BOSTON - Only Yankees-Red Sox games bring out emotional mood swings, turning what should be a normal opening day into something other than a baseball game.
So instead of slowly settling into the season, the intensity is already turned up several notched, making April feel like late September or even October.
For the Yankees, it was not the ideal way to begin the year.
What was to be one of the team’s biggest strengths immediately reverted to their combustible nature from last year in the postseason, helping the Red Sox complete a comeback from a four-run deficit, rallying to a 9-7 victory in front 37,440, selling out Fenway Park for the 551st consecutive time.
The highly publicized matchup of staff aces CC Sabathia and Josh Beckett did not live up to its hype. Beckett did not fool Yankee hitters at all and Sabathia seemingly was in complete control before tiring out in the sixth inning.
After a scoreless first inning, the Yankees quickly struck as Jorge Posada laced a ball down the right field line and hit off Pesky’s Pole for a home run. They would go back-to-back as newcomer Curtis Granderson crushed a Beckett fastball to the bleachers in right-center in his first at-bat with the club as the Yankees went ahead 2-0.
Boston would answer on a sacrifice fly by Adrian Beltre. However, in the fourth, the Yankees would jump on Beckett again.
With two outs and runners on first and third, Brett Gardner singled to left center, scoring Robinson Cano who reached on a double to start the frame. Derek Jeter would then single to center, scoring Nick Swisher to make it 4-1. With Nick Johnson up, Jeter attempted to steal second and Gardner broke for the plate and scored to increase the margin to four.
Beckett’s night was ugly. After allowing a two-out single to Cano and walking Posada that would signal the end of his evening. Going only 4 2/3, Beckett gave up five runs, eight hits and walked three over 94 pitches in which only twice did a Yankee swing-and-miss.
The margin seemed to be enough at first for CC Sabathia, cruising early, allowing only one hit through the first four innings.
In the fifth, the Red Sox would create a rally with three straight singles in the bottom of the fifth after Sabathia retired the first two men. Marco Scutaro’s run-scoring single brought home J.D Drew to make the lead 5-2, but the 25 pitch inning eventually would take its toll on the ace left-hander.
Dustin Pedroia began the sixth with a walk, followed by a double into the left field corner by Victor Martinez. Kevin Youkilis would then triple to right to shrink the margin to 5-4.
After retiring David Ortiz for the second out, David Robertson came on in relief and immediately gave up the tying run on a single by Beltre under the glove of Cano.
The final line on Sabathia read 5 2/3 innings, five runs, six hits, walking two and striking out four in 104 pitches.
With both starters out of the game, it would become a battle of the bullpens. Ramon Ramirez, pitching the seventh quickly walked Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez hammered a double off the Green Monster.
Hideki Okajima came in to face the lefty hitting Cano and the Yankees would retake the lead on an RBI groundout. A single to center by Posada scored Rodriguez to increase the lead back to 7-5.
New Yankee Chan Ho Park made his debut and it was not a memorable one. Scutaro singled to center to begin the inning and after striking out Jacoby Ellsbury for the first out, he would hang a changeup that Pedroia hooked inside the left field line over the Green Monster to tie the game at seven apiece.
With two out, Youkilis doubled to left-center. This brought Damaso Marte into the game to face Ortiz. Youkilis moved on a wild pitch to third, and scored when Posada’s passed ball rolled far enough for him to score to give the Red Sox their first lead of the game.
Daniel Bard pitched a scoreless eighth, and with Joba Chamberlain in the game, Boston would add an insurance run when Pedroia singled to right to increase the lead to 9-7, scoring Mike Cameron after he reached with one out on a base hit.
The bullpen finished the night on an atrocious note. Their 2 2/3-innings performance equaled four runs (three earned) and five hits with two walks.
Jonathan Papelbon came to close it out. He retired the first two men before Posada singled for his third hit of the night. Granderson came representing the tying-run, but Papelbon would retire him on a broken bat ground out to third.
While it is only one in 162, it was tough one for the Yankees to lose after leading by four. No lead is safe at Fenway Park and the combination of Sabathia tiring and the ineffectiveness of the bullpen allowed for it to happen.
After an off day Monday, the two teams go back at it Tuesday night at Fenway. AJ Burnett starts for the Yankees and Jon Lester makes the start for the Red Sox.
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