Four Real? Red Sox vs Yankees 5-31-13

Pete Lepak
RedSoxLife Staff Writer
Game 56: Yankees take it, 4-1
Well, it wasn't a game of many highlights, but singles and walks gave the Yankees a 4-1 victory. In a rematch from Opening Day, C.C. Sabathia beat Jon Lester by simply pitching better, and it was simple; Lester missed his spots and C.C. didn't. Sabathia went over seven innings and struck out ten. Hopefully, nothing is wrong with Lester, who in his last three starts, has a 6.05 ERA.

The Yankees were also powered by the returns of Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis, both coming off of long disabled list stints. Unfortunately, after Ellsbury's five stolen base night, he was removed from the today's lineup due to tightness in his leg. Here are the four at bats that changed the game:

1) Bottom of the second inning, and The Yankees get on the board first. Teixeira walks and Vernon Wells doubles, and Lester finds himself in trouble. He tries a curveball to Jayson Nix, and Nix slaps it into left field to score Teixeira. Ichiro then follows with a soft line drive to left as well to score Wells, and when the Yankees score first, they are 22-3. Yankees lead 2-0.

2) Lester is still in trouble in the bottom of the second, but with two men on, he gets Chris Stewart to put the ball on the ground. Stephen Drew makes a great stop but throws the ball wide of second base to Dustin Pedroia. Pedey makes a great play to stretch, catch, turn and throw to beat Stewart at first and complete the very tough double play and end the inning. Pedroia's defense has been spectacular so far this Spring, and he is well on his way to a Gold Glove in 2013.

3) Bottom of the fifth inning, and the Yankees add to their lead. On an 0 and 2 pitch, Jon Lester hits David Adams on the foot to put a man on first. Ichiro grounds to Lester, and Jon turns around and fires to Stephen Drew, but the throw is wide and takes Drew off of the base. With some good skill, Drew is able to get back to the base in time and complete the force out, but Yankee manager Joe Girardi disagrees and is ejected. Was the ejection a way to get the Yankees, who have lost 5 straight, fired up? Either way, Youkilis ends up singling in a run later in the inning to put New York up 3-0.

4) Top of the seventh inning, and C.C. is getting tired. Dustin Pedroia, who had three hits on the night, begins the inning with a double. David Ortiz grounds out to the right side so he pushes Pedey to third. Mike Napoli doubles to the right field gap off of a Sabathia change up and the Red Sox finally get on the board. 3-1 Yanks.

The Yankees would get one more run, but the quiet Boston bats gave the Yankees the win. Lester's performance was certainly disappointing, but when Boston goes 1-8 with runners in scoring position, you can't really expect to win. I am sure the Red Sox are already looking forward to tomorrow when Boston sends Felix Doubront to face Phil Hughes at 7:15pm at Yankee Stadium.

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