Game of the Day: Boston Red Sox 5, New York Yankees 4 (11 innings)
I'll admit the attention the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry receives gets a little overwhelming, but there's no denying that every time they meet it is a huge story that usually creates memorable moments.
Kevin Youkilis penned the first paragraph of this year's story of the Boston-New York rivalry, hitting a walk-off homer in the 11th inning.
Youk was also the catalyst of the game-tying rally in the ninth, hitting a one-out single against Mariano Rivera. Jason Bay hit a deep two-out home run to center field with to tie the ballgame.
Joba Chamberlain was lucky to keep the Yankees in the game early, limiting Boston to two runs (one earned) over 5 1/3 innings despite yielding nine hits while walking four. Jon Lester also pitched around some trouble, giving up two runs over six innings. New York tallied seven hits and three walks off him, but also struck out seven times.
Pitcher of the Day: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals
Start believing now. With their top three starters performing at an extremely high level and more starting pitching on its way from Triple-A, the Royals are going to be in the thick of the AL Central race all season.
Zack Greinke pitched his second-straight complete game, giving up one unearned run off three hits while striking out 10. He is now 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 11.17 K/9 through four starts.
Teammates Gil Meche and Kyle Davies also have ERAs under 2.90 and WHIPs under 1.15 and both Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar, who is still in the minors, look like they could make major contributions on the Major League level this season. Sure, there are problems in the bullpen, but every team in their division is flawed.
Hitter of the Day: Shane Victorino, Philadelphia Phillies
Josh Johnson put together another marvelous performance, but Philadelphia saved its best for last.
The Marlins tallied three runs in the first inning and held the lead nearly the entire game, thanks in large part to Johnson, who pitched seven shutout innings. Leo Nunez pitched a perfect eighth before Matt Lindstrom blew the save in epic fashion, giving up seven runs, including four off a Shane Victorino go-ahead grand slam.
Both the Phillies and Victorino were in need of a boost, as Philadelphia needed the win to improve to 7-8 and Victorino entered the at-bat 0-for-4 on the game with a .233 average on the season. The loss was Florida's fourth straight.
Click here for the rest of the roundup.
Click here to read about today's games, which feature a matchup of former Marlins teammates Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett doing battle in Boston.
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