August 18, 2006: N.Y. Yankees 12, Boston 4
This game didn't start well. Wang doesn't pitch well at Fenway, and he seemed to be struggling today. While Boston's throwaway pitcher, Jason Johnson, was pitching like a Cy Young winner. (Why do no-name pitchers always manage to come up big against us?)
But Wang hung in there, working in and out of trouble. Very stressful to watch, but in the end, Johnson cracked first. The Sox had to go to their pen, and the Yanks started kicking butt.
The game was closer than the score indicates. Boston had their chances. They left something like 15 men on base. They had a lot of ducks on the pond, but couldn't bring them home. We like to gripe about the Yankees' LOB numbers, but Boston is worse.
Torre put Nick Green in as a pinch-runner for Giambi again. Just to rest Giambi; the game was a total blowout by then. At that point, it occurred to me that we have almost no bench now. Only Nick Green for an infielder, and Bernie Williams for an outfielder. And Bernie really shouldn't be used as an outfielder. Sigh. I suppose pitching is more important, but jeez, we could sure use a Bubba Crosby on the roster this weekend.
Bubba starts in CF tonight for Clippers. He's batting in the leadoff position (his natural spot, IMO). The game begins at 7:25pm. Follow the game online here.
