After Usain Bolt threw out the first pitch in Saturday’s win against the New York Yankees, Jacoby Ellsbury wanted to remind everyone who the fastest person wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey really was.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Ellsbury gathered a sizeable lead down the third base line with the bases loaded. Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte, with his back towards third base, began his windup. Ellsbury took off dashing towards home plate. He slipped two steps before home but still stole it with ease, Jorge Posada’s tag coming way after the fact. Ellsbury would have easily scored standing up if he had not slipped.
Jose Offerman was the last Red Sox to steal home plate. He did so in 1999. Jeff Frye also stole home in that season, June 4, on an attempted squeeze bunt. With the sweep, Boston pushes their winning streak to 10 games.
Star of the Game – Justin Masterson
Masterson went 5 1/3 innings, on six hits, one run, one walk and four strikeouts. He is now 2-0 on the season.
Noteworthy – David Ortiz was 1-for-3 on the night with two RBI’s. Takashi Saito cleaned up the ninth for this second save of the season.
Next Game – Mon. 4/27 vs. Cleveland Indians – Tim Wakefield/Cliff Lee
Can the Sox keep this streak going?