Game 120 Wrap-Up: BOS 4 NYY 1

(It was that kind of day for the Yankee bats.  Courtesy of The AP)

Things have been going prettay, prettay, prettay good for David Phelps this season, and he had a chance to audition on a national stage yesterday against the Yankees' greatest rival.  Things haven't been so hot for Jawn Lestah this season, and he had a chance to get his head kicked in again on a national stage yesterday.  Somewhat surprisingly, Lestah brought his A-game and actually carried the Fraud Sawx, something he hasn't done a lot of this season.  Phelps was up to the challenge, and pitched a great game in his own right, just not great enough to win.

Game Notes:

- Phelps made a mistake by hanging a pitch in the top of the 1st to Adrian Gonzalez that turned into a 2-run HR, but other than that he looked good early.  Phelps allowed just 1 hit and threw just 28 pitches in the next 3 innings, striking out 3 and retiring 7 in a row to end the 4th.

- The biggest problem was the Yankee lineup's inability to put enough hits together to do damage against Jon Lester.  They had at least 1 baserunner in each of the first 5 innings but had only Curtis Granderson's solo HR to show for it.

- It's never good to get burned by the bottom of the order, but that's what happened to Phelps in the 5th.  He gave up a double to Nick Punto (a near unforgivable offense) and new Yankee killer Pedro Ciriaco came around to score to make it 3-1 Sawx.

- The Yankees blew a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 7th after Granderson doubled and then moved to third on a groundout to give the Yankees a chance to score a run on an out.  But Jayson Nix and Ichiro Suzuki couldn't drive him in and it stayed a 3-1 game.

- Ciriaco continued to kill the Yankees in the top of the 9th, doubling Scott Podsednik to third with no outs and allowing to score an insurance run against Cody Eppley.  Ciriaco's batting line against the Yankees is unreal.

- It was a day of missed opportunities for the offense.  They put at least 1 runner on base in every inning except the 6th, and put the leadoff runner on in 4 innings without scoring in any of them.  Yesterday was a day that showed just how shallow that lineup can be without A-Rod and Teix.

F*ck Yeahs:

- C-Grand: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 LOB.  It might be time to move C-Grand back up in the lineup.  With Teix out, his bat can't be stuck hitting 6th if he's hot.

- Swish: 3-4, 1 K, LOB.  Didn't turn them into anything, but was one of the 2-part source of offense again yesterday.  Between he and C-Grand they had 5 of the team's 7 hits.

- Phelps: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, L.  He got the loss, but it's hard to not be impressed by what Phelps did yesterday.  He made 2 bad pitches and paid for them, but outside of those pitches he held the Bahhston lineup in check and looked really good.  He threw his fastball for strikes, got some swings and misses on  his curveball (hi, Cody Ross), didn't walk a batter, and pitched into the 7th inning for the first time his short starting career.

Oh Nos:

- Casey McGehee: 0-3, 2 K, 2 LOB.  I love ya, Casey, but there's no reason for you to ever be hitting fifth in a Yankee lineup.

- Russell Martin: 0-4, 3 LOB.  I don't love you, Russell.  You just suck this year.

- Robinson Cano: 0-4, 1 K, 4 LOB.  The leader of the Yankees' 0-9 Risp Fail charge yesterday, which is not a good thing when you're hitting third.  Methinks if Teix was healthy enough to be in the lineup, we wouldn't see Cano in it right now.

Next Up:

Can't set up the final game of this series any better from a storytelling perspective.  Rubber match, Sunday night, Yankees rolling out their best starting pitcher who's coming off one of the best starts in his career.  Fraud Sawx counter with what is supposed to be their best pitcher who has gotten absolutely rocked this season and rocked by the Yankees multiple times in his career.  What will happen?  Find out tonight!