Game 132 / 74-58 / 2nd / -1.5 GB : What are the odds? You’re up 12-1. And your closer has to come in? Granted, this was a game played at the high-school baseball field otherwise known as Fenway Park — where no lead is safe at any given moment. To illustrate the point, you just have to dig back to April 22, 2012. The Red Sox had a 9-0 lead after 5 innings. Fifteen unawnsered New York runs later, the final score was 15-9 in favor of the Yankees. Tonight’s cluster was looking like payback for that game.
Here’s the box score, full recap, and video highlights.
Yankees 13, Red Sox 8
“I think they jumped on [Boston starter Owens] pretty quickly. You got a lot of big hits. Stephen Drew had a huge day for us today. He’s been really hot, swinging the bat extremely well. Didi gets on and they just kind of rolled. They put up a big number and we were able to make it stick.” ‐ Joe Girardi
MEMORY LANE : On today’s date in 1977, Ron Guidry tossed a complete game, 6-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins at the ‘old’ Metropolitan Stadium. Lou Pinella and Roy White hit solo homers off Twins starter Dave Goltz, as the first place Yankees improved to a 81-52 record. Guidry won his 12th of the season against 6 losses, striking out only 4 but dropping his ERA to 2.96 …
Today in 1969, Yankees manager Ralph Houk inked a 3-year deal to manage the club for the highest skipper salary in MLB at the time — $65,000 per year. In today’s dollars, $65K would be worth about $430,000. In 1969, the average cost of a new home was $27,900. A gallon of gas was 35¢, a dozen eggs 62¢, and a gallon of milk $1.10.
(h/t: Baseball-Reference.com, Today in Baseball History)
