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Farewell Tour Part I
August 27, 2008
We've got a lot to tackle today so let's get right down to it. The curtain is on third of the way closed on the Red Sox and Yankee rivalry at Yankee Stadium. The two teams clashed in the Bronx last night in game one of three in their final series to be played in the legendary stadium. For the Red Sox, it was a game they needed to win to inch closer to first place, for the Yankees it was a game they needed to show the rest of the baseball world that they were still playing for this year. Well, we're still not convinced.
The Red Sox scattered fourteen hits all around the House that Ruth Built and played seven runs in their double-digit hit effort. Legendary Yankee-killer, David Ortiz, was one of many offensive leaders in last night's win over the Bombers. Ortiz went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two walks knocking in a run. In Jason Bay's rivalry debut, he did not disappoint. Bay collected two hits in four at bats and drove in two runs for the Red Sox.
The other big offensive help came from places that you wouldn't normally expect. Coco Crisp had himself a big three-hit night with an RBI and a stolen base but was also caught stealing. Newly named 2008 International League Most Valuable Player, Jeff Bailey, opened some eyes contributing to the big club going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in.
Tim Wakefield may not have gone as deep into the game as he would have liked but eighty pitches and five innings later, he got the hook giving way to a lights out bullpen. Wakefield got the win in this one going five innings giving up all of the Yankees three runs on eight hits. Two of those hits were solo home runs by former Red Sox outfielder, Johnny Damon. The home runs were harmless as a bullpen of Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, Justin Masterson, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon all combined for four innings of two-hit baseball striking out five men in pinstripes.
The biggest play of the night came in the seventh inning when Justin Masterson stood on the mound in a bases loaded with one out and Alex Rodriguez at the plate. Two sinkers later, Alex Rodriguez found himself walking back to the dugout having grounded into a double play to end the inning, killing yet another rally. Alex Rodriguez was the most beneficiary player to the Red Sox on the entire field that night going 0-for-5, grounding into two double plays, committing an error and striking out twice, the second being to end the game.
In other news, the Red Sox have acquired outfielder Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league outfielder Luis Sumoza. With JD Drew having been placed in the 15-day disabled list, Kotsay will be of some insurance to the Red Sox outfield. Kotsay is hitting .289 on the season with 6 home runs and 37 RBI. His on base percentage is nothing too special at .340 while he's slugging .418. Kotsay is expected to join the team before Wednesday night's game against the Yankees.
Taking the mound in that game will be Paul Byrd. It will be Byrds first start against a team that is not the Toronto Blue Jays for the first time in his last five starts. In his career against the Yankees, Byrd is 2-5 with a 4.90 ERA. Lucky for him, he can afford to give up give runs to this team and maybe sneak away with a win. Opposing Byrd tonight will be Sidney Ponson. Ponson is coming off his worst outing of the entire season when he couldn't manage to make it out of the third inning giving up seven runs on eight hits. A fun little stat would be that the last time he gave up that many runs was July 27 when the Red Sox pounded him for seven runs on ten hits in just four innings pitched.
-Jared Carrabis
-Jared Carrabis
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