Inning by inning analysis Red Sox VS. Yankees, August 21st
Top 1 - 1-2-3 inning, 9 pitches thrown by Wells. It appears control does not lessen with age, as Wells hits his spots perfectly.
Bottom 1 - Ortiz gets an infield hit, Manny walks, and Lidle throws over 20 pitches in the first.
Top 2 - ARod gets a hustle double but the rest of the Yankees can't get him in. Game remains scoreless into the bottom of the second.
Bottom 2 - Lowell and Pena strike out and Lopez pops out. Pena seemingly strikes out more than once per game.
Top 3 - Sal Fasano strikes out on a nasty curve, and Nick Green and Melky Cabrera ground out to short. A quick inning for Wells, who is perfect in location on every pitch through 3.
Bottom 3 - 1-2-3 inning. Lidle is quickly proving that he is capable of pitching some quality innings. I honestly thought his ERA would skyrocket over 5.00 in the switch to the AL EAST.
Top 4 - Jeter singles and Abreu walks to put 2 on with nobody out. But ARod grounds into a double play (his 19th time of the season), and Giambi hits a grounder to second. Wells gets out of another jam. What makes Wells so effective with runners in scoring position is his ability to spot all of his pitches. Most pitchers in that situation will fall behind in the count and, unwilling to load the bases with a walk, throw a medium-fast fastabll right down the middle. You do that to Giambi or ARod, you have a 3-0 ballgame. Wells is able to use all of his pitches and hit the corners even with runners on.
Bottom 4 - Ortiz grounds out in a 7 pitch at bat (he should have beaten the grounder out, but didn't hustle). Manny, now hitting .330, draws a 8 pitch walk. Hinske grounds into a fielder's choice (a 4 pitch at bat), and Lowell draws a 7 pitch walk. Pena also draws a 7 pitch walk (congrats to Pena for taking 3 straight pitches, the first time I've seen him do this). Lopez grounds out to end the inning (2 pitches), but Lidle throws 25 pitches in the inning, and has thrown 73 pitches through 4 innings.
Top 5 - Kapler subs in for Manny (uh-oh). Two grounders to Cora and a grounder to Lowell, and the Yankees are gone. It's nice that a Red Sox pitcher who gets a lot of groundballs is finally capable of getting outs. Just look at Lowe a few years ago. He would get 20 grounders in 5 innings, but give up 8 hits and 2 errors on those grounders. Forgive me for ever doubting David Wells. Just goes to show that despite all the second guessing, Terry Francona is smarter than the smartest fan who spends 30 seconds looking at the box score and marks off Wells as washed-up 40-something year-old fat man.
Bottom 5 - Cora gets a hit (4 pitches), Crisp gets a sac-bunt, and ARod makes a rare good play. Ortiz is intentionally walked to get to Kapler (not Manny). Kapler, hitless in enough at bats to bring his average down from .300 to .220, hits a grounder to ARod to end the inning.
Top 6 - Nick Green K's, but Melky bloops a single into center. One out and one stolen base later, Abreu softly lines a double into left-center, scoring the games first run. ARod grounds a single into left, and Abreu holds at third. Giambi lines one to short for the third out. 1-0 Yankees.
Bottom 6 - breaking news: Manny has sore hammy. Hinske K's as Lidle's pitch count reaches 94. Cano and Green botch up a pop-up, and Lowell reaches. Pena singles, and Lopez grounds into a fielder's choice. With two on and two out, Cora grounds out to short. Two more runners are left on, and the Yankees keep the 1-0 lead.
Top 7 - Wells back out there, gets Green on a popup, strikes out Bernie, and gets Fasano to ground out to Lowell, who makes a nice backhand stab and throws across the diamond for the out.
Bottom 7 - Coco grounds out to third on a check swing. Loretta follows with a single to center, bringing up Papi. Mike Myers comes in to pitch to Papi, and strikes him out. Scott Proctor comes in to face Kapler, and gets him to pop up to Nick Green. The Red Sox are running out of outs, still trailing 1-0. It would be a shame for David Wells to drop to 2-3 despite this superb performance.
Top 8 - Wells's pitch count hits 101 as Nick Green doubles off the wall. Melky bunts him over to third, and the crowd gives Wells a standigng ovation as he departs. Keith Foulke comes in and, having been used to Jason Veritek catching, throws a pitch in the dirt that Javy can't handle, and Green scores. Jeter strikes out (can you say MVP?), and Abreu follows suit. Despite the wild pitch, Foulke looked strong against the middle of the Yankees lineup. If the Red Sox can find a reliever capable of providing consistent, quality innings in a set-up role, they may yet play on into October.
Bottom 8 - The Red Sox last chance, unless you consider batting against Rivera while two runs down a chance. How do the Red Sox respond under such intense pressure? With two outs, Wily Mo reaches out to the endge of the strike zone and lines the ball 415 feet over the Red Sox bullpen. Lowell pops up to end the inning. 2-1 Red Sox, heading into the ninth.
Top 9 - 1-2-3 inning for Foulke, and guess what, NO RIVERA! I had forgotten, he is unavailable after throwing 30 pitches yesterday.
Bottom 9 - Farnsworth attempting to close (1 for 5 in save opportunities). On the first pitch, Cora lines one foul, 30 feet short of the foul pole in right. He then flies out to center. Crisp strikes out, and Loretta is the last hope. Loretta lines the ball to second, and the Red Sox have been swept in a five game series with the Yankees.
I liked how payed attention to the game play by play. I am a red sox fan also, and I couldn't tell you how mad I was when Cano caught that lin drive. Good job.
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