Before today’s 4:10 p.m. start, the most popular man on the field was Red Sox bullpen coach Gary Tuck. Tuck has been a coach on three World Series between the two teams. He was with the Yankees in ‘98 and ‘99 and here in Boston in ‘07.
Yankee Derek Jeter gave Tuck a hug as he left the field after batting practice and manager Joe Giardi went on an all-out sprint from the Yankees dugout to get in a hug and about two minutes worth baseball chat.
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Josh Beckett threw 36 pitches in a labor-intensive first inning in which he threw only one first-ball strike. Three lefties had hits, all outside pitches as the Yankees jumped to a quick 2-0 lead.
The Sox first inning was dead in the water after a Dustin Pedroia single to right was nullified by a first-pitch double-play grounder to Jeter by struggling David Ortiz. We will monitor Ortiz’s progress this entire weekend as he continues to look confused.
