Red Sox 5, Yankees 4 — 4/24/09

Brett M. Rhyne

Tonight's game had all the makings of an anti-climax, with neither team being able to do much against the opposing starter. When the Sox knocked out Joba Chamberlain in the sixth, I thought for sure they were going to pull ahead. But Sox starter Jon Lester was gone after shortly thereafter, and instead it was the Yanks who scratched out a couple of runs to take the lead. With one out in the ninth and Mariano Rivera on the mound, Kevin Youkilis drilled a single up the middle (nearly taking Rivera out in the process). J.D. Drew made the second out, leaving it up to Jason Bay. Bay promptly dinged one off the top of the Monster in centerfield, sending the game into extra innings and Rivera to the showers — his 14th career blown save against the Olde Towne Team, by far the most against any opponent. A couple of innings later, Youk put the Yanks out of their misery with a walkoff blast onto Lansdowne Street.

The good: Jason Bay, who sparkled at the plate and in left field; Youk, whose torrid bat and steady glove are carrying this team; and Jon Lester, who has returned to form as the Sox' most consistent starter.

The bad: The bullpen, no members of which looked sharp tonight; Jacoby Ellsbury, who may have manufactured a run in the first but then disappeared; and manager Terry Francona's decision to pinch run for Mike Lowell with two out in the ninth, after he'd gotten on following Bay's dinger — come on, Tito, we all knew the game was going into extra innings, and wouldn't you rather have Lowell's glove and bat in there?

The ugly: Hideki Okajima was the first and the worst of the bad relievers, throwing batting practice, coughing up the lead and getting himself on the hook for the loss until Bay's heroics; and David Ortiz took some pretty ugly swings, too.