Yankees Spoil Party In Fenway's 100th Birthday (4-9)

Clay Buchholz wasn't good 

With all the festivities entering the one hundredth anniversary of Fenway Park, one would think the Red Sox were practically geared to beat the Yankees. However, things got off to a slow start for the Sox when Dustin Pedroia lost a popup in the sun on the very first play of the game. Derek Jeter, who reached on that play, would come around later in the inning on a single by Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees would take two more runs in the second inning on an opposite field homer for Nick Swisher and a ball pulled into the bullpen by Eric Chavez to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox would get onto the board in the bottom of the second when David Ortiz led off the inning with a home run just over the monster in left-center field. However, the Yankees would make up for that run in the fourth inning when Eric Chavez crushed his second home run of the game to dead center. The Yankees' home run party continued in the fifth inning when Alex Rodriguez knocked one to left.

Ortiz's homer was a rare bright spot
in today's loss

Cody Ross appeared to have gotten something started when he doubled to lead off the fifth. Mike Aviles kept the rally going, driving Ross in when Nick Swisher lost a fly ball in the sun, resulting in a double to make it 5-2. However, the Sox squandered their opportunity and didn't score again. To make matters worse-- Russell Martin made up that run in the sixth when he homered to left to make it a 6-2 game. Clay Buchholz was called from the game after that inning, and his day was not impressive-- 6 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 5 HR. Scott Atchison worked a nice seventh inning before allowing a double to lead off the eighth. He was removed in favor of Justin Thomas-- who worked a scoreless third of an inning before handing the ball off to Junichi Tazawa. Tazawa pitched well in relief, going 1.2 perfect innings to close out the 6-2 loss.

Bright Spots:
Scott Atchison- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K
Junichi Tazawa- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Mike Aviles- 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 2B
David Ortiz- 2-4, 1 HR

Dull Spots:
Clay Buchholz- 6 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 5 HR

Player of the Game:
David Ortiz- Even in games where the offense is quiet as many have this year, David Ortiz has continued to rake and his 2-4 mark with a home run continued his early season surge.