Jon Lester looked like he did when he threw a no-hitter six weeks ago. The New York Yankees looked like they have in their recent struggles.
Lester threw a five-hitter and the Boston Red Sox ended a five-game losing streak with a 7-0 victory over the Yankees on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.
“He used his two-seamer, his cutter, his four-seamer, got a lot of first-pitch strikes, got some double plays,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He really looked like a 6-foot-5 major league left-hander.”
Like the one that threw a no-hitter against Kansas City on May 19.
“Stuff-wise, I don’t think it was any different,” he said.
The Yankees lost for the fourth time in five games and another poor offensive effort meant a 30-minute closed-door meeting in the clubhouse.
“We did not play a good game. We didn’t do anything,” Yankees manager Joe Giradi said. “We didn’t hit, we didn’t pitch. We didn’t play a good game.”
Starting pitcher Andy Pettitte echoed those thoughts.
“I think everybody is embarrassed,” he said. “We walked through it tonight. It was extremely disappointing. Absolute, horrible game.”
In other AL games on Thursday, it was: Oakland 3, Chicago 2; Detroit 8, Seattle 4, and Kansas City 10, Baltimore 7.
Lester (7-3) struck out eight and walked two, and used three double plays to win his fourth straight decision. He became the first Boston pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout against the Yankees since Pedro Martinez in 2000, and it came in his first appearance at Yankee Stadium.
“It was cool. It was definitely a different experience,” he said. “You watch the game and it seems big, but when you’re out there on the mound, it’s a pretty big stadium and a lot of people.”
The Red Sox moved within three games of idle Tampa Bay in the AL East while the Yankees fell eight games back. The last time the teams played after Memorial Day with neither one in first place was September 1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“It’s not just tonight,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “We need to play better. Everyone realizes we’re capable of playing better.”
Pettitte (9-6) lasted 4 2-3 innings as his six-game winning streak ended.
Athletics 3, White Sox 2
Justin Duchscherer allowed five hits over seven innings and Jack Cust and Donnie Murphy homered as visiting Oakland snapped Chicago’s seven-game winning streak.
Oakland, which had lost four of five, broke through in the fourth when Cust tied it with a two-run homer, and Murphy made it 3-2 with a solo drive in the fifth.
Duchscherer (9-5), the major league leader with a 1.96 ERA, has held opponents to two runs or less in all but two of his 14 starts and is 5-1 in his last six outings.
Javier Vazquez (7-7) allowed four hits in his first complete game in nearly a year.
Tigers 8, Mariners 4
Justin Verlander (5-9) allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings and Michael Hollimon hit his first major league homer for Detroit. Matt Joyce, promoted from Triple-A on May 5 and recalled Sunday, had two doubles among his career-high four hits. Ivan Rodriguez added three RBIs as the visiting Tigers had 15 hits.
Carlos Silva (4-10) lost for the 10th time in 18 starts. He has allowed 17 runs in 9 2-3 innings in three starts against Detroit.
Ichiro Suzuki had three hits for the second straight game and has 1,700 for his career, one of 30 active players to reach that mark.
Royals 10, Orioles 7
Mark Grudzielanek went 4-for-5 and played a key role in a seven-run sixth inning as Kansas City overcame a four-run deficit to earn a split of the four-game series.
The Royals took a 3-0 lead, then yielded seven straight runs before sending 11 players to the plate in their biggest inning of the season.
Jose Guillen led off the sixth with a walk and he drove in the last two runs with a single.
Joakim Soria worked a perfect ninth for his 23rd save for the Royals, who had lost nine of their last 10 at Camden Yards.
Aubrey Huff hit a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run homer in the fifth for Baltimore.
Add A Comment