The Red Sox couldn't make it back-to-back walkoffs as New York topped Boston 5-4.
It did get interesting in the 9th, however. Down two, Jarrod Saltalamacchia launched a solo homer off Rafael Soriano. Soriano composed himself for two straight outs, but then made an error to allow Mike Aviles to reach base, bringing up Jacoby Ellsbury for a potential spot as hero on consecutive nights. Ellsbury couldn't make it happen, grounding out to the pitcher.
It was a weird game from beginning to end. The game was flying along in the early innings (how often does that happen with these two teams?) as David Phelps and Aaron Cook managed to keep pitch counts down and batters put away. Things got away from Cook in the 4th, as the Yankees suddenly realized they were, you know, facing Aaron Cook. Seemingly every ball in the inning (even the outs) was struck well in the 4th, including a pair of home runs by Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano.
In more weird news, a number of players exited early. Derek Jeter left due to an injury; Dustin Pedroia because his wife was in labor. Then in the 9th, Cody Ross went nuts on a relatively innocuous strike call (I've seen worse), and got ejected, followed by Bobby Valentine and Jerry Royster, leading to Tim Bogar to manage and coach third at the same time. How Little League.
And for all the talk that Valentine doesn't care, it's worth pointing out that his ejection was his sixth on the year, a club record. Bobby Valentine, a manager with an eye on history.
Box score | Image: @Toucherandrich
