SHOOTOUT AT THE FENWAY CORRAL

CC Sabathia faced a moment of truth early. Bottom of the first, he found himself in a bases loaded jam with one out. How he handled it next could set the tone of the game. The Sox eeked out a couple runs. And it looked as though we would settle in for a war of attrition.

Then things got weird.

Ryan Dempster was determined to plunk ARod. After four throws, he did. It wasn’t even close to being subtle. As a friend says, it put the “B” in “subtle.” Fenway faithful cheered. Joe Girardi raced out to argue that Dempster should get tossed. Instead, Joe got ejected.

And that served to wake up the Yankee bats. In short order, the Bombers tied it and then pulled ahead in the third. The Sox answered back. Both of the latter runs were RBIs from groundouts.

Meanwhile, the ARod circus once again shouldered its way to the forefront and the game was forgotten by ESPN as they postulated on just what exactly was going on with Rodriguez. Once again, you can’t miss the mess.

It was if the commentary distracted the Yankees. Before you knew it, the Sox scored a sac fly and a solo homer and got in front by two. CC faced another bases loaded jam in the fifth and walked in Boston’s sixth run.

But ARod came through with a timely homer, and Brett cleared the bases after that with a triple to put the Bombers up 7-6. He would get hit by a pitch his next at bat. Robinson Cano would get hit by a pitch the inning after that. Really, it was completely ridiculous.

CC was average at best. Alex Rodriguez found some heat in his bat and the Yankee offense in general showed up. Mariano Rivera got a standing O from Boston upon entry. He gave us a couple nervous moments, allowing two base runners, before sealing the win.

The Yankees needed this game. This date should be remembered in all your calendars. Tonight the Bombers proved they are still in the hunt for post-season play.

And it’s good to know that when it comes to a shootout, the New York Yankees are not firing blanks.

Your final: Yankees 9 -  Red Sox 6

 
Chad R. MacDonald
BYB Features Writer
Facebook: New York Yankees the Home of Champions
My Blog: ChadRants


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