The feeling of desperation in the Evil Empire is palpable. The fact that Yankee fans cheered their 4 run 4th inning rally as if it were Game 7 of the World Series was laughable and pathetic. It feels good to be a Red Sox fan in the state of New York right now.
The Yankees have lost their last 7 games. The last time they lost 7 in a row was in 2000 (which also was the last time they won a World Series, so let's not get too excited about New York's horrendous play). The last time they lost 7 straight in April was in 1989, when they finished 74-87, and 5th in the 7 team AL East. The Yankees are the only team in baseball who do not have a save. They've had 7 save opportunities as a team, and blown them all. Reliever Sean Henn has the 3rd most innings pitched on the team. The Yankees already have 3 pitchers with 14 appearances, 5 with more than 10, and 7 with 8 or more. They're 5 games below .500, dead last in the AL East, a game behind Tampa Bay, 2 games behind Baltimore, 2.5 games behind Toronto, and 6.5 games behind Boston. They're one of 4 teams in MLB with a winning percentage below .400. Only Kansas City and Washington have worse records.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are off to a great start. No team in baseball has more wins or a higher winning percentage. The Sox are 4 games up in the AL East. The next largest deficit between a 1st and 2nd place team is the difference between Milwaukee and Pittsburgh in the NL Central: 2.5 games.
But the New York Yankees aren't THAT bad. In their 7 game losing streak, they haven't been blown out very often. The Yankees have scored the most runs in baseball, 124 in 21 games, which is 5.90 per game. But the Red Sox are 4th on that list at 117 (in 22 games, 5.32 runs per game). The Red Sox also have the 3rd best team ERA at 3.25. New York has the 27th best at 5.12. The Red Sox have allowed 77 runs (3.50 a game), the Yankees have allowed 117 (5.57 a game).
As of this moment, the New York Yankees SUCK. It's only the end of April and there's about 140 games left to play, so things may very well change. Nevertheless, enjoy it Red Sox Nation. Your team is good, and the Empire is crumbling.
Last night, the Red Sox outplayed New York. The Yankees took a 4-2 lead in a tough inning for Matsuzaka, but Dice-K was able to settle down and pitch 2 more good innings to hold the Yankees to 4 runs.
The Sox had a very good response inning in the top of the 5th against Pettitte. Lugo walked with 1 out, then stole second. Youkilis hit a single to move Lugo to 3rd. Ortiz hit a single to score Lugo. Manny walked to load the bases. Drew struck out, but Lowell drew a walk that tied the game at 4-4. Pettitte threw a wild pitch to Varitek that allowed Ortiz to score, and the Sox retook the lead for good.
The entire inning, Pettitte laboured. He shook off Posada countless times, and asked Posada to go through signs over and over again. Could you imagine a pitcher having to do that with Varitek behind the dish?
The parade of Yankee relievers began, as did the Red Sox hit parade. Daisuke didn't allow a run for the rest of his outing. Lugo hit a solo shot in the 6th to make it 6-4 Sox. Timlin pitched a scoreless 7th for his 2nd hold of the season. Lugo knocked in Pedroia with an RBI double in the 8th to make it 7-4. Okajima pitched a scoreless 8th for his 4th hold of the year. In the 9th, the Sox sealed the game and saved Papelbon from pitching the 9th with a 4 run inning. Rivera came in and the Sox had 3 consecutive singles off him. Then Myers came in and allowed some more offense. Pineiro mopped up the game in the 9th.
The Red Sox had 40 at-bats in this game and reached base 20 times.
The Man of the Game is Julio Lugo who went 3 for 5 with an RBI double, an RBI single, and a solo homerun. He was a triple shy of the cycle, and an RBI triple shy of some sort of Super Cycle. He also walked twice, scored three times, and stole 2 bases. He did make a fielding error, but when you get on base 5 times, knock in 3 runs, and score 3 runs, you can make an error and still have an amazing game.
Honorable Mentions:
Kevin Youkilis: 2/5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs, BB
David Ortiz: 2/4, 2 RBI, run, 2 BB
Daisuke Matsuzaka: 6 IP, 4 ER, 5 scoreless innings, and 1 bad inning
Wakefield vs. Karstens this afternoon. Wakefield is the only Sox starter who is 4 for 4 in Quality Starts (6 IP or more, 3 ER or fewer), despite his 2-2 record. Karstens was lit up for 7 runs in his 4.1 inning start against us last weekend.
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