BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Clay Buchholz and
Daniel Nava lead the
attack on the Yankees

September 15, 2013 ... The pregame nostalgia the Red Sox displayed for Mariano Rivera and his brilliant career was replaced by in-game relentlessness against the Yankees.  The Sox paid tribute to a respected opponent before the game, honoring Mariano Rivera with a series of gifts. Then they made sure that New York's closer didn't get to pitch.  The Red Sox have played lights-out baseball in recent weeks, and they continued that trend on Sunday night at Fenway Park, finishing off a three-game sweep with a 9-2 victory over the Yankees in the final rivalry matchup of the season.

Whether it was Clay Buchholz on the mound or any one of a number of the Red Sox hitters at the plate, the home team put on a clinic in this one.

Though the Yankees still have some hope to notch one of the two Wild Card spots, being swept by their rivals didn't help that cause. Manager Joe Girardi's team is three games back with 12 to go.  While the Yankees hope to catch lighting in a bottle down the stretch, just about everything continues to go right for the Red Sox.  Buchholz missed three months with an injury but has been nearly flawless since his return.  Over six innings, the righty gave up two hits and an unearned run, walking four and striking out three. Buchholz improved to 11-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.51.

You'd think the offense would be at least a little slowed without Jacoby Ellsbury, who is out indefinitely with a fracture in his right foot. Instead, the Sox continue to have different players step up. Daniel Nava led the charge in this one with a 4-for-5 performance.  Countless times, that one swing has come from Napoli, who continued his season-long torment of the Yankees by hitting a two-run rocket to center in the first, setting the tone for his team.  Napoli hit .375 with seven homers and 20 RBIs against the Yankees this season.

The only true misfire Buchholz had in Sunday's game was on a pickoff throw in the first. In an attempt to keep Curtis Granderson close, Buchholz threw the ball down the first-base line. Granderson scooted to third and scored on a fielder's-choice grounder by Alex Rodriguez, who would later leave the game with a right calf injury.  However, the momentum immediately shifted to the Red Sox, where it would stay for the rest of the night. Nava jump-started a rally in the bottom of the first with a one-out double to right. Ortiz drove him home with an RBI single to left.  With two outs, Napoli stepped up and belted a prodigious two-run homer to center to make it a 3-1 lead for Boston. While Napoli unleashed pure strength on New York, the Red Sox executed a much-different technique while stealing a run in the fourth.

With Jarrod Saltalamacchia on third base and Xander Bogaerts on first, Bogaerts made a heads-up play with one out, faking a steal of second while intentionally getting himself in a rundown to draw a throw. Yankees catcher Chris Stewart made an off-target effort toward second base and the ball bounced in the dirt while Saltalamacchia took off from third and was credited with a steal of home on the play. Bogaerts finally stole second on Stewart's throw, which landed several feet from the bag. There would be another run in the fifth, two in the sixth and two more in the seventh, putting the rout in motion.

Of Napoli's 22 home runs this season, seven have come against the Yankees. Not since Jimmie Foxx had eight in 1936 has a Red Sox player had more in a season against the Yankees.

Not only are the Red Sox winning, but they're having a lot of fun doing it.

Mariano Rivera was as popular an opponent as has ever played at Fenway Park, and tonight the Red Sox honored him, picked fun at him and showed their adoration.  The gifts including the donation to Mariano Rivera's charitable causes in his native Panama, were all nice as the Sox paid tribute before the game to Rivera's tremendous career. 

The Red Sox then "roasted" Rivera and showed video of the sequence of events leading up to and after Dave Roberts's steal of second base in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the '04 American League Championship Series. The Sox also showed video of the 2005 Opening Day ring-ceremony crowd giving Rivera a standing ovation and Rivera responding with a big smile and raising his hands. A painting of that moment was one of the gifts presented to Rivera by David Ortiz.

Koji Uehara presented him with the bullpen rubber.  Dustin Pedroia gave him the No. 42 placard, a piece of the scoreboard with his number on it signed by all the players.  Jon Lester presented him a 1934 blue seat from Fenway and gave a reminder that No. 42 never will be issued again after Rivera since the number has been retired everywhere in baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson. The number was grandfathered for Rivera.

The entire Red Sox team gathered around a makeshift podium around the mound, where the tables of gifts were covered with cloth and unveiled one-by-one. Rivera shook hands and hugged many of the Sox players behind him during the ceremony. He shook hands with Sox owners John Henry, Tom Werner, CEO Larry Lucchino, general manager Ben Cherington, and manager John Farrell. And he handled the "roast" very well, too. One of the greatest players ever to play the game tipped his cap to all corners of Fenway after the ceremony.

Jacoby Ellsbury missed his ninth game with a fracture in his right foot.  Shane Victorino, who has been dealing with a sore left hamstring for months, was out of the lineup. The Red Sox also were without Middlebrooks, who has flu-like symptoms.  Northeastern student Victoria McGrath, one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, walked out to the mound and threw out the first pitch. She received a big ovation from the crowd.