Boston-New York: Games 2 &3

Game two was another classic thought to be unachievable after the epic battle Sunday night ending in a classic comeback by the Sox. Tuesday nights affair seemed to follow the same script until Marco Scutaro's throw found itself not in Kevin Youkilis's glove to end the eighth. The Yanks came in and swooped a run out of the air( to be precise a walk given up by reliever Hideki Okajima). The next inning, Cano put it away with a bash to right field. Both Burnett and Lester showed great stuff followed by bouts location and command issues. The Yanks bullpen was stellar, while the Sox looked average. At the plate, the Sox showed a lot of muscle, which was great considering most sports analysts were worried that the offense would still be anemic. Victor Martinez went off for 3 RBI's and a HR. Ellsbury looked more comfortable in left than he did opening night and not to mention that nice catch in left. Still for what the Sox showed, the scoreboard read Yankees 6 Red Sox 4 at the end of nine.

Game three showcased new pitcher John Lackey against Andy Pettite. What followed was possibly the best performance in the young season by both starters lasting six innings each. However, just like the night before, the Sox let another one fall through the cracks despite Lackey's three hit no run effort. You can blame it on the bullpen again (which seems to be MLB.com, sports writers, etc. as the reason why they lost), but the the true reason was not because of Granderson's HR in the tenth or the run that came before courtesy of Teixeira's ground-out RBI. The blame lies in the Sox inability to limit runners on the basepaths. The Yanks converted all, but one steal attempt in the entire series. Victor Martinez's bobble on a perfectly field-able relay from right field and tag out Jorge Posada at the plate. Martinez was easily ahead of him and had more than enough time to snare the ball in his glove. Had he done so, no run and no extras ending in a Red Sox 1-0 win. The trio of Granderson, Swisher, and Cano doomed the Sox combining for over 10 hits and 5+ rbis. On a positive note, the Sox squeezed out seven hits and David Ortiz made contact with the ball bringing in a run.

Next up, the Sox take on the Royals Friday sending Tim Wakefield to the mound against Kyle Davies. Hopefully, the bullpen works itself out and Martinez works on his defensive skills.

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