BOSTON - Josh Beckett allowed only an infield hit in six innings, and David Ortiz hit his third homer of the year to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 victory over the New York Yankees last night.
The Red Sox improved to 6-0 against the Yankees franchise for the first time since 1912, when they beat the Highlanders in 14 straight - including the first game in Fenway Park.
Beckett (7-2) struck out eight and walked two before leaving with a 6-0 lead after six innings, having thrown 93 pitches. The only hit he allowed was Robinson Cano's fourth-inning grounder to the left of second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who dove to come up with the ball but could not make the throw that had little chance of getting the batter anyway.
It was ruled a base hit by official scorer Mike Shalin.
Beckett struck out Jorge Posada to end the inning, then retired the last six batters he faced, fanning three, for his third consecutive victory. Only three batters hit the ball out of the infield against him.
A.J. Burnett (4-3) allowed three earned runs on five walks and five hits before leaving with two outs in the third and taking out his frustrations on a dugout watercooler. He gave up Ortiz's two-run shot to center in Boston's four-run second, when Alex Rodriguez double-clutched on a grounder for an error.
Burnett walked Mike Lowell to start the inning, then Ortiz hit a 2-2 pitch over the high center-field wall about 400 feet from home plate. It was the second homer in three games for the struggling slugger, who hit 54 in 2006 but has been moved from third to sixth in the lineup as he tries to pull his batting average above .200.
Burnett struck out Jason Varitek, but Mark Kotsay walked and Nick Green hit the ball to third base that handcuffed Rodriguez. Pedroia grounded out before J.D. Drew doubled in two runs. Green's RBI double in the third made the score 4-0 and chased Burnett.
New York 000 000 000 – 0 2 1
Boston 041 100 10x – 7 9 0
New York AB R H BI Avg. Boston AB R H BI Avg.
Jeter ss 3 0 0 0 .302 Pedroia 2b 4 0 0 0 .312
Damon dh 4 0 0 0 .294 J.Drew rf 5 0 1 2 .259
Teixeira 1b 2 0 0 0 .284 Youkilis 1b 4 1 2 0 .353
A.Rodriguez 3b 4 0 0 0 .238 Bay lf 3 0 1 0 .278
Cano 2b 4 0 1 0 .300 Lowell 3b 3 1 1 1 .296
Posada c 2 0 0 0 .292 D.Ortiz dh 4 1 1 2 .198
Swisher lf 3 0 0 0 .253 Varitek c 3 1 0 0 .242
Me.Cabrera rf 3 0 0 0 .292 Kotsay cf 3 1 1 0 .300
