This is really late, because I forgot about it. I watched the games, I just forgot to write anything. The rivalry resumed last week at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox rotation was lined up with Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, and Brad Penny going up against A.J. Burnett, Chien Ming Wang, and C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees came in to this series feeling pretty good about themselves, despite being 0-5 against the Red Sox. They were in first place, Alex Rodriguez was back from injury, their pitching staff was effective, and Mark Teixeira had begun hammering the ball. It wouldn't last.
The first game was an utterly dominating performance by the Red Sox and by Josh Beckett in particular. Beckett looked like the 2007 model when he nearly won the Cy Young Award. Burnett, who was partially signed by the Yankees because of his success against the Red Sox, and in Boston in particular, was bombed. He was knocked out of the game after only 2 2/3 innings. David Ortiz provided a little offense, hitting a home run and the team took care of business, winning 8-0.
In the second game, the Yankees sent embattled starter Wang to the mound to try to regain form. He wouldn't and was pulled again after only 2 2/3 innings as the Red Sox were staked to an early lead. Phil Hughes came on for the Yankees and provided an impressive relief stint, but despite attempting to claw their way back, the damage was done. Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis each provided home runs. The Yankees came within one run but could not tie the score thanks to the effective relief work from the duo of Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. The Red Sox won 6-5.
The Yankees felt the third game was theirs. Their new ace Sabathia would take the mound against Boston's Brad Penny. Sabathia was rough early, allowing another home run to David Ortiz. He settled down though and pitched like the ace the Yankees wanted. However, he started to get fatigued and manager Joe Girardi left him in too long since he wanted to rest his overworked bullpen. Boston was patient, Dustin Pedroia worked a ten pitch walk which lead to J.D. Drew getting a base hit up the middle. Sabathia was done, but the Red Sox were not. They came all the way back and won 4-3. The Red Sox are now 8-0 against the Yankees this year.
The real stories mostly came after the games were played. David Ortiz has started to hit, finally. He will be needed. After the series, Red Sox owner John Henry sent out the following message on Twitter: "The MT curse?", possibly referring to Mark Teixeira, who Boston has long coveted but has spurned the Red Sox twice. Teixeira was not happy and said he would not engage in a war of words with a 70-something year old man. Henry is 59 actually. It was a little childish of Henry, Twitter has lead to people making some stream-of-consciousness type statements that the public can read. I would prefer that people think before they speak personally, especially when it comes to the owner of my favorite team. Oh well.
The Yankees then had a childish moment. Brad Penny plunked Alex Rodriguez with a pitch in the final game, despite having good command most of the time. The Yankees asked the MLB commissioner's office to suspend Penny for intentionally hitting Rodriguez. The teams were warned at the time, but Penny was not ejected. The problem here is that the Yankees are assuming Penny hit A-Rod intentionally which cannot be proven. Sounds like sour grapes to me. Yankees pitchers have hit Red Sox batters nine times this season. The Red Sox have not complained. Joba Chamberlain seems to enjoy throwing at Kevin Youkilis's head. The Red Sox have not complained to the commissioner's office.
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