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April 20, 2007
BOSTON _ Red Sox manager Terry Francona called it a marquee pitching matchup for baseball fans.
For the hometown Red Sox it was Curt Schilling. For the out-of-towners, it was Andy Pettitte. In the end, however, it was the offensive barrage from both sides that stole the show.
To make it even more interesting, Boston erased a four-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring five runs en route to a 7-6 victory.
In the eighth, David Ortiz led off with a double, Manny Ramirez followed with a walk before J.D. Drew grounded out to second. Mike Lowell provided an RBI-single as did Jason Varitek. But, it was Coco Crisp’s two-run triple that tied the game at 6-6 before Alex Cora lifted the would-be game-winning single to shallow left-center field with the Yankee infielders playing in.
Red Sox lefty reliever Hideki Okajima worked the ninth inning and earned his first save.
The game ended in Boston’s favor, but that’s not how it began.
Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez hit two home runs and finished the night 3-for-5, including a double, with four RBI and three runs scored. For the Red Sox, Jason Varitek hit his first homer of the season to account for both Boston runs in the fourth inning.
Pettitte suffered the no-decision, allowing just two runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Schilling surrendered five runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Rodriguez belted his 11th homer of the season, a solo shot, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. The shot landed in the Monster seats and was his fourth roundtripper in as many games. The homer also extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest by a Yankee to start the season since Willie Randolph did it in 1986.
A-Rod’s homer was also his 475th career shot to tie Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for 25th on the all-time home run list.
Varitek’s first homer of the season, an opposite-field two-run shot that landed in the home bullpen, to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Rodriguez crushed an opposite-field shot in the top of the fifth inning, a three-run blast, to give New York a 5-2 advantage. It was A-Rod’s second multi-homer game of the season, and 46th of his career. He led off the eighth inning with a double and scored on Jason Giambi’s single to right field for a 6-2 lead.
The Sox exploded for five runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 7-6 lead and they held on for the dramatic comeback victory.
UP NEXT: The Sox’ Josh Beckett (3-0, 1.50) will face the Yankees’ Jeff Karstens (first appearance) today at 3:55.
Joe McDonald
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 10:24 PM | Permalink
gail | April 21, 2007 7:04 AM link
Cris | April 21, 2007 10:34 AM link
Anyone else thinking A-Rod has gone the Giambi route of a few years ago? He was always a good player, but all of a sudden almost every pitch he sees becomes a home run. I know this is a cynical approach but once burned, twice shy and now evreyone's accomplishments seem to be suspect thanks to players who cheat along the way.