Sox/Yanks - Does it get any better?

So last night was my first Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway Park (I saw an ALCS game in 1999 in old Yankee Stadium). I know it seems weird that someone with my lust for Boston sport has somehow missed a Sox/Yanks game but there it is.

It did not start out the best as the weather was less than stellar. The high 50s and constant mist/fog/drizzle made Mrs. Pike and I a little cold and a little wet. There was an usher running around showing people to their seats with a ShamWow in hand to wipe the water off before they sat. With seats in straightaway center there was really nowhere to hide from the wetness.

There were a fair amount of pinstripes in attendance as there always is for this big series and the "Yankees Suck" chat could be heard. If it had been any other team in town I have a feeling the park would have been less than capacity but with the Yanks in town most of the patrons were willing to come out of Game On and the Cask to brave the weather and watch Beckett take the hill.

Once the game started, things began to take a turn for the better. Beckett was clearly sharp as he was pounding the strike zone and keep the Yankee hitters off balance. His counter-part and multi-million dollar free agent, A.J. Burnett was not so lucky. As the bottom of the second started, Lowell walked and the Ortiz drilled a ball to deep center that landed about one row up and 12 seats to our right and the Sox took a quick 2-0 lead. The crowd went nuts and Papi took his third bow of the season. I don't know if the home crowd will make him do a curtain call for every home run he has at home this season but its kinda fun to be there when he does. Only in Boston can a guy with an average below the Mendoza line hit his third home run of the season in June in the second inning and get a curtain call. I love this town.

As the innings wore on and Beckett continued to dominate, Burnett looked lost and would get saddled with his first loss against the Red Sox in his career. For my first Sox/Yanks game at Fenway it was pretty good. A dominant performance by Beckett, Papi hits a home run, A-Rod (or "A-Roid" as the Fenway Faithful lovingly serenaded him with all night) committed an error and with had no hits, Burnett lost against the Sox for the first time after being held back by the Yankees for the sole purpose of ensuring he would pitch against the Sox, and it was a shutout victory. Not bad at all.