The "pitching and defense" version of the Boston Red Sox opened up the season by getting no real pitching (Josh Beckett: 4 2/3 IP, 8H, 5ER, 2HR, 9.64 era), and some spotty defense (an embarrassing double steal in which Brett Gardner stole home).
But the bats that the pundits said the Sox didn't have did plenty of damage... mostly courtesy of Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis Pedey was 2-4 with 3 RBI... 2 of them on a 7th inning bomb off Chan Ho "Fenway" Park. Youk was 3-4 with 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 RBI.
The Sox shrugged off 5 great innings out of CC Sabathia (they were being 1-hit for a while)... and climbed out of a 5-1 hole to tie the game at 5 in the 6th. Then they came back from a 7-5 hole with 3 more runs in the 7th. Pedroia's RBI single gave the Sox some insurance in the 8th and Jonathan Papelbon shut the Yankees down in the 9th for the Sox to open the season with a 9-7 win.
Nice debuts by Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron and Marco Scutaro. Also, Daniel Bard was impressive in tossing a key 8th inning goose-egg when the Sox needed someone to keep NY off the board. We'll overlook the oh-fers by Ellsbury and Papi (for now).
All in all... a typical Sox-Yankees game. 4 hours of back-and-forth baseball with a ton of moves being made by both managers and no safe leads. And all in all... a PERFECT day in Boston. A GORGEOUS, sunny day... a win by the Celtics, followed by a loss by the Lakers, and then capped with the Red Sox beating the Yankees. Love it.
After the jump, some photos from the opening day festivities... including Pedro Martinez tossing out the first pitch and a shot of the greatest kid ever. The 5 year old who delivered a Sox-ified version of a classic Herb Brooks speech that included a hearty "SCREW 'EM" directed at the Yankees.
Photos by Elsa/Getty Images
