Big Papi: Back With A Vengance; Red Sox Nip Yankees
RED SOX 7
This is not good news. The Yankees, who came into tonight's crucial series with the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park, are now an unacceptable 0-6 versus the Red Sox this season. In a stretch were the Yankees have won 19 of 25 games before tonight, and clearly the hottest team in baseball, the Yanks suffered one heck of a cool down thanks to David "Big Papi" Ortiz and Josh Beckett.
Ortiz who has had a horrific season, batting .197 with two homers and 22 RBI, but he finally showed a pulse this season when he ripped a two run home run to wild corner where the stands meet the Green Monster in center field to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.
A.J. Burnett just didn't have it for the Yankees; after the Ortiz homer, he walked Mark Kotsay, and allowed Nick Green to reach on a fielder's choice, thanks to an error by Dr. Choke, A.K.A. Alex Rodriguez. Two batters later, J.D. Drew doubled to left to drive in both Kotsay and Green to give Boston a 4-0 lead.
In the third, Burnett's control problems continued. He walked Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek, allowed Kotsay to single to center, and finally surrendered a double to Green to drive in Lowell with the fifth run of the night. That was it for Burnett who was pulled out after two and two-thirds. He struck out one and walked five in the effort; his ERA rose to 4.89.
As for Burnett's former Florida Marlin teammate Beckett, he was fantastic as usual. Beckett gave up only one hit in six innings, striking out eight . He is now 7-2 on the season with a 3.77 ERA.
Nick Green, who had a huge night for the Sox, capped it off with a solo home run to left, giving Boston a 7-0 lead. The Red Sox have now tied the Yankees for first place in the AL East with the victory.
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