2.5 million for the remaining six weeks of the season and will be a Type A free agent whenever he strolls to free agency.

In case you missed it:

I was on The Baseball Show this morning, so if you missed it, here it is!



PS: My book comes out in six days! (August 28)

-Jared Carrabis





Published on August 23, 2009

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