Kuroda Stymies Sox In 4-1 Sunday Night Loss

The Yankees seemed to have a clear advantage in the pitching matchup of this game with Josh Beckett (5-10, 5.09) going against Hiroki Kuroda (11-8, 3.07). Beckett has had a big problem in the first inning this season and tonight’s first inning rang true, starting off with a leadoff double by Derek Jeter. Jeter would score a few batters later on an RBI double by Curtis Granderson. Beckett seemingly settled down with a strong second, but he ran into more trouble in the third– allowing two men to reach base with one out.

Two bad pitches and a run would score as Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher both advanced on a double steal before Jeter scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. The Yankees kept tacking on runs in the fourth inning when Ichiro Suzuki crushed one into the second deck in right field. Beckett had a shaky fifth too, but was luckily able to work out of a bases loaded jam before things got ugly. However, Beckett wasn’t so lucky in the next inning as he allowed another home run to Suzuki to make it 4-0 in the sixth.

The Red Sox finally got on the board in the seventh when Adrian Gonzalez hit one over the short porch in right field to cut it to 4-1. However, that was the only offensive bright spot as Hiroki Kuroda ultimately pitched a great game– allowing a run on 4 hits in 8 strong innings. Beckett’s outing was not quite as strong, as the big righty allowed 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. Rafael Soriano would close out the Yankees’ 4-1 win to earn his 31st save of the season.