The Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 8-2 in Opening Day 2013. With a big second inning and dominant pitching by Jon Lester, the Red Sox took an early lead and never looked back.
Lester was the key to the victory as he held the Yankees scoreless for a good chunk of the game. He ran into some trouble in the fourth inning and game up two earned runs, but that was all he would give up. Lester finished the game with these numbers: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 7 SO.
The Red Sox offense jumped all over Yankees' starting pitcher, C.C. Sabathia. Shortstop Iglesias drove in the first Red Sox run of the year with a single to left field scoring catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Newly acquired, Shane Victorino proved his worth by slapping a single to left field scoring rookie Jackie Bradley and Iglesias, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. The hitting party wasn't over as second baseman Dustin Pedroia stepped up and whacked an opposite-field single driving in Jacoby Elsbury.
The Red Sox were unforgiving as they pounced on Sabathia early and that's all they would need in the game. Sabathia finished with 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4 BB and 5 SO. It was obviously not his best opening day performance as he struggled with his command.
Francisco Cervelli brought the Yankees closer with a bases loaded double in the bottom of the fourth plating two runs as Lester was a strike away from getting out of the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Yankees threatened with runners on first and second with no outs and the heart of the order stepping up to the plate. Eduardo Nuñez fanned, Robinson Cano struckout swinging and then Andrew Bailey came in to strikeout Kevin Youkilis after Andrew Miller walked Cervelli and Brett Gardner.
Cano and Youkilis finished the game 1-4 and combined to leave seven runners on base.
For the Red Sox, though many doubted the decision to leave Bradley in the major league roster, he showed patience at the plate, walking three times, which eventually led to two Boston runs. The Red Sox bats eventually woke up again in the top of the ninth, adding three insurance runs as Joba Chamberlain couldn't find his command giving up three earned runs in .2 innings pitched.
The Boston bullpen shut down the Yankees for the next four innings. Koji Euhara, Andrew Miller, Andrew Bailey and Junichi Tazawa combined for three innings of one-hit baseball with two walks and no runs given up. Joel Hanrahan came in the bottom of the ninth to close out the deal though he wasn't awarded with a save.
