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Final: Red Sox 7, Yankees 6

Alex Cora, playing the hero for the second straight day, singled home Coco Crisp from third with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Red Sox rallied from a 6-2 deficit with five runs and defeated the Yankees, tonight at Fenway Park.

Crisp had tied the game with a two-run triple.

Trailing 6-2, David Ortiz led off the bottom of the eighth against Mike Myers with a double to left-center. The Yankees replaced Myers with Jose Vizcaino, who walked Manny Ramirez.

J.D. Drew moved the runners to second and third with a grounder to second. Mike Lowell then singled through the hole into left field, driving in Ortiz to make it 6-3 and sending Ramirez to third.

The Yankees called on Mariano Rivera for a five-out save. But Rivera, in his first appearance since surrendering a walkoff home run to Marco Scutaro in Oakland last Sunday, was no mystery to the Sox.

Jason Varitek greeted him with a single to right-center, making it 6-4. Crisp then lined a triple down the first-base line and into the right-field corner, tying the score. And Cora put the Sox ahead with Boston's fourth straight hit, and third off Rivera, with a single to center.

Cora, however, was thrown out stealing and Rivera -- after firing a pitch over the head of the next batter, Julio Lugo -- struck out Lugo to end the inning.

Jonathan Papelbon, having pitched in back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday in Toronto, was not available. Hideki Okajima recorded the save with a scoreless ninth.

Prior to the eighth inning, Alex Rodriguez was the unquestioned hero of the game. Coming off his game-winning homer Thursday, he homered twice, doubled, scored three runs and drove in four.

His first homer, a solo shot in the fourth, gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. (Johnny Damon had put New York on top with a sacrifice fly in the third.) Then, after Varitek had tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, A-Rod hit a three-run shot into the Red Sox bullpen with two outs in the top of the fifth, putting the Yanks in front 5-2.

His leadoff double in the eighth led to the sixth New York run, which he scored when Jason Giambi singled to right.

Posted by Art Martone  at 8:39 PM | Permalink

Comments

ngc | April 21, 2007 6:29 AM link

Donny Gouvaia,SF.CA | April 21, 2007 7:51 AM link