Games 121-123 Red Sox Lose 2 of 3 to Yankees – 58 runs score!!!

Friday August 21

Brad Penny gets rocked again and is sent to the bullpen after this game. Penny allowed 8R on 10H in only 4IP. He is a one-man bullpen wrecking crew! Michael Bowden called up from AAA was also hit hard – 7R on 8H in 2IP. To the Red Sox credit there is no quit in them. They were down 12-1 in the 5th inning and scored 3 runs off Andy Pettitte in both the 5th and the 6th innings along with 4 in the 9th off Mitre. Matsui had two home runs and 7 RBIs for New York. The game was a slug-fest.

Final Score: New York 20 Boston 11
Jacoby Watch: 1 for 4, 2R, 2 RBIs and a SB # 54 to tie Tommy Harper’s club record

Saturday August 22

Red Sox turn the tables and manage to score 9R on 9H off Yankee starter, AJ Burnett. Meanwhile Sox rookie, Junichi Tazawa, in only his third ML appearance shut out the Yankees on 8H with 6IP. New York was 0 for 9 with RISP with a team LOB of 13. It was a very gutsy performance from Tazawa who last year was pitching in the Industrial League, the Japanese minors. Nick Swisher homered off reliever Daniel Bard as the Yankees avoided a shut-out. Kevin Youkilis was the hitting star with two home runs and 6 RBIs. Sox also got homers from Alex Gonzalez and David Ortiz The Red Sox were 7 for 11 with RISP. Amazingly 13 of their 14 runs scored after two were out.

Final Score: Boston 14 New York 1
Jacoby Watch: 0 for 5

Sunday August 23

This game was ghastly and a huge disappointment for Red Sox fans as Josh Beckett allowed 5 home runs for the first time in his stellar career. Derek Jeter hit the first pitch Beckett threw for a homer to right field. Matsui had two solo homers, Cano had one and Rodriguez had a two run homer. The advertised pitcher’s duel between two 14 game winners never materialized as CC Sabathia did not have his best stuff. Sox had 4R on 8H in Sabathia’s 6.2IP. As the Yankees return to NY they are now 7 1/2 games ahead of the Sox who are in second place with 39 games remaining in the regular season.

Final Score: New York 8 Boston 4
Jacoby Watch: 0 for 5 with 3 K’s