Red Sox 6 NY Yankees 3...Okie Not OK

A strong performance by Boston Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz and Ryan Kalish's first major league home run were instrumental in Boston's 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees Friday night. The game was exciting and close (one run) until Kalish's sixth inning blast. Simply click on the title of this post to see all the highlights from last night. Once again Boston starting pitching ruled the roost. Here's new Yankee Lance Bergman on exactly that...

"When you have good pitching, it really doesn't matter. You can put eight stiffs out there. I'm not saying that's what they have."

OK, he didn't meant the "stiff" description. He immediately took back his choice of words. Jacoby Ellsbury showed everyone that he's back with ribs intact. He made a tremendous catch in the eighth inning on a fly ball to right center, a ball that had a surprise for him on it's downward plummet. He "ate dirt" on his landing but trotted off the field with a smile. Here he is...

“The ball was well struck. About three quarters of the way out there it took a hard right and kind of dive bombed. Those are the toughest balls to catch. I was able to make an adjustment, turn to the left, and make the catch. A ball can do three things in that situation - either stay straight, have its natural curve or dive bomb. And it did a dive bomb and curve to the right. It was one of the tougher catches, but I’m happy I made it.”

I was happy too, Jacoby. It's nice to have you back manning centerfield. In one other bit of Red Sox news, the DL has struck again. Lefty Hideki Okajima is out with a hamstring pull, an injury that had been bothering him and greatly affecting his pitching prowess. There is no timetable for his return. For my readers, just click on this post's title and you'll immediately see the replay on Red Sox dot com. Game two of this four game set begins at 4:10 pm EDT, televised nationally on the Fox network and FOX HD. It's be John vs. CC (Lackey vs. Sabathia). Let's try to make it two straight over the pinstripers. Click on this post's title for all the details and highlights from last night's win and as always, BE WELL. Have a great weekend.