Rough Night For Pitchers, Thames Gets The Pie. Johnson Has Surgery.

It was a rough night to be a pitcher in the Bronx last night. Nine pitchers in total were used in the contest between the Yankees and Red Sox. Of the nine, five gave up runs in the 11-9 Yankees win.

The starters were not good. Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka had a bad first inning in which the Yankees scored five runs. The right lasted 4.2 innings, giving up nine hits. Three of those nine were doubles. The Yankees scored seven runs off Matsuzaka before he was taken out with two outs in the fifth.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes has been one of the leagues best pitchers so far this season. Last night however was not a good performance. He was able to battle and make his way through five innings, but Hughes gave up five runs on six hits and a walk. He gave up two home runs, one to David Ortiz in the fourth and the other to J.D. Drew in the fifth.

The Yankees brought Boone Logan to the mound in the sixth with a 7-5 lead. The lefty gave up two hits and a run. The run came on a home run by Victor Martinez that cut the lead to 7-6.

With a 7-6 lead and Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson unavailable to pitch, the Yankees called upon Chan Ho Park to pitch the seventh inning. Park was activated off the disabled list prior to the game. He had been on the DL since April 16th with a hamstring injury. His performance showed the Yankees he should have stayed on the DL, or anywhere else other then on the roster.

Park gave up four hits in his one inning of work and three runs. The two big hits where back to back home runs.  With one on and nobody out, Park hung a slider to Kevin Youkilis who deposited it over the left field fence to give the Red Sox an 9-7 lead. The very next batter, Victor Martinez drove a ball to right center that landed over the fence to give the Red Sox an insurance run and a 9-7 lead.

Tim Wakefield and Daniel Bard combined to pitch 3^1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Red Sox. Damaso Marte pitched 1^2/3 innings of scoreless ball for the Yankees and then Javier Vazquez made a relief appearance and got Youkilis to strike out with a runner on in top of the ninth.

With a 9-7 lead, the Red Sox brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon to put an end to this hit fest. Papelbon has had his struggles against the Yankees and last night was no different. Yankees centerfielder Brett Gardner led off the inning with a double before Mark Teixeira flied out deep to right, allowing Gardner to tag up and move to third.

With Gardner on third and one out, third baseman Alex Rodriguez absolutely crushed a ball well over the fence in left center to tie the game at nine. The Yankee stadium crowd went into a frenzy. Robinson Cano followed by making the second out of the inning before Papelbon hit Francisco Cervelli with a pitch. That brought up Marcus Thames.

With two outs and Cervelli on first base in a 9-9 game, Thames delivered his third walk off hit of his career. Thames drove the Papelbon pitch over the left field fence for a game winning, walk off two run homer.

While being interviewed by Kim Jones, Thames got a taste of the pie. In what has become a Yankee tradition, A.J. Burnett planted a whipped cream pie in the face of Thames.

Thames continues to make the most of his opportunity with the Yankees. After going 2-for-4 in last nights win, he is batting .365 on the year.

Johnson Has Surgery

Yankees first baseman and DH Nick Johnson will have surgery on his right wrist and is not expected to return to the lineup any time soon. Johnson will not be able to start swinging a bat for at least four to six weeks after the surgery. Manager Joe Girardi is saying he plans to rotate players in the DH spot while Johnson is out.

Juan Miranda and Marcus Thames are likely to see a lot more time in the lineup.