Nine to Know: Report from Fenway
September 11 at Fenway Park
Photo by Bill Chuck
Last night at Fenway where the Red Sox were hosting the Yankees, after a moving 9/11 ceremony, I expected to see a game between a motivated team against an opponent playing out the season, And that’s exactly what I saw. However, I was shocked to find that the inspired team was the near-comatose Red Sox as they faced a Yankee squad that looked sloppy in every aspect of the game won by Jacoby Ellsbury on a 9th inning walkoff single, 4-3.
Here’s Nine to Know:
1. Each team had 12 at bats with runners in scoring position – the Sox were 5-12, the Yankees were 1-12.
2. The Yankees blew leads of 1-0 and 3-2, the Red Sox blew a 2-1 lead when Derek Jeter hit a two-run double.
3. Red Sox starter Jon Lester pitched 5.1 innings throwing 102 pitches walking seven and allowing three runs. Yankee starter Hiroki Kuroda pitched 6.1 innings throwing 94 pitches and allowing three runs including a Dustin Pedroia homer.
4. Andrew Bailey picked up his first win as a Red Sox, David Robertson took the loss and dropped to 1-7. Robertson continued his not-2011 season as he failed in his attempt to pitch two innings of relief (he went 1.1).
5. For the third time in a week the Yankees fell into a first-place tie with the Orioles who crushed the Rays, 9-2.
6. Lester struck out five giving the lefty 150 for the season and 1044 for his career, the most for any lefty in Red Sox history. Here’s your top nine:
| Rk | Player | SO | From | To | W | L | IP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Lester | 1044 | 2006 | 2012 | 85 | 45 | .654 | 1138.0 | 3.76 |
| 2 | Bruce Hurst | 1043 | 1980 | 1988 | 88 | 73 | .547 | 1459.0 | 4.23 |
| 3 | Dutch Leonard | 771 | 1913 | 1918 | 90 | 64 | .584 | 1361.1 | 2.13 |
| 4 | Lefty Grove | 743 | 1934 | 1941 | 105 | 62 | .629 | 1539.2 | 3.34 |
| 5 | Mel Parnell | 732 | 1947 | 1956 | 123 | 75 | .621 | 1752.2 | 3.50 |
| 6 | Bill Lee | 578 | 1969 | 1978 | 94 | 68 | .580 | 1503.1 | 3.64 |
| 7 | Ray Collins | 511 | 1909 | 1915 | 84 | 62 | .575 | 1336.0 | 2.51 |
| 8 | Mickey McDermott | 499 | 1948 | 1953 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 773.2 | 3.80 |
| 9 | Babe Ruth | 483 | 1914 | 1919 | 89 | 46 | .659 | 1190.1 | 2.19 |
7. Jacoby Ellsbury celebrated turning 29 by picking up four hits, just the third time a Red Sox birthday-boy celebrated with this many hits since 1918:
| Rk | Player | Date | Opp | Rslt | AB | H | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacoby Ellsbury | 2012-09-11 | NYY | W 4-3 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | Carl Yastrzemski | 1976-08-22 | OAK | L 6-7 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | Carl Yastrzemski | 1961-08-22 | WSA | W 3-2 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
8. Alex Rodriguez went 0-4 with three strikeouts and was 0-2 with runners in scoring position. This season, A-Rod is hitting .221 with runners in scoring position and RISP/w 2 outs he’s hitting .156 with four RBI.
9. Jon Lester started and finished his September 11th start with a record of 9-11.
