Red Sox Sweep Yankees as Ellsbury Steals Home Plate in 4-1 Win
By Erik Matuszewski
April 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Boston Red Sox completed their first three-game sweep of the New York Yankees for two years with a 4-1 win at Fenway Park highlighted by Jacoby Ellsbury’s steal of home plate.
David Ortiz drove in two runs yesterday for Boston, which has won 10 straight games, including nine in a row at home. The Red Sox last lost April 14, falling to Oakland in 12 innings.
The Red Sox swept a three-game Major League Baseball series against the Yankees for the first time since April 20-22, 2007.
Boston scored three runs in the fifth inning last night against Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte to snap a 1-1 tie. Jason Varitek scored the go-ahead run on a two-out double by Ortiz and Ellsbury followed with a bases-loaded steal of home, breaking from third base as Pettitte went into his windup and diving across the plate ahead of Jorge Posada’s tag.
It was the first steal of home in the majors this season and the first by a Boston player since Jose Offerman in 1999. Offerman did it on a double steal, while the last straight swipe of home by a Red Sox player was by Billy Hatcher in 1994.
Ellsbury’s steal capped a series in which the Red Sox rallied to win the opening game 5-4 in 11 innings after getting a two-out home run against Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the second game, Boston had its biggest comeback against the Yankees in 41 years, overcoming a 6-0 deficit in a 16-11 victory.
Boston will begin a three-game series in Cleveland today, while the Yankees are in Detroit for the first of three games.
Mets Miss Sweep
The New York Mets missed a chance to sweep a three-game series against the Washington Nationals yesterday, losing 8-1 at Citi Field. Jesus Flores and Austin Kearns hit home runs as the Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak.
In yesterday’s other National League games, it was Philadelphia 13, Florida 2; Cincinnati 8, Atlanta 2; Houston 3, Milwaukee 2; the Chicago Cubs 10, St. Louis 3; Colorado 10, the Los Angeles Dodgers 4; Pittsburgh 8, San Diego 3; and Arizona 5, San Francisco 4 in 12 innings.
In the American League, it was Cleveland 4, Minnesota 2; Baltimore 8, Texas 5; Toronto 4, the Chicago White Sox 3; Detroit 3, Kansas City 2; the Los Angeles Angels 8, Seattle 0; and Oakland 7, Tampa Bay 1.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 27, 2009 01:41 EDT |
