Coming the series, fans were conceding tonight’s game to the Boston Red Sox. Although to be fair, with the way A.J. Burnett has been pitching lately – i.e. nearly three months – coupled with the fact that he would be up against Jon Lester, it is a tad understandable why people would assume things wouldn’t work out for the Yankees. But I had a feeling all day that it was not going to turn how everyone thought it would.

AND I WAS RIGHT! NEENER NEENER NEENER.

Ahem.

Burnett made two mistakes. The biggest one was to Dustin Pedroia who hit a home run in the bottom of the fourth to put the Sox up 2-1. Other than that he was fine. Certainly a lot better than he’s been lately and his curve ball was sharp. He mentioned in the postgame that he was working on changes in his delivery and that he was getting more and more comfortable as the game went on. He only lasted five and a third innings but only gave up those two runs on five hits and had four strikeouts.

A sign of good things to come? Or a blip? We’ll find out.

The Yankees offense made Lester work early and were able to get him out of the game after five innings but only had one run to show for it. Their luck changed in the seventh when Daniel Bard came in to relieve Alfredo Aceves. Burnett’s battery mate Russell Martin hit a huge two run double to put the Yankees up 3-2. Chris Dickerson – who was pinch running for Andruw Jones – and Jesus Montero scored and Martin advanced to third on a bad throw. Martin also had a single in the sixth and finished 2-5. Eric Chavez followed with a single which scored Martin and gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead.

The Yankee bullpen combined for three and two-thirds innings of shutout ball. And the only hit given up by the bullpen came in the bottom of the ninth.

By the way is anyone else’s heart still stuck in their throat? Can we ever have a comfortable ninth inning against Boston? My goodness. Mariano Rivera made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. He gave up two walks – to Jed Lowrie and Jacoby Ellsbury – while getting Josh Reddick to fly out and striking out Jarrod Saltalamcchia. (Okay what is with all of the “J” names?) Marco Scutaro, who for some reason, always hits Mo hit a single to load the bases – and take a couple of years off everyone’s life. With the game on the line and Adrian Gonzalez at the plate, Rivera was able to settle down and strike Gonzalez out looking. Ballgame over, Yankees win.

So the Yankees escaped Fenway Park winning two out of three against the Red Sox and are now only half a game back in the AL East.

Rookie Jesus Montero finished 0-4 but he did score on Martin’s double after getting hit by a pitch in the seventh.

Mo’s Countdown to Trevor Hoffman:
Six

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. It’s Friday August 5, 2011 and the Yankees are tied for first place with the Boston Red Sox. The “predetermined American League Champion” Red Sox have the same record as the “lucky to finish in third place” Yankees. Can you believe it? I’m sure ESPN can’t.

But I digress…

As we all know the Red Sox lead the season series 8-1. But that doesn’t matter anymore. Since the last time these two teams met, New York is 35-15. The Yankees are coming off their first four game sweep of the Chicago White Sox in the Windy City since 1976. They also did not issue a walk the entire series. It’s the Yanks’ longest such streak since they did it in six straight games in September 2002. (Poor Bartolo Colon, I definitely jinxed him.)

The Red Sox just split a four game series at home with the Cleveland Indians and welcomed Erik Bedard to their starting rotation. Clay Buchholz will miss the rest of the season due to a stress fracture in his back and the Sox – after a deal fell through with Oakland’s Rich Harden – picked up Bedard before the trade deadline this past Sunday.

Bedard made the start last night at Fenway and needed 70 pitches to get through five innings. He left the game with a 3-3 tie but the Red Sox ultimately lost 7-3.

Tonight’s starter Jon Lester is looking for win #12 on the season. In his last start against the Yankees, Lester pitched six innings and gave up three earned runs on eight hits while striking out five in a 6-4 Red Sox victory.

Adrian Gonzalez has a 14-game hitting streak. Gonzalez is hitting .482 (28-for-28) with five doubles, 13 RBI and 12 runs during that streak and now has 91 RBI on the season. Dustin Pedroia who was named the AL Player of the month for July had a 25-game hitting streak at Fenway snapped last night when he went 0 for 4.

Pitching Matchups

Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.30) vs. Jon Lester (11-4, 3.17) – Tonight on YES at 7 p.m.

CC Sabathia (16-5, 2.55) vs. John Lackey (9-8, 6.23) – Tomorrow on FOX at 4 p.m.

Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.22) vs. Josh Beckett (9-4, 2.20) – Sunday on ESPN at 8 p.m.

As for the Yankees, tonight’s starter – the one I jinxed earlier in this post – Bartolo Colon will make his second start and third appearance of the season against the Red Sox. He has a 2.61 ERA against Boston but he’ll be seeking his first win. Colon took the loss on April 8 despite 4 1/3 innings of one-run relief and then got a no-decision May 13 in New York. He held the Red Sox to two runs over six innings. Colon has held opponents to two runs or fewer in 10 of his 16 starts this season.

David Robertson has a bit of a streak going. After retiring the only batter he faced Thursday he now has 21 scoreless appearances on the road this season. And since May 14, Robertson has allowed only four earned runs in 28 2/3 innings over 30 appearances. (I hope I didn’t jinx him too)

The reigning home run derby king, Robinson Cano, hit his 18th home run of the season last night. He homered in back-to-back games for the first time since July 14 – July 15.

And although he’s not playing in this series, Alex Rodriguez has increased the intensity of his workouts down in Tampa. According to the AP report he doubled his tee and soft toss sessions during today’s workout. He took 40 grounders on his knees at around 70 feet, 10 on the edge of the infield and 10 more at the normal third base position. This is good news.

Tonight’s Lineups:
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jorge Posada DH
Eduardo Nunez 3B

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
Carl Crawford LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Josh Reddick RF
Marco Scutaro SS

Take a deep breath and get ready Yankees fans, cause it’s going to be a stressful weekend…

In an ESPN Insider article written this weekend, Buster Olney said that Joe Torre – now a Major League Baseball executive – would like players to cut down on fraternizing with their opponents before games.

Before every game, position players on both teams will gather on the foul lines and do their last sprints before the first pitch, and often this leads to greetings in the outfield behind second base — hearty handshakes and hugs.

If Joe Torre, baseball’s new czar of on-field discipline, has his way, then this kind of thing will be curtailed. Torre has asked club staff members to nudge their players toward curtailing that kind of fraternization after the gates have been opened to fans.

There is a rule that calls for this:

Major League Baseball prohibits “fraternization”. Rule 3.09 states, in part, “Players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in uniform.”

But it’s a rule that has been ignored for a long time.

» Continue reading “Joe Torre Doesn’t Like Seeing Kevin Youkilis and Derek Jeter Hug”

All’s right in the world once again: the Yankees win, the Red Sox lose, Spring is in the air and all that jazz!

Yankees starter Ivan Nova didn’t get the decision and struggled a bit but the Yankees never trailed in their 9-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Big contributors to this victory: Eric Chavez who got the start at DH. He was 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. Catcher Russell Martin who continues to make noise in the Yankee lineup. Today he was 2 for 4, both of his hits were home runs. Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson also went deep for the Bombers. Cano continued his hot hitting at Fenway Park, finishing 3 for 4 and was a triple away from the cycle.

After Nova exited the game in the bottom of the fifth, the bullpen took over and shut Boston down. Birthday boy David Robertson picked up the win pitching 1 2/3 perfect innings with one strikeout. Joba Chamberlain followed with a one inning, no hit and two strikeout performance. Luis Ayala finished the game for the Yankees pitching two innings giving up three hits, no runs and got a double play to end the game.

Derek Jeter got a hit today. You know what that means! He’s now 67 hits away from career hit no. 3000!

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz only lasted 3 2/3 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned with three walks and two strikeouts. Dustin Pedroia on continued his “Welcome Back to Fenway” tear smacking around three hits finishing 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 runs batted in.

Key Stats of the Game:
Russell Martin: 2 for 4, 2HRs and 4 RBI
Ivan Nova: 4.1 IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 3K ND
Curtis Granderson: HR, 2BB, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Eric Chavez: 3 for 5, RBI, run
Robinson Cano: 3 for 5, RBI, 2 runs
Yankees’s bullpen: 4 2/3 scoreless innings, only 3 hits (Robertson (W), Joba, Ayala)

Up next: The final game of the three game series is a nighttime affair airing on ESPN. It features CC Sabathia (0-0, 1.38) vs. Josh Beckett (0-1, 5.40).

For more Red Sox coverage visit The Essence Of Baseball

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox and their fans for winning the World Series! Oh, no, that’s not what happened. They won a sloppy, early April game against the New York Yankees in which both team’s starters looked awful and either team could have won.

Phil Hughes threw batting practice for the Sox and they really appreciated it. After starting 0-6, Boston needed a game like this.

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

“Everything for the most part. Kind of the same issue as last game. Arm strength was obviously something that was not there today. I tried to make up for it by throwing cutters and anything really to get some outs. It just seemed like everything I threw up there was getting hit around. And even when they didn’t hit the ball hard, it found its way through. It’s one of those things. Two awful starts, and I didn’t really give us a chance to win the game. I have to figure something out.”

Hughes’s final line wasn’t pretty: 2IP, 7H, 6R, 2BB, 2K and 1HR given up to Dustin Pedroia

Poor Bartolo Colon actually pitched okay considering he had come into a 6-3 game in the third inning. His line: 4.1IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB and 5K. He was saddled with the loss.

Derek Jeter got another hit and is now 68 away from No. 3000. Alex Rodriguez hit a fifth inning home run off Red Sox starter John Lackey and now has 616 in his career. Rodriguez passed Rafael Palmeiro and tied Ken Griffey Jr. on the all time Home Run list.

Dust yourselves off and come back tomorrow boys.

For Red Sox coverage visit The Essence Of Baseball