Red Sox Complete Sweep Of Yankees...Boston 4 NY 1

The Boston Red Sox completed a 9-0 homestand with three straight wins against the NY Yankees. The final score was 4-1. This contest will always be remembered as the game that Jacoby Ellsbury stole home off of Andy Pettitte. Pettitte takes a long time to get the ball to the plate in his full windup...3.46 seconds. Jacoby Ellsbury noticed that Pettitte was dumbly not paying attention to him in the fifth inning as he inched as far as he could from third base. When he saw the beginning of a leg kick, he was off and running and easily beat the throw to the plate. It was the first straight steal of home for a Boston player since Billy Hatcher did it in 1994, fifteen years ago. Way to go, Jacoby. David Ortiz and Jason Bay had this to say after the game...

“I wish I could have his speed for like a week,” designated hitter David Ortiz said. “Just one week. That’s all I ask.

“I’ve never seen anyone attempt it, let alone actually do it,” Bay said. “That’s something I won’t forget.”

I won't forget it either...the Fenway Faithful looked happily stunned, a great combination. The big difference in this series was the respective bullpens. Check out these numbers. The pinstriped 'pen had an ERA of 9.00 in ten innings of work. The Boston bullpen toiled for 12 1/3 innings and had a tremendous ERA of 2.13. NO CONTEST...case closed. If the Yankees want to contend in the AL East, they'll have to revamp their bullpen, maybe even put Joba Chamberlain back in there. One Mo can't do everything. No way, no how.

Boston traveled to Clevland last night for a three game set that starts today. Their record is now 12-6...that's what a ten game streak will do for ya. Here are the upcoming pitching matchups...

Tim Wakefield (2-1 2.45) vs. Cliff Lee (1-3 5.25) Monday
Brad Penny (2-0 7.80) vs. Anthony Reyes (1-0 4.76) Tuesday
Jon Lester (1-2 4.88 vs. Fausto Carmona 1-3 7.36) Wednesday

Let's keep this winning streak going on the road. Our starters and bullpen are going to take us a long way in this 2009 season and the hitters were hitting well against their hated rivals. To tell you the truth, I loved every minute of it. I hope you did, too. Have a great Monday as we begin a new week. Yesterday and the day before here in north central Connecticut, daytime temperatures bulged to near 90. That'll be the weather trend for the next two days until we return to normal on Wednesday. By the way, normal for this time of year has daytime highs in the mid sixties and nightly lows in the mid forties. That's just fine with me. Click on this post's title for more on the Red Sox weekend that was and as always, BE WELL. Stay strong, stay happy...GO SOX. Thanks. See ya.