Yankees 4 Red Sox 3: Rocket Wins Texas Showdown

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-3 last night at Yankee Stadium. New York has clinched a win of this three game set against the archrival Sox. Now the Bronx Bombers have a chance to sweep. The Yanks are within 6 games in the East and are tied for the Wild Card lead again. The team seems to have left its sluggish play behind in Detroit. Through the first two contests in this series, New York has played like the team that stormed through the gates out of the All-Star break.

Roger Clemens was the star of the game. The ageless righty gave up only 1 run on 2 hits in 6 innings. Roger fed off the crowd, the magnitude of the game, and the memory of his lousy start in Detroit to deliver his finest outing of the season. Many Boston fans mocked the Yankees for signing Roger, calling him too old and washed up (of course, these fans were hoping the Sox would sign him). Clemens is probably never going to contend for a y Young ever again in the American League, but he is still an above average pitcher capable of dominating now and again. He has done a great job keeping his team in the game, which means success with an offense this good. Sending him to the hill in September should certainly beat putting Jaret Wright or washed up Randy Johnson every fifth day.

The offense hung a loss on Josh Beckett. The Texan had to scrap and claw just to hold the Yanks to 4 runs in 6.2 innings. New York put a runner on in every inning and picked up 14 hits against Boston’s ace. Beckett battled to keep his team in the game, but the Red Sox have to be concerned. The Yanks have hit Beckett hard this year. Josh has demonstrated a mastery over the rest of the American League, but he has given up 4 earned runs in all 3 of his starts against the Bronx Bombers in 2007. While the postseason is an entirely different animal from the regular season, this is cause for at least some worry in a potential ALCS matchup.

Kyle Farnsworth did everything he could to pitch his way out of a prominent relief role by giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in 0.2 innings. A homer by Kevin Youkilis was the big blow, cutting a 4-1 lead to 4-3. Kyle had pitched well before that, but Joe Torre needs to stop going to him in close games. Any runs of success that Farnsworth has are always fleeting. He has no mental toughness and extremely inconsistent command. Despite his fantastic natural ability, there is a reason that he still has not gained any kind of consistency by age 31. That is unlikely to change. It will always be a roller coaster ride with him. Edwar Ramirez and Chris Britton are much more stable options for prominent relief roles in games Joba Chamberlain has off. Fortunately for Kyle and the Yankees, Mariano Rivera picked up a 4 out save with ease, but going to Mo in the 8^th is something this team should avoid whenever possible.

The Yankees have a chance to sweep Boston today. In most cases winning a series is sufficient, especially at this time of year. This is a different story, though. The Yankees were so far out of first place that they needed five of six in their remaining games against Boston to have a realistic shot at taking the East. Winning this game is going to be much easier than sweeping at Fenway Park in a few weeks. New York sends Chien-Ming Wang, the co-ace of the staff along with Andy Pettitte, to the hill. Boston sends Ketchup Sock Boy himself, Curt Schilling. As the Schill has aged and his velocity has lessened, he has become a punching bag for the Yankees’ offense. The Wild Card is still in play no matter what, but this is a golden opportunity to put some pressure on the Red Sox and send WEEI into full meltdown mode.

Yankees 5 Red Sox 3: Andy and Johnny Deliver

The Yankees beat the Red Sox by a 5-3 score last night at Yankee Stadium. The win gave New York an early edge in the opener of a three game series. Boston’s lead in the division now stands at seven games. The Yankees are a longshot to win a tenth straight division title, but the team at least kept its faint hopes alive with this victory.

Andy Pettitte once against stepped up in a big way with his team’s back against the wall. The lefty gave up 3 runs in 7 innings, holding the Sox down for most of the night. Pettitte did hand an early 2-0 lead back Boston and gave up a 7^th inning homer to Jason Varitek, allowing the Sox to tie the game at 3. However, this outing was exactly what the Yanks needed. Pettitte delivered big pitch after big pitch when he had to, never leaving the mound with his team trailing. Starting pitching has become an issue for this club, but Pettitte has been the exception. He is doing everything he can to keep this team in the pennant race. Lately he has been taking the mound a lot with the team in a losing streak. He seems to thrive on the pressure that comes with being a stopper. Everybody knows how A-Rod, Jeter, and Posada kept the Yanks afloat through their first half struggles. Pettitte has delivered an August no less heroic. The lefty has won 6 games this month. He keeps getting better as the games get bigger.

Johnny Damon was the game’s biggest offensive star for the Yanks. His 2 run homer off Daisuke Matsuzaka provided the winning margin. He also make a pair of nice running catches in leftfield. Everybody knows Jason Giambi’s track record. He is one of the most dangerous hitters in the game. However, this shows why he was relegated to part-time status. Yes, Jason should still get a decent number of at bats, but Damon brings too much to the table to sit on the bench and do nothing else. Johnny is a catalyst at the top of the order. He grinds at bats by fouling off and taking pitches. He bugs pitchers into making mistakes and has decent enough pop to take advantage of the short porch in right. He covers far more ground than Hideki Matsui in the outfield, improving the team’s defense, and since most throws are shorter from leftfield than from center, his weak arm is not as much of an issue as it once was. Johnny is finally healthy, and it is showing. His big game experience makes him a valuable part of this club down the stretch.

Derek Jeter hit a homer in the 5^th and later drew a walk. Overall his at bats were much better in this game than they have been recently. He looked more selective at the plate. Derek is finally showing signs of busting out of the slump in which he has been.

Joba Chamberlain received his baptism by fire to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. The righty pitched a shutout inning. It was clear that he had nerves at the start as he did in his Major League debut in Toronto as he walked the first hitter he faced. From that point, he dominated. Chamberlain got through the 8^th only further allowing a single to Mike Lowell on what was a great piece of hitting by Boston’s third baseman, not a mistake by Joba. Lowell knew that Chamberlain is too tough to drive the ball on so he shortened his swing and softy lined a single to center. That might be the best contact that anybody has made on Chamberlain so far. Joba struck out a pair in the frame. With that first outing against Boston out of the way, the prized prospect now can relax and realize he has the stuff to dominate the Sox as easily as he has dominated everybody else.

The Yankees look to win their second in a row tonight as a pair of Texas fireballers square off. Roger Clemens will make his first start against the Red Sox since Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. He will be up against Cy Young contender, Josh Beckett. On paper Boston appears to have the edge. Still, Roger is not apt to have consecutive bad outings, and the Yanks have hit Beckett hard this year. This will be anybody’s game.

Schilling to DL?

After pitching his first game without a strikeout in 14 years, Curt Schilling left his team in Atlanta to head back to Boston for medical tests. Since June 7th, when he gave up a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning in Oakland, Schilling is 0-2 with a 10.61 ERA. In the two starts, he has given up 19 hits over 9 1/3 innings. He hasn’t missed time due to an injury since 2000. Manager Terry Francona will wait for the test results before scratching Schilling for his next scheduled start against San Diego on Sunday. Apparently there is concern over Schilling’s shoulder, which he seemed to have discomfort with… More on this when the results come in…

Yankees 6 Red Sox 5 : An A-BOMB from A-Rod wins the series…

Sunday night’s game was everything the Yankees hoped for. Going into the weekend series, they knew that they HAD to win the series to stay alive in the AL East. Andy Pettitte was sailing along into the 5th inning and gave up a 4 run lead, eventually exiting the game due to back spasms. Let’s hope it’s nothing more than that. The Yankees tied up the game in the 8th. In the top of the 9th, on an 0-2 count, Alex Rodriguez drilled a solo home run off of Boston Closer Jonathan Papelbon. Mariano Rivera came in to the bottom of the 9th with a 1 run lead and held his ground against the heart of the Boston order, getting Ortiz and Manny out – two guys who have most definitely had their way with Rivera lately.

A few notes on the game – Abreu has an incredible game saving catch in the bottom of the 8th – easily his best defensive play of the year. The Yankees were able to hit both Okajima and Papelbon, both of which who have been untouchable by the Yankees until this point.

The Yankees have a much easier schedule coming up for the next few weeks. It’s a great time to play catch-up, and make a run for 500 ball first, then the wild card lead, then maybe a run for the AL East if Boston does falter at some point. Hell, it IS possible… anything IS with these two teams….

In the meantime, can we get ANDY PHILLIPS onto the 40 man roster please? With Doug and Jason gone for quite a bit of time, I’d like to see what Mr. Phillips can bring to the fold. Cano, Cabrera and Wang were all brought up on to a struggling Yankee team (in ‘05 and ‘06). Andy Phillips is a solid player, who had to miss a significant part of spring training because his mother was in a very serious car accident. He was passed over for Josh Phelps, but now as fate would have it, we have an opening…. Andy can definitely help this team, so hopefully we will see him very soon…

Red Sox 11 Yankees 6 (Saturday)

The Red Sox took the second game of the weekend series on Saturday, but it cost the Yankees much more than just a game. Mike Mussina allowed 5 runs on 9 hits in his 5 innings of work. Unfortunately, a 29 minute rain delay in the 4th inning, changed the tone of the game, and the Yankees couldn’t hold the lead in the game, twice….

In the 7th inning, Doug Mientkiewicz was seriously injured in a play at first, when he collided with Mike Lowell. Mientkiewicz suffered a concussion, and a fractured wrist, and will be out for quite some time. This is such a shame, since he was really starting to come around as a hitter, and his defense has definitely saved a few games for the Yankees. He will be missed.

A few things to note about this game – defense was horrible. Jeter’s play was shaky. Robinson Cano’s defense has been terrible lately. It was his shoddy throw to Jeter in the 7th, that led to Jeter’s off throw to Mientkiewicz, which led to his injury. Defense has to get better, especially against a team like the Red Sox who certainly know how to hit the Yankees hard…

Yankees 9 Red Sox 5: Entertaining Blowout

The Yankees beat the Red Sox last night at Fenway Park by a 9-5 score in the opener of a weekend series. This game fit the Yankees-Red Sox mold. Although the outcome was decided early, the contest was eventful to the end. The final result was another win for the Yankees, making a two game winning streak. It has been three days since the team lost. The Yanks are now 12.5 out in the division and 6 out in the wild card. These are still big hills, but there are finally steps of progress.

The man most responsible for this win was Tim Wakefield. He did not have control of his knuckleball at all. Wakefield did not make it out of the 4th inning, giving up 8 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks. Tim also hit a man. Wakefield did not have control of the plate at all. The only strikes he threw were hittable, and the Yanks took full advantage. Robinson Cano is on a minitear. He started the scoring in the 2nd with a 2 run homer on his way to a 2 hit night. Melky Cabrera had a 2 hit night, including a 2 run single. Jorge Posada delivered the big blow, a 3 run double off Kyle Snyder to turn a 6-3 game into a 9-3 game. The Sox were toast after that.

Chien-Ming Wang’s outing was a case study in grit. It was clear that Wang was not sharp early in the game. He allowed the bases to load in the 1st and gave back a 3-0 in the 2nd and 3rd. Boston was a hit away from putting the Yankees into real trouble. Wang’s pitch count was very high in the early innings as well. After his offense’s 6 run explosion in the 4th, Wang settled down and got the game to the 6th inning with Boston still at 3 runs. While an ace is expected to pitch better in a big game, Wang did his job. After looking like he would be knocked out early, Boston never got within striking distance. Wang’s job became just to get his team out of the game with a stress-free win. He did just that.

The Yankees were the victim of two more iffy calls. The first involved a check swing third strike that the team had to beg to get an appeal because Brian O’Nora was so convinced it was a ball. There was no way that another umpire would show O’Nora up by calling a strike after the fact. The second was a terrible call at third base on a Bobby Abreu steal attempt. That was all Joe Torre could take. He had an animated argument with the men in blue and was kicked out of the game. That was about more than the calls in this game. It was about all the blown calls that have gone against the Yanks this season. Joe made it a point to voice his displeasure for all of baseball to see. It also let out all the frustration he has bottled up this season. This losing has been eating at him. This was a release. This sent a message to baseball. This was good because the men in blue have not helped matters, but the Yankees would be wrong to blame this season on umpiring. While MLB umpires are abysmal, good teams overcome adversity. The Yankees squandered plenty of other chances in the games they allegedly lost due to bad calls. Poor officiating can cost a team a single game, but consistent losers have deeper problems.

A beanball war broke out late in the game. Mike Lowell had to leave the game after being hit in the 3rd. Boston clearly felt that a struggling pitcher nursing a lead wanted to put the leadoff men on base because Kyle Snyder and Javier Lopez drilled A-Rod and Robinson Cano respectively. Tim Wakefield also hit Josh Phelps, but a knuckleball is not much retribution. This led to the 9th. Scott Proctor decked Kevin Youkilis on a pitch dangerously close to the head. Proctor was adamant in the postgame that he was not trying to put the ball near Youkilis’ head. He appeared to have some trouble gripping the ball due to the perspiration. There is no excuse for putting a ball that close to a man’s head on purpose. There is no place for something that dangerous in the game. Here is hoping that Scott is telling the truth. The Yankees are looking at losing the effective reliever for a long time now. Scott was immediately ejected. This is the kind of thing that usually draws a suspension, and since Proctor already got a beanball suspension this year, the powers in charge will likely show no mercy. While nobody could possibly endorse the way in which Proctor hit Youkilis, it was good to send a message. Clowns like Snyder and Lopez now at least know that they cannot plunk big Yankees hitters with impunity. Proctor would just have been better off by hitting Youkilis between the numbers to send this message.

Sometimes a fight is what wakes up a lethargic team and bonds it. Benches cleared after Proctor dusted Youkilis. The Yankees do not want to lose anybody to suspension for a long period of time, but it would not have been the worst thing in the world for a scrub like Wil Nieves to throw a haymaker in that situation. This game might have lit a spark in the club anyway given everything that happened. A good old fashioned brawl still might be the medicine this team needs. We all remember the romanticized 2004 A-Rod-Varitek brawl that many feel fired up a struggling Boston club.

The Yanks brought Mariano Rivera into the game with a 5 run lead and 1 out in the 9th in the middle of an at bat. This probably was Joe Torre’s call as he likely was managing from the clubhouse after his ejection. If it was Don Mattingly’s call, this should be evidence enough that those clamoring for Donnie to take over as manager are wrong. The game was in no danger. It was a panic move. All it did was take a day of rest from Mo. Normally that would not be a bad thing this season, but he did pitch on Wednesday so there was no desperate need for work.

The Yanks now send Mike Mussina to the mound against Ketchup Sock Boy Schilling. It will be interesting to see whether the bad blood carries over. The win in the opener was big. Some might say that the team needs a sleep considering the divisional race, but the team is so far behind that the East cannot be a realistic focus at this point. Maybe somewhere down the road it will be, but it is not at this point. The Yankees need to start winning series. Taking another game at Fenway sets the team on the correct path. If the Yanks start playing better, things will take care of themselves.

No Rocket Relaunch In Boston

Oh well… I guess I was just HOPING the Yankees would have the balls to send Clemens out to pitch in Boston, but due to an off-day, they will pitch Pettitte on Sunday, instead of Clemens, who will most probably start a day later in Chicago vs the White Sox. The pitching matchups for Boston look pretty good with the 3 top pitchers set to start: Wang, Mussina, and Pettitte. This is an important series – a sweep could doom the season.

Yankees 8 Red Sox 3: 46>38

The Yankees beat the Red Sox by an 8-3 margin on Wednesday night. The win moved New York back to 9.5 games behind Boston in the standings. It also gave the Yanks their first series win against their archrival in 2007. The biggest game so far this season was not even close.

The Red Sox took control of Tuesday’s game from the outset. The Yanks did the same on Wednesday. The Yankees led 1-0 two hitters into the game on Derek Jeter’s RBI single. Hideki Matsui followed that with a homer, giving New York a 3-0 lead before the team had made an out. The offense never let up against Curt Schilling and Boston’s bullpen, scoring single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 7th and 8th to build up an insurmountable lead. The lineup battled, ketchuped, and bruised 38pitches.com to the tune of 6 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings. Derek Jeter had 3 hits to pass Joe DiMaggio on the career hit list, a testament to the man’s greatness, although anybody with a brain knows just how special Derek is. Doug Mientkiewicz and Johnny Damon joined Jeter in the 3 hit club. Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui both had a pair. Every starter had at least a hit aside from Jason Giambi. Schilling failed to shut 55,000 New Yorkers up. On this night 25 Yankees quieted his big mouth.

Andy Pettitte took the hill for the Yanks needing to come through in a big way. A 7 inning outing of 1 run ball certainly did the trick. For all the talk about how the pitching on the roster is getting annually weaker, there has been nobody on the team since 2003 who thrives under pressure like Andy. Like his counterpart on Wednesday, Andy is a gamer who thrives in big spots. He also does it without shooting his mouth off or blatantly promoting his own greatness. Pettitte was not a big name on the market over the offseason. This should be a lesson to the Yankees. The very good player who thrives in pressure is sometimes a better fit than the brand name superstar. That was the way it worked in the 1990’s for this club.

Kyle Farnsworth did his best to turn a laugher into a nail-biter. He gave up 2 runs in his inning of work. Boston was a hit away from making it a game before Kyle escaped trouble. It is a wonder that this guy still has a roster spot. He does nothing to pull his weight and runs his mouth to the press about Roger Clemens’ perks being unfair. Here is a newsflash to Kyle. A guy who performs well every fifth day is more valuable to a team than a guy who performs poorly every day. All that Farnsworth is good for is pitching poorly and providing his teammates with unnecessary distractions. If he was a horse, he would be shot.* With Chris Britton, a younger and cheaper option, dominating AAA, the Yankees should call him up and look to trade Farnsworth. His overrated reputation and raw ability will make him attractive in a market starved for relief help. He is worthless to the Yanks.

Mariano Rivera got some work and decimated Boston’s lineup. After a weak grounder by Wily Mo Pena went for a leadoff double, Mo struck the next 3 hitters out and made them look foolish in the process. It is amazing what getting consistent work can do for one’s stuff. It makes pitches much sharper. If Joe Torre can get Mariano into enough games, we might see more glimpses of this dominance.

A loss in this game would have been catastrophic. The win, though, does very little. It simply shaves a game off the lead and gives the team confidence it is back on track and can play with Boston. There is still a long road ahead. The first objective is to get back to .500. This team has a stern test this weekend against an Angels team that always plays its best against the Yanks. New York can gain confidence with a series win, but a loss probably sends this team back to the first square.

*I do not think that Kyle Farnsworth should be shot.

Red Sox 7 Yankees 3: Moose Stops the Momentum

The Yankees lost to the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium last night by a 7-3 score. The loss sets up a rubber match of the series tonight in the Bronx. All positive feelings from the modest winning streak ended early in the game. The offense was held down by Julian Tavarez, which should not happen. This loss can still be pinned on a single person, Mike Mussina.

Mussina’s 6.2 inning, 10 hit, 7 run line is more frustrating when one puts it into context. The Yankees were riding high after wins on Sunday and Monday night. The ballpark was electric at the start of last night’s game. All the air was taken out of the stadium in the 1st inning. Mussina was squeezed by Ed Hickox on a 2 strike pitch to Kevin Youkilis, which was ironic since Hickox’s strike zone grew exponentially for Derek Jeter’s at bat in the 9th inning. Youkilis should have been rung up. However, bad calls are a part of the game. Major League umpires are too arrogant to work on their craft and get better. Mike temporarily became unraveled, giving up hits to Youkilis and David Ortiz. Manny Ramirez then crushed a Mussina offering to give Boston a 3-0 lead. An early edge gives a lousy pitcher like Tavarez confidence and energizes a team. An early deficit demoralizes a lineup that sees a large hill to climb. To his credit, Mussina recovered to pitch into the 7th. He held Boston at 4 and gave his lineup a fighting chance, trailing 4-2. With 2 outs, Coco Crisp tried to steal second base. Jorge Posada threw him out, but Crisp was called safe. Moose again let this get to him as he gave up back to back hits. The Red Sox scored 3 in that inning to all but put the game away. The inning should have ended with Crisp caught stealing, but there is always adversity in pressure games. Moose had to find a way to pitch through them. His mental weakness last night cost his team a big game. The offense struggled to come up with the big hit, but a frontline pitcher like Mike is expected to shut the opposition down in key spots and keep the momentum on his side.

The Yanks now send Andy Pettitte to the mound against Curt Schilling. Schilling certainly will be up for a game at Yankee Stadium. He might even break out some ketchup to smear on his sock. The Yankees absoultely need to win this game. There are not enough games against the Red Sox left to fall 11.5 games out of the division lead. There also are the psychological aspects. Boston has dominated the season series to this point. If the Yankees drop another series, an intimidation factor might come into play. The Yankees might stop believing that they stack up with Boston. They might resign themselves to second place. A win will show this team that it can play with the Sox. There is no way around it. This game is enormous.

Yankees 6 Red Sox 2: The First Step

The Yankees beat the Red Sox by a 6-2 score last night at Yankee Stadium. The win in the series opener cut Boston’s division lead into single digits. The Yanks still have a lot of work cut out for them. This was only a first step to recovery. New York is now 20-23 and 9.5 games behind the Sox.

The offense jumped all over Tim Wakefield. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi both hit 2 run homers in the 1st and 2nd respectively. A 4 run lead was all that Chien-Ming Wang needed as he was in vintage form. Wang pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 2 run and 7 hits. An ace should be able to hold onto any game when he is given an early lead that big. The Yankees got what they needed from Wang. In addition to Giambi’s slump-breaking hit, Robinson Cano had a pair of extra base hits, and Bobby Abreu added a single. The lefties are starting to swing the bat well.

The Yanks now send Mike Mussina to the mound against Julian Tavarez. This team has to keep riding the momentum. Things are starting to turn around. This game should be a win based on the pitching matchup. That would give New York the series and a chance to sweep. So far this critical series has gone according to plan.