For the Boston Red Sox it was about off-season defensive additions and for the New York Yankees it was about maintaining a winning team.
And on the face of it both teams managed to accomplish what they set out to do. The Red Sox added John Lackey to their starting rotation and then added three top quality defensive players to their defence.
The Yankees on the other hand let Johnny Damon go but traded for Curtis Granderson and added Javier Vazquez to their starting rotation.
Both teams on paper look pretty good for the coming season.
So on Sunday night when they met at Fenway Park it was a chance to see what both teams will offer for the coming season. But as always with opening day things don’t always go to script and the pitchers duel between Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia didn’t materialise after the Red Sox ace gave up eight hits and five runs in five innings.
But the big shock of the night wasn’t Beckett’s lack of command or his lack of arm strength but the fact the Boston offence managed to score nine runs, a stat which the Red Sox where supposed to struggle with, given their focus on run prevention.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi however was not surprised. “We expected them to score runs. We know they have a very good offensive team. You look at the guys they brought in," he said.
The Red Sox did have to come from behind however, Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run triple in the fifth to bring the Sox to within one run at 5-4 and in the seventh, Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run off new Yankee addition Chan Ho Park to tie the game at seven.
It will be Youkilis and Pedroia who the Red Sox will be relying to be consistent throughout the season but they will also need Victor Martinez and David Ortiz to have productive seasons if they are to challenge the Yankees for the American League East.
The Yankees showed that they will be an offensive threat all season even against a very defensive minded team and the Red Sox showed they can score runs, but it was just one night and if Boston are to really challenge the current world champions they will have to show they can score runs all season long.
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