The Red Sox and Yankees played a rare pitching duel today, benefitting from the work of an unlikely matchup in under-performing Jon Lester (6-10, 5.20) and rookie David Phelps (3-3, 2.53). It didn’t look like it would turn out that way early on though, as the Red Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Adrian Gonzalez went to the opposite field for a two-run homer.
After that, Lester and Phelps each held the opposition in check for the next several innings, and it wasn’t until two outs in the bottom of the fourth when the next run was scored. That was when Curtis Granderson turned a two-strike mistake by Jon Lester into a solo home run to deep center to cut it to a one run game. However, the Red Sox got that run right back in the top of the fifth on an RBI triple by Nick Punto— who had a fantastic game, recording several great defensive plays at third base.
At that point, both starting pitchers just kind of settled in for the rest of their outings. Phelps actually tossed the longest outing of his major league career– holding the Red Sox to 3 runs on 7 hits in 6.2 innings pitched. However, he was tagged with the loss because Lester was even more dominant on the other side of the ball– holding the Yanks to a run on 5 hits in 7 strong innings, pushing his record to 7-10 and his ERA down to 5.03. The Red Sox got to the Yankees bullpen for a run on a wild pitch in the ninth, as they won 4-1.