Adrian Gonzalez
There are times when the Red Sox are thankful to play at Yankee Stadium.
Times such as yesterday, according to Adrian Gonzalez.
Gonzalez unleashed a three-hit day — missing a fourth hit on a fine running catch in right-center by Ichiro Suzuki — but his biggest hit was a three-run homer in the fifth inning that the Red Sox first baseman felt would have been an out in Boston.
“It’s a 320-foot pop-up in the gap that gets out. That’s all Yankee Stadium,” Gonzalez said after the Red Sox gave away the lead, but came back in the ninth with two runs against Rafael Soriano for a much-needed 8-6 victory. “So I’m just glad we were playing here and not Fenway [Park].”
Sometimes the launching pad in The Bronx works for the opponent. But Boston manager Bobby Valentine simply felt Gonzalez, who delivered an RBI double in a three-run first against CC Sabathia, simply was locked in and “determined” to help the Red Sox reverse their recent falling fortunes.
“Gonzo was ready to play today,” Valentine said. “He was determined — as was this whole team. He swung the bat great today.”
Gonzalez, who raised his season numbers to 10 homers and a team-best 62 RBI, said all that mattered was a win. Not his three hits. Not his jumping on Sabathia fastballs. The win, which he said was “huge” because it came after the Red Sox had been knocked down by a Yankees uprising in the eighth.
The Red Sox admittedly were a little lucky — Curtis Granderson misplayed Pedro Ciriaco’s ninth-inning drive to center into an RBI triple (Ciriaco later scored).
“[Granderson is] a really good outfielder. I’m just glad he misread it at the right time for us,” Gonzalez said.
But none of it will matter a whole heckuva lot if the Red Sox don’t continue to win.
“Soriano has been really good all year. Gonzalez said. “It was great for us to pull it off and get the win against a great pitcher. … It was huge.
“But we face another really good pitcher tomorrow: Kuroda. If we can get that we can get some momentum.”