Touche! Red Sox get revenge, crush Yankees

Friday’s contest between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees was the return of New England Sports Network broadcaster Jerry Remy to the booth. He took a leave of absence on May 6th in order to recover from cancer surgery, and, after his sabbatical, was anxious to rejoin Don Orsillo, with whom he’s worked with since 2001. The game was full of emotions for Remy: first, he was excited, but then his mood quickly changed, and worsened as the game progressed. The Yankees won their fifth straight game against their rival and did so in commanding fashion, scoring 20 runs on 23 hits while knocking Brad Penny out of Boston’s rotation.

It couldn’t get much worse for the Red Sox. The loss dropped them 7 1/2 games behind the New York. Given the circumstances, this loss should have been deflating, and should have haunted them for the rest of the series, if not the season. But this was the franchise that won four straight games against the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series after losing 19-8 in Game 3, and this was the franchise that won the first eight games against the Yankees this season. They have been known to bounce back quickly and be dominant in doing so. So, it was no surprise that they did it this time.

I returned from my trip to Idaho and turned on the television. It was on channel 5, my local Fox station. I heard Tim McCarver talking about Robinson Cano, New York’s second baseman, before the picture was resolved. Then, once the black of the television screen faded and Cano appeared, I was in full Red Sox-Yankees mode. The picture was fuzzy at first, so it was hard to tell the score; to me, it looked as if it was scoreless. Then, the suspense was lifted: It read 9-0 in favor of the Red Sox. It was the top of the sixth inning, and Cano had just singled, one of his three hits on the day.

Though Boston is a team with a short-term memory, I was stunned by their advantage. The shock wore off after Junichi Tazawa, making his second career start, averted one of evidently many threats he was dealt to finish off a fine outing. He allowed eleven baserunners–eight hits, two walks, and a hit-batsman–but failed to surrender a run. Six shutouts innings, just what the doctor ordered.

Their offense demolished their previous opponent, the Toronto Blue Jays, scoring 24 runs in a three-game sweep, then scored 11 runs in the beatdown they were handed by New York. Therefore, though I was taken aback by their perseverance, because there offense was scorching hot, clicking on all cylinders, my only question was how they grabbed such a substantial lead on their hated foe. MLB.com’s Gameday solved my problem.

Two one-out singles by Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez in the first inning against A.J. Burnett began the damage. Burnett retired Kevin Youkilis, giving the Red Sox one out with which to work. That was exactly the way they wanted it.

David Ortiz doubled both Pedroia and Martinez home, and did so in unusual fashion. He socked an opposite-field drive off the Green Monster in left-field. It hit low off the wall, and ricocheted past Yankees left-fielder Nick Swisher, who was far too close to the 37-foot behemoth. Cano was forced to run into left-field from his position at second base to corral it. This allowed both Pedroia and Martinez, who isn’t particularly fast, to score. Jason Bay then rewarded Ortiz for his efforts, driving him by roping a single to left.

In the top of the second inning, Bay showed Swisher how to play wall-ball. After a leadoff walk to Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, Cano rocketed a drive high off the Monster. Whereas Swisher ran towards the wall, Bay stayed back, probably twenty feet from the wall, and let the ball come to him.

The wall rewarded him for his patience, as the ball bounced on one hop and into his bare hand. He thanked the wall by immediately firing a frozen rope to Pedroia, who tagged Cano out easily. Instead of two runners in scoring position with nobody out, Posada was alone on the basepaths, then was stranded.

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez, in his second stint with the Red Sox (he was one of many failed experiments since the departure of Nomar Garciaparra in 2003; he had an abysmal .299 on-base percentage in his one-season with the team in 2006), homered in the second inning. Then, after Burnett picked a bad time to issue the only two walks of his outing–to Pedroia and Martinez–Kevin Youkilis punctured a fastball high over the Monster and onto Landsdown Street.

It was a nine run lead after more scoring in the fifth. Again, the damage was done with two outs. Burnett retired the first two hitters, then walked behind the mound mouthing “Why did I throw that there?” after allowing Ortiz’s twentieth homer of the season. Bay and J.D. Drew followed with doubles. An outing in which Burnett allowed the most runs in his career was over.

That didn’t mean Boston’s offense wasn’t done. In the sixth inning, Kevin Youkilis followed Victor Martinez, who had previously driven in Pedroia with a single, and smashed his second homer of the game.

The Yankees got on the board in the seventh on a homer by Swisher, but that only cut the deficit to eleven.

For good measure, the Red Sox added two in the bottom of the eighth. Pedroia doubled with two out, then Casey Kotchman and Youkilis followed with two-baggers of their own. Boston had 14 runs. A staggering thirteen of them came once two were out.

The tables had turned. As the question was posed “Are the Yankees just too good for Boston?” the Red Sox fired back in a big way. Remy’s mood didn’t change this time.