The Red Sox are 7-0 against the Yankees this season. Which is probably a partial product of playing them 5 times in Fenway (where the Sox have the 2nd best home record in baseball) and only twice in Yankee Stadium (the Sox have the 12th best road record in baseball).
But 7-0 is 7-0 is 7-0.
Chien-Ming Wang is atrocious this season. His 2.2 inning, 4 run outing actually lowered his ERA to 14.34. As a starter, he has a 21.60 ERA, and opponents are hitting .507 off him.
Hideki Okajima saved this game. Ramon Ramirez was struggling, but Francona utilized the depth he has in the bullpen. Which is yet another reason why a 6 man rotation is moronic. The Sox have a deep bullpen, why strain it when guys like Wakefield, Smoltz, Penny, and Matsuzaka are 5 to 6 inning pitchers at best?
Wakefield was solid, and he improved to 8-3 on the year. But let's not get too hard about it. 6 innings and 3 earned runs is nice, and that's it.
David Ortiz's hit streak was snapped at 7 games. It had been perhaps the most intensely followed 7 game hit streak in Boston baseball history. He was 0 for 2 with a pair of walks. The Ortiz Optimists will point to his 410 foot flyball out to centerfield as another sign of his impending comeback. The Papi Pessimists (like myself) will observe that when he hits the ball hard, he's hitting it to center. He's not pulling it to right.
The Sox go for the sweep tonight, but it's a bit of a mismatch. Sabathia faces Penny. And Penny might be pitching to stay in a Red Sox uniform, because Smoltz is making his final rehab start tonight in Syracuse.
Source:
ESPN.com
Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Winslow Townson
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