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Yanks prevent the sweep
Beckett denied win in return to New York
The Boston Globe • July 1, 2004
Josh Beckett pitched well enough to win at Yankee Stadium again.
But his bullpen let him down in a big way.
"Maybe they should have just let me stay in there," Beckett said after his new team, the Boston Red Sox, squandered a 6-2 lead and lost a 7-6 decision to the Yankees last night.
Beckett — one of the newest Red Sox pitchers, acquired in a blockbuster trade earlier this week with Florida — was staked to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. New York scored two runs in the second inning, though an error triggered the start of that frame.
Boston manager Terry Francona lifted Beckett in the bottom of the eighth after he allowed the first batter to reach. The score at the time was 6-2.
His reliever, Brendan Donnelly, went on to load the bases, then Armando Benitez walked Gary Sheffield to allow a run to score. A wild pitch allowed another run in, and the Yanks scored a third time before Benitez could get out of the inning (6-5 score).
Sox reliever Alan Embree struck out Kenny Lofton to start the ninth inning. Closer Keith Foulke came in and K'd Derek Jeter. But Foulke then walked Bernie Williams, and Jason Giambi parked a game-winning home run into the seats in right field for the walk-off win. It's Foulke's first loss of the season.
"It was just a catastrophic failure by our bullpen," Francona said. "It's just hard to get a read on these guys. One night they are unhittable. The next, it's like they are setting the ball on a tee or can't find the strike zone to save their lives. Frankly, I'm pretty angry right now. We had a sweep of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in hand, and we just outright blew it. No excuses.
"We may have to keep shaking things up in our pen until we find the right combo."
Boston will return to Interleague Play this weekend, traveling to Atlanta to face the Braves. After series at home against AL West foes Oakland and Texas, MLB teams will break for All-Star week festivities...
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