Boston Red Sox Pull Off Sweep Of NY Yankees...Boston 4 NYY 3

Brad Penny spun his best start of the season at the exact right time, going six innings and giving the NY Yankees nothing but goose eggs on the all-important scoreboard. It was 1-0 Good Guys going into the top of the seventh when the Yankees plated three runners courtesy of Manny Delcarmen but the never-say-die Red Sox, with the help of a ten pitch at bat by Dustin Pedroia, scored their own three three runs in the bottom of the eighth off of CC Sabathia, who might have (was) left in the game one inning too long.

Boston reliever Takashi Saito finished the seventh inning and blanked the pinstripers in the eighth, setting the stage for Boston's theatrical comeback. From there, it was Papelbon time and he delivered a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his league leading 16th save. It was Boston's eighth straight 2009 victory over their hated rivals. Big Papi David Ortiz, who clubbed yet another tater on his way out of a prolonged slump, had this to say about the sweep.

“It feels good. We’re playing good against them; we’ve been executing at the right time; our pitching has been unbelievable. That’s what it takes to win games,” said Ortiz, whose blast to the opposite field and into the Monster seats served notice that he is beginning to emerge from his season-long slump.
"We’ve been playing really good. When things are happening, you have to keep on running with it. This is baseball. You never know what can happen in baseball. I know we had those years where we played good against the Yankees, but I don’t remember anything like this.”

The Red Sox did all the little things right and beat the Yankees in every way possible...it was a three game wipeout. Now they start a series with the NL East first place Philadelphia Phillies down in Philly (thanks BFW). Here are the pitching matchups for the Fenway Park AL/NL series...

Jon Lester (5-2, 5.85 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (5-4, 5.46) 7:05pm EDT tonight
Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4, 7.33) vs. Antonio Bastardo (2-0, 2.45) 7:05pm EDT Saturday night
Josh Beckett (7-2, 3.77) vs. J.A. Happ (4-0, 2.98) 1:35pm EDT Sunday afternoon

I hope every one of you enjoyed the strirring Boston comeback. It was a "cardiac kid" type of win, the best kind of all. In other Sox news, John Smoltz's Pawtucket start last night was rained out. He will go today which means his possible Red Sox debut will also be pushed back at least a day. What to do with Brad Penny? Nobody knows but I'd rather see him in the starting rotation instead of Daisuke Matsuzaka. I don't think Daisuke will be shifted to the bullpen, though. We'll see...soon.

Have a great Friday and a terrific weekend. Click on this post's title for more Sox coverage and as always, BE WELL. I'll see you soon. Your comments are always welcome and always answered. Thanks.