The New York Yankees lose late to the Boston Red Sox

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.  The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York and the final score was 2-1.  It was a great pitching duel as Masahiro Tanaka and Jon Lester did battle.  They both pitched great but Tanaka gave up a late solo homerun to lose the game.  The Yankees offense didn't do much against Lester at all. 

Tanaka pitched a complete game giving up two runs on seven hits.  He walked one and struck out eight, he lost his third game of the season and second in a row. 

Lester pitched eight innings giving up one run on five hits and the one run was unearned.  He walked two and struck out six and earned his ninth win of the season.  Koji Uehara saved his 17th game of the season pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts. 

Brett Gardner had a hit and drew a walk, Derek Jeter had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits.  Brian Roberts had a hit and the Yankees were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Gardner was caught stealing and Ellsbury had an outfield assist. 

Brock Holt had a hit, Dustin Pedroia had three hits and David Ortiz had a hit.  Mike Napoli had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, David Ross had a hit and an RBI and Ortiz and Holt each hit a double.  Ross and Napoli each hit a homerun and the Red Sox were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.  Drew committed an error. 

In the third Ross hit a solo homerun to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.  The Yankees came right back and tied the game on a Jeter RBI groundout in the bottom of the third.  In the ninth Napoli hit a solo homerun to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead and that was the final score. 

The two teams have split the first two games of the series and the rubber game will be played on Sunday night.   

Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees take down the Boston Red Sox

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.  The game took place at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and the final score was 9-3 in favor of the Yankees.  Masahiro Tanaka started and was impressive once again for the Yankees.  Carlos Beltran had a homerun, Jacoby Ellsbury in his return to Boston had a very good game. 

Tanaka pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up two runs on seven hits.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.  Dellin Betances gave up a couple of hits in 1 2/3 innings.  He gave up his first run of the season and struck out two. 

Jon Lester pitched  4 2/3 innings giving up 11 hits and eight runs with three of them being earned.  He walked four and struck out seven and took his third loss of the season.  Chris Capuano pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up two hits and striking out one, Edward Mujica pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Junichi Tazawa pitched an inning giving up a hit. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits and two RBI, Derek Jeter had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Carlos Beltran had two hits and two RBI.  Alfonso Soriano had a hit, Mark Teixeira had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk.  Brian McCann had three hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Ichiro Suzuki had two hits and drew a walk and Brian Roberts had two hits.  Soriano, Teixeira, McCann, Ellsbury and Suzuki each hit a double and Ellsbury hit a triple.  Beltran hit a homerun and the Yankees were 7-18 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. 

Dustin Pedroia had a hit, David Ortiz had a hit and an RBI and Mike Napoli had two hits and an RBI.  Jonny Gomes had a hit, A.J. Pierzynski had a hit and Xander Bogaerts had a hit and an RBI.  Brock Holt had a hit, Jackie Bradley Jr. had a hit and Pedroia, Pierzynski, Napoli, Gomes and Bogaerts each hit a double.  Ortiz and Napoli each hit a homerun and the Red Sox were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.  Pierzynski and Napoli each committed an error and Pierzynski had a passed ball. 

In the first Jeter had an RBI single and Beltran had an RBI single to make it 2-0.  In the third Teixeira and McCann each hit an RBI double to push their lead to 4-0.  In the fourth Ortiz and Napoli hit back-to-back homeruns to cut the lead to 4-2.  In the fifth Roberts reached on an error and a run scored, Ellsbury had a two run double and Jeter had an RBI single.  The Yankees had a 8-2 lead and added another run in the eighth on a solo homerun by Beltran.  Bogaerts hit an RBI double in the ninth to complete the scoring at 9-3.  The Yankees won the first of three and the two teams will play game two on Wednesday night. 

Derek Holland pitches the game of his life as the Rangers even the series at Two

The Texas Rangers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 4-0 on Sunday night. The Best of seven World Series is now tied at two games each and ensures at least a six game series. Derek Holland started for the Rangers and was outstanding, Edwin Jackson pitched a pretty good game for the Cardinals but was wild. The big hit in the game came off the bat of Mike Napoli. Albert Pujols after going 5-5 with three homeruns was hitless in this game.
Holland pitched 8 1/3 innings giving up two hits and no runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. Neftali Feliz pitched 2/3 of an inning, walking one and striking out one. Holland won the game, he pitched the best game of his life. Edwin Jackson pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Cardinals giving up three hits and three runs. He walked seven and struck out three. He took the loss in the game. Brandon Boggs pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and one run with three strikeouts. Jake Westbrook pitched one inning giving up one hit and he walked one.

Ian Kinsler pitched one hit and one walk, Elvis Andrus had two hits and Josh Hamilton had a hit and an RBI. Michael Young had a walk, Nelson Cruz had a hit and two walks and David Murphy had two walks. Napoli had a hit, three RBI and two walks. Hamilton and Andrus had a double. Napoli hit a homerun and the Rangers were 1-8 with runners in scoring position. The Rangers left eight men on base. Kinsler was caught stealing.

Lance Berkman had the only two hits of the game for the Cardinals. Rafael Furcal had a walk, Allen Craig had a walk and Nick Punto had a walk. Berkman had a double. The Cardinals were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base.

The Rangers got on the board first in the first inning with an RBI double from Hamilton. The Rangers had a 1-0 lead until the sixth inning when they scored three more to take a 4-0 lead. Napoli hit a three run homerun in the sixth and that would complete the scoring in the game as the Rangers won the game 4-0.

The World Series is now tied at two games each and there will be at least a sixth game. Game Five will be on Monday night in Texas with C.J. Wilson and Chris Carpenter starting the game. The story of this series so far has been the pitching. Game Three became an offensive game and Pujols was the story with the three homeruns but other then that game the pitching has been up to the task in the other three games. If Holland had completed the shutout he would have been only the third lefty to throw a two-hit shutout in World Series history. Warren Spahn and Whitey Ford are the only two that have done it. Ron Washington the Rangers manager said “We needed him to go out there and pitch well, and he did, and he showed the world what he’s capable of doing.” The Series will conclude in St. Louis on Wednesday in Game Six or Thursday in Game Seven if necessary. This World Series has been very entertaining and now it becomes a best of three.