First impressions: Masterful job by Wright in 5-1 win over Yanks

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NEW YORK -- First impressions from the Red Sox' 5-1 win over the Yankees.

 

In a season full of quality starts, this was Steven Wright's best yet.

Wright was masterful Sunday, shutting out the Yankees over the first 8 2/3 innings before losing the shutout with an out to go on a solo homer by Brett Gardner.

At one point, he retired 13 straight and the hits allowed were separated by six innings.

There were just three or four hard-hit balls all night, and he issued just one walk. At one point, the Yankees had hit only a handful of balls out of the infield.

He also pitched to two batters over the minimum.

It's laughable now to think that Wright was, not long ago, the likely choice to be bumped from the rotation to accommodate the return of injured starters Eduardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly.

 

David Ortiz loves to hit at Yankee Stadium.

Ortiz has always hit well in New York, whether at the original Yankee Stadium or the new one. Sunday night was no different, with two homers - both hit deep to right.

The park is perfectly suited for his swing, with the short right field porch. One wonders how many homers Ortiz would have hit in his career had he played half his games here.

 

Hanley Ramirez remains. . . engaged.

Ramirez had a rough night at the plate, striking out the first three times.

In the ninth, reliever Johnny Barbato came inside with a fastball that caught Ramirez on the left hand. It looked pretty painful.

Once he reached first, though, Ramirez got his revenge, swiping second with a 5-0 lead. And when Barbato's throw to second was wild, rolling into center, Ramirez kept going and went to third.

That's the kind of aggressiveness that Ramirez didn't show often -- if at all -- last season.

 

Don't look now, but Jackie Bradley is creeping toward .300.

Bradley extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games with a single in the fifth, then added a double in the seventh.

That left Bradley's batting average at .288. And this is not a singles hitter, either -- 12 of his last 20 hits have gone for extra bases.

 

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