No A Pretty Win, But A BIG Win Nonetheless

It doesn't have to always be a pretty pitching performance. Between the Red Sox and Yankees, it never is. But the Yankees are finally off their snide, and guaranteed, no matter what, to leave this series with the division lead.

I watched the game amongst a mixed crowd in Stamford, Connecticut and you could tell the Yankees fans wanted to build towards something big. Jorge Posada's ridiculous attempt to score put a silence to that for a while (barrel him over or slide Jorge...just don't do that). But once Melky stepped in and blasted that ball into the Bronx night, the Yankees never looked back.

As I mentioned in my pregame post yesterday, Casey Kotchman was picked up specifically to hit the Yankees. He hit an early homerun that barely cleared the fence (if they raised the wall a few feet, it would make a ton of difference) and it looked like the same old story between the Yankees and Red Sox in 2009.

But then the Yankees bats got to work and made short work of John Smoltz. I had written about his struggles previously, but everyone said that his peripherals were fine and he would be fine. I think, sadly, he may be done. 

On the Yankees side, the problem was pitching. Joba Chamberlain had a pre-All-Star-break-like start. He labored. He couldn't throw strikes. He was shaking off Jorge Posada. He just didn't look like a man in control. But he ended on a good note, striking out the last two batters he faced after he had loaded the bases. It was just ugly and strange. He never seemed comfortable, even after the Yankees put up an 8-spot in the 4th. He walked a career-high 7 batters and needs to learn to trust his stuff better the next time out.

The Yankees' line was quite odd. According to Peter Abraham (the pictures above are from his commenters), the Yankees walked 12 and won a game for the first time since August 29, 1967 when they beat Boston 4-3 in the Bronx. How did the Yankees hold them to 3 runs, Peter asked? The game was 20 innings. It also included 12 Red Sox hits and and error by the Yankees (via Baseball-Reference). 6 of those walks were intentional and the Red Sox were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 17 men on base (sounds like the early version of the 2009 Yankees). The last time the Yankees walked at least 12 and won a 9 inning game like tonight was when they beat the White Sox 10-6 on July 23, 1957 despite walking 13 and giving up 9 hits.

The Red Sox line wasn't much better. So what did they do after Smoltz? They brought in Billy Traber (who was with the Yankees last season) and threw him for 70 pitches. This guy hasn't been a starter since 2003 and hasn't gotten a start since 2007 so this seemed to be a pretty shameful case of just throwing a guy out there to eat innings. If he blows out his arm the Red Sox don't care; they'll just bring up recently signed Paul Byrd and do the same thing with him.

The Yankees acquired a pitcher of their own during the game, getting Chad Gaudin from the Padres for a player to be named later. Gaudin's career numbers aren't great, but he can start and relieve and will provide some insurance for Sergio Mitre in case he continues with a 7.50 ERA. At least better insurance that recently signed Jason Hirsch or Russ Ortiz

One last thing: Mark Melancon came in last night and had another shutout inning and a third. But his most memorable pitch may be the one that sailed over the head of Dustin Pedroia, followed by one that plunked him. I hope this was not a case of a guy trying to make a statement because I fear that Beckett will go after one of the Yankees today. I like a lot that the Yankees have been hitting the Red Sox and pitching inside against them under Joe Girardi after refusing to do so for so many years despite Yankees getting thrown at constantly under Joe Torre. But you don't want to take a chance that Jeter or A-Rod or Teixeira is going to get a broken hand because you threw at an annoying second baseman in a blow out game.

Good win for the Yankees. They needed to show they could beat the Red Sox. And I think they needed a win like this where they just destroyed them. Now they need to go back out there and do it a few more times in this series. The Yankees have a chance to really set Boston back this weekend. They need to take advantage of that.