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PEDRO CIRIACO
SCORES |
A LOST YEAR WITH
BOBBY V ...
The Red Sox take a bite out
of the Yankees
September 11, 2012 ... Jacoby
Ellsbury celebrated his birthday in grand fashion tonight, his
walkoff single beating the Yankees, 4-3, and touching off an actual
celebration at Fenway Park. Ellsbury's fourth hit of the night scored
Pedro Ciriaco from second base and dropped the Yankees into a tie for
first place in the American League East with the Orioles, who beat
the Rays, 9-2.
The Yankees,
who have lost eight of 12, have five more games left against the Sox. There is
plenty of motivation on both sides of baseball's best rivalry.
The Sox used
three singles in the ninth to win the game. Yankee killer Ciriaco singled to
left with one out against David Robertson (1-7) and took second on an infield
single to the left side by Mike Aviles. Ellsbury was next and he bounced a high
changeup into right field. Ichiro Suzuki made an accurate throw to the plate but
Ciriaco beat it and the Sox mobbed Ellsbury as he rounded first base. Ellsbury,
who turned 29, had his first four-hit game of the season. He also had an RBI
single in the third inning and later scored on a single by Dustin Pedroia. The
last Sox player to have four hits on his birthday was Carl Yastrzemski Aug. 22,
1976.
Andrew
Bailey pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the victory, his first with the Sox.
It came with some valuable assistance from Lavarnway.
Nick Swisher
singled with one out and was replaced by Eduardo Nunez. With Alex Rodriguez up,
Nunez tried to steal second and was thrown out by Lavarnway. The rookie catcher
had caught only one runner in 21 previous tries this season. Bailey then ended
the inning by striking out an overmatched Rodriguez with a 96-mile-per-hour
fastball.
Bailey,
Junichi Tazawa, and Craig Breslow threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of an
erratic Jon Lester. The bullpen allowed one hit and K'd four, giving the Sox a
chance for only their third walkoff this season.
Lester
allowed three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked a career-worst
seven, four to lead off innings. In the third inning, when Lester walked
Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, manager Bobby Valentine came to the mound for what
was an animated conversation with the lefty. Lester was annoyed with the strike
zone of umpire Chad Fairchild and seemed to be losing his focus.
Lester
responded by striking out Russell Martin and Steve Pearce and escaped the inning
without allowing a run. But he lost a 2-1 lead in the sixth when Derek Jeter
dropped a two-run double into right field. Lester's five strikeouts gave him
1,044 for his career, passing Bruce Hurst for the most by a lefthander in Red
Sox history. Lester is seventh overall.
Pedroia's
home run in the sixth inning off Hiroki Kuroda tied it. That helped lead to the
ninth-inning revelry. Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Ciriaco combined for nine of
Boston's 12 hits. Ciriaco was 2 for 3 with a sacrifice. He is 17 of 35 in nine
games vs. the Yankees this season with 11 runs, seven RBIs, and four stolen
bases.
The Sox, who
had lost 11 of 12, played like a team with something to prove. |
