Beckett Struggles As The Yankees Cruise to 8-4 Win

Sports Betting News - August 24th, 2009 - Written by Bruce

Josh Beckett was unable to shake off a rough start last night, giving up five home runs in what was supposed to be a pitching duel between him and C.C Sabathia. On the very first pitch of game, Beckett gave up a home run to the Yankees' Derek Jeter which was only a sign of things to come. The potent New York lineup gave Beckett problems all night, handing him the most home runs he as ever given up in a game. While Beckett was struggling, C.C. Sabathia was able to contain a Boston lineup that scored 14 runs the night before. Sabathia gave up three earned runs working into the seventh inning last night to earn his major league leading 15th win of the season. The Yankees were in control of this contest throughout, picking up the win by the score of 8-4.

With his lead off home run last night, Derek Jeter got his 2,700th career hit which got the Yankees off to a fast start. In the second inning, it was Hideki Matsui who connected for a home run off of Beckett. Matsui added another home run in the eighth inning, which gave him his fourth multi home run gave of the year. He has been red hot of late, providing the Yankees with another hot bat in their dangerous lineup. Robinson Cano added a solo home run in the fourth inning, followed by a two run shot by Alex Rodriguez in the fifth inning. Sabathia (15-7) is looking more and more like the front of the line ace the Yankees were hoping he could be, picking up his fifth straight win with last night's performance. He finished the game with eight strikeouts and no walks. The Yankees improved to an impressive 16-4 in their last 20 games, opening up a 7.5 game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East.

Coming into last night's game, there was anticipation surrounding a match up between the top two AL wins leaders this year. After the two teams combined for 46 runs in the first two games of the series, it looked as if the third game was going to be a pitching duel with the aces taking the mound for each team. Josh Beckett (14-5) has had a great season thus far, but had struggled a bit with the long ball coming into last night's game. He has now given up ten home runs in his last three starts, which is the same number of home runs he has given up in his other twenty two starts. He has uncharacteristically given up fifteen runs in his last two starts. Boston will need Beckett to return to his All Star form, as the Red Sox currently hold a slim one game lead in the Wild Card Standings over the Texas Rangers.

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