Yankees and Red Sox Play to 4-4 Tie

After a squeeze bunt pulled the Red Sox even in the bottom of the ninth, Joe Girardi pulled his team out of the game, saying he was out of pitchers. That started a whole controversy with Bobby Valentine (what doesn't?), who was upset he warmed up a pitcher that couldn't be used. He called it "discourteous" and said that Girardi did, in fact, have pitchers available.

Unfortunately, the ending overshadowed what was otherwise an extremely well-pitched ballgame by Yankee pitchers. Adam Warren and Dellin Betances combined to toss seven shutout innings against Boston's A lineup (only devoid of Carl Crawford), featuring Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz.

That brings me to another thought: It's a shame that guys like Warren (and David Phelps) will probably never get a shot to help their big league club. There are seven pitchers competing for five spots right now. What chance do mere "solid" prospects have when they're competing against established veterans like Freddy Garcia and Andy Pettitte and "elite" prospects like Betances and Manny Banuelos? If a veteran sucks for a month, it would be written off as just that. If it's a rookie, he "isn't ready," or "can't cut it in New York," or "was part of the Yankees hype machine." It's rather unfair.

Warren showed plus command of an 89-93 MPH fastball, complemented by several solid offspeed offerings. Betances, as usual, struggled with control (walking three), but showed the kind of dynamite stuff he has, striking out four without allowing a hit.

The Yankees will play split-squad affairs against the Twins and Phillies tomorrow. Ivan Nova starts against Minnesota while Hiroki Kuroda climbs the hill against Philly.