Red Sox

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Last news: December 31, 1969 19:00:00

An unofficial Boston Red Sox blog

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Last news: December 31, 1969 19:00:00

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Last news: December 31, 1969 19:00:00

The most visited Red Sox fan site on the web, featuring daily game summaries, articles, photos, video, related links, and more

Total news: 763
Last news: December 31, 1969 19:00:00

Total news: 4355
Last news: December 31, 1969 19:00:00

Even though the Sox had the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth inning against Mariano Rivera, they didn't manage to score another run.

Instead, both Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo struck out, and Jason Varitek popped to first base, leaving the Sox with a 2-1 loss.

Jose Molina has been pretty impressive in gunning down Red Sox runners in the past couple of games.

Alex Rodriguez, on the other hand, just swiped both second and third in the bottom of the fifth inning, after getting on with a single. But it didn't end up mattering, with Jason Giambi lining out to first base to end the inning.

With two hits in the bank already, Dustin Pedroia just made a sweet play on a grounder by Wilson Betemit. For Justin Masterson, it was even nicer, given that it got him out of a bases loaded jam.

Masterson loaded them up with a Derek Jeter single, a walk to Bobby Abreu, and a hit by pitch to Alex Rodriguez. But he struck out Jason Giambi on a slider, then got Betemit to ground out to end the inning.

It's still 1-0, Yankees.

Melky Cabrera just drove in the first run of the game, a single off Justin Masterson sending home Jason Giambi, and giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. That left men on second and third (on the throw home), but Jose Molina couldn't convert, grounding out to shortstop to end the inning.

Despite never making it to second base, Dustin Pedroia did manage to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. He singled to left field on a ground ball, the ball passing between Alex Rodriguez and the third base bag, but was out at second base trying to stretch the single into a double.

Though it was pouring here earlier, it's not anymore, and it appears that we'll get this game started on time. There might be delays later on, given that there are supposed to be scattered showers, but hopefully we can play through.

The sky has brightened as well, though cloud cover remains.

The Red Sox have now won the first two games of the four-game series with the Yankees, beating New York 6-4 today in a game that withstood a 1 hour, 28 minute rain delay.

Josh Beckett took the win, though he didn't have his best stuff, and Jonathan Papelbon got the save, despite giving up a run. (He shouldn't have given up the run, however. It was ruled that Coco Crisp didn't make a catch on a ball that he, in fact, did catch.)

Johnny Damon had his MRI, which revealed a contusion and sprain of the left AC join of his left shoulder. He's day-to-day.

That's the time this game is schedule to restart, at 5:45 p.m.

It seems to have stopped raining here in the Bronx, and the grounds crew is taking the tarp off the field at the moment. I think we're all hopeful that the rain will hold off long enough to get the final two innings of this game in.

The crowd is certainly sparse at this time, with an hour rain delay inserted into an already-lengthy game.

It hasn't quite stopped, but the rain has definitely slowed. A few fans are coming back to their uncovered seats, though the majority remain in the covered portion of the stadium.

It just got a little bit brighter, too. So hopefully those are good signs.

Though the umpires appeared ready to put this game into a delay in between innings, we're not there yet. Instead, even though it's pouring, workers are doctoring the infield and the pitching mound so that the game can continue.

It's possible that they think that the rain will let up, and want to continue through the bad spell to finish off the game.

Kyle Farnsworth is now in to pitch to the Sox in the eighth inning.

It was another bad moment for Hideki Okajima, and another one for Alex Rodriguez.

Okajima loaded the bases, getting the second out of the inning, before yielding to Manny Delcarmen. And Delcarmen came into the game with the bases loaded and Rodriguez at the plate.

That's not an easy assignment.

But Delcarmen got Rodriguez to ground to third base for a force out and the end of the inning. It's still 6-3, Sox.

That's not going to help.

With the Yankees in a tailspin, and Joe Girardi holding a team meeting last night, the Yankees are now down by three runs in today's game. Mike Lowell took Darrell Rasner deep for a three-run homer to left field, scoring Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez.

It's now 6-3.

Johnny Damon left the game with a left shoulder contusion after crashing into the wall while trying to catch a ball off the bat of Kevin Youkilis in the third inning. X-rays were negative.

Damon will be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours. That will include an MRI.

(AP)

Johnny Damon just slammed into the wall in left field trying to make a catch on a Kevin Youkilis drive. The ball sno-coned in his glove and popped out as Damon smashed into the wall.

But the most amazing part is, after it came out, the ball dropped onto the top of the blue padding that marks the top of the wall and just sat there for a few beats. Eventually, it dropped onto the field side, giving Youkilis a triple, and scoring Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez.

Damon came up holding his side and was removed from the game. Brett Gardner, who leads off the third for the Yankees, came in to take his place in left.

The Sox scored three in the inning, tying the score at 3-3.

With that single to left field, in the third inning, Dustin Pedroia's hitting streak is now at 12 games. He was also hit by a pitch in the arm in the first inning.

With Joe Girardi getting on his team for the way they've been playing, the Yankees came up with three runs in the first inning off Josh Beckett.

Alex Rodriguez sent a double to left field, which scored Johnny Damon (double) and Bobby Abreu (walk) with the first two runs of the game. Rodriguez took off for home on a medium-depth fly ball to centerfield from Jason Giambi, scoring the third run for the Yankees.

Joe Girardi took a measure tone in his pregame media conference, after having harsh words for his team last night in the wake of his team's 7-0 loss to the Red Sox.

"Things just aren't going our way right now," he said this morning. "We've got to find a way to be more successful.

"Consistency is what we're looking for. That's how you put streaks together. That's how you win series."

Girardi said he decided after last night's game to have the team meeting, though he didn't bring the Yankees in early this morning for extra infield drills or anything of that nature. He also emphasized that he believes in the players on his team, despite their sometimes ugly results this season.

"There's no magic formula here," Girardi said. "We have to win series. You do that by being consistent."