Red Sox vs Yankees September 14, 2013

The Red Sox completed the sweep of the New York Yankees this weekend behind some spectacular pitching (Lester on Saturday and Buchholz on Sunday), some great hitting (Salty's grand slam on Friday and Nava hitting .306 for the season), and some surprise base running (Salty stealing home on Sunday).  They are currently 9.5 games up from the Rays, and their Magic Number stands at 4.

Saturday, September 14th, I was able to attend my second Red Sox-Yankees game.  Not only was it just a week prior that I went to the first game (at Yankee Stadium, here's the post), but the game on Saturday was at Fenway Park.  

The whole atmosphere at Fenway Park is different compared to Yankee Stadium.  While Yankee Stadium may have a well-known steak house, Fenway has Fenway Franks.  I know you may not think they compare, but when you go to Fenway Park, a Fenway Frank is the way to go.  Plus, Cole had to get a sausage from the sausage guy after the game (Rachael Ray recreated the recipe for these sausages on her show.  Here's the recipe).  Fenway Park food is iconic.

Besides the food, the fans seem to be more focused on the game at Fenway Park; or at least, that's my experience.  We saw in the bleachers at both games, but there were definitely more people in the bleachers at Fenway compared to Yankee Stadium.  The people were cheering for plays rather than yelling "(Insert opposing team here) sucks!".  Now, Red Sox fans do boo A-Rod mercilessly, but they cheer Mariano Rivera too.  

Side note: if you didn't get to watch the Mariano Rivera ceremony last night, definitely check out the video here.

I am happy to report I purchased my Jonny Gomes t-shirt!

For those of you who don't know, Fenway Park is very special to me.  My great-grandfather played for the Red Sox from 1931-1932, and I grew up a Red Sox fan (as did every other member of my family).  Walking around Fenway Park and thinking that my great-grandfather could've walked the same path as me 80+ years ago literally sent chills down my spine.

This was my fourth time at Fenway Park.  I went to a game in 2005 against the Kansas City Royals, and two games in 2010 against the Cleveland Indians.  Now that I'm living in Connecticut, I'm sure I'll be going to many more games.

Speaking of going to more games, my boyfriend and I decided we're going to Baltimore on September 28th for the Red Sox-Orioles game that night.  We're both really excited about that, since neither one of us has been to Oriole Park at Camden Yards before.  So, in less than a month on the East Coast, I'll be going to 3 Red Sox games and experience 2 new ballparks.  Not bad.

Below, you will find pictures from Fenway Park on Saturday. 

Outside of Fenway Park

Jerry Remy's Restaurant, across from Fenway Park

View of the field before the game

Another view of the field before the game

Red Sox take the field

Fenway Park and Press Box

Lester pitching

Pedroia batting and Sabathia pitching

Victorina in Center Field and Gomes in Left Field

My boyfriend, Cole, and me

#HighFiveCity

Yankee bullpen coming out.
My mom wanted a picture of Mariano River, and this was the closest thing I could get

Red Sox win 5-1

Cole's brother Shane, Shane's girlfriend Ashley; me, and Cole

Me and Cole with Fenway in the background

1931-1932
The years my great-grandfather played for the Red Sox

Not a Good Weekend for the Red Sox

 The Red Sox started the weekend 20-8, with the best record in the Majors.  The ended the weekend 20-11, tied with Texas and St. Louis for the best record in the Majors.  The Sox were swept in the 3-game series against the Rangers.  It was the first time this season the Sox had lost 3 games in a row.  Bad, yes.  Horrible, maybe not.

I think this weekend proved to be a wake-up call to the Red Sox.  The Sox have been cruising through the first month of the season, and they’ve relied pretty heavily on their pitching for that.  Yes, the team had been producing (most notably Napoli and Ortiz), but the pitching is really what has made this team the force it’s been this season.

But, this weekend proved that pitching is fragile.  Last week, when Joel Hanrahan came off the disabled list, the question was who would close?  It never became an issue though, as Andrew Bailey is having problems with his biceps.  He’s scheduled for an MRI today.

The Red Sox have used Uehara and Tazawa a total of something like 30 times (sorry, I’m trying to recall what they had said during the game yesterday.  I believe it was 15 times for Uehara and 14 times for Tazawa, before they were used yesterday).  That’s about every other game, which isn’t the smartest thing to do this early in the season.  The Sox, in past seasons, have worn their bullpen down.  It always seems like the teams with well-rested bullpens are the teams that survive into the playoffs.

Middlebrooks needs to get his bat going.  I thought for sure this series against the Rangers would be the series to get him to hit consistently, since he’s from Texas and had many friends and family members show up for the game.  Middlebrooks was 1 for 7 with 3 errors and was benched for Sunday’s game.  I don’t know if it’s the sophomore slump, mental, or mechanical issues.  Middlebrooks needs to get going though.

David Ortiz, however, has continued to keep it rolling.  He is now carrying a 25-game (10 month) hit-streak.  He is hitting .438 with 10 doubles, 6 home runs, and 23 RBIs.  He has reached safely 33-consecutive games, the longest such streak for a Red Sox player since Dustin Pedroia had a 37-consecutive game streak in 2011.

The Sox play the Twins next, at Fenway Park.  As a disclaimer, since I live in the lovely Midwest where all games played against/by the White Sox, Cubs, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers, and Twins are blocked out (figure that one out), I will not be able to actually watch the Twins-Red Sox game tonight.  I will be following on GameDay, however, and hope to see the Sox get out of this slump.

With all the speculation of Clay Buchholz having some foreign substance on himself that he rubs off on the ball when he pitches, it’ll be interesting to see how well he pitches tonight.  Buchholz has been phenomenal this season (6-0, 1.01 ERA); but it’s always appeared in the past that his issues were more mental.  Are these cheating allegations going to get inside his head, or will he continue to cruise?