Or at least that’s what everyone is saying.

In the night cap of yesterday’s double header, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a three run home run off Scott Proctor in the top of the 14th inning to guide the Red Sox to a 7-4 victory over the Yankees.

The game was an odd one for sure. John Lackey actually pitched well, Ivan Nova was doing well then appeared to get gassed as the game went on, the Yankees looked like they were on their way to another surefire win after a three run first inning but then were shut down the rest of the game – aside from a Chris Dickerson sac fly to tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh.

With the win, the Red Sox now have a one game Wild Card lead with three games left. The team on their tail, the Tampa Bay Rays will be welcoming the ‘very tired, yet already clinched everything they had to clinch so who cares’ Yankees to the Trop for the final three games of the season.

In the first game of the doubleheader, A.J. Burnett shocked the world by pitching into the eighth inning, only giving up two runs – two solo homers – and leading the Yankees to a 6-2 victory. Burnett easily had his best game of the season and it marked the first time he has beaten the Red Sox in his tenure with the Yankees.

Derek Jeter raised his average to .300 after the afternoon game and did not play in the night cap.

So now it’s on to Tampa where the big question for Joe Girardi will be: To rest or not to rest? We shall see.

And in this case the sh*t was CC Sabathia’s performance. Okay, that’s a little harsh but this is the fourth time Sabathia has faced the Red Sox this season and the fourth time he hasn’t picked up a win.

The 2011 Red Sox apparently are Sabathia’s kryptonite. Do you know what my kryptonite is? Joe Buck.

Anyway, back to the sh*tastic game. Sabathia pitched six innings but gave up seven runs on nine hits – including a three run home run to Jacoby Ellsbury in the fourth inning who had a career high six RBI. Sabathia struck out six and walked one batter.

His opponent John Lackey who had been sh*tty most of the season has been heating up of late. He also pitched six innings but only gave up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Carl Crawford who had a sh*tty start to the season has picked things up of late – or just against the Yankees – and finished today 4-4 with double and one RBI.

For the Yankees, Eric Chavez who has sh*tty luck when it comes to injuries was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Francisco Cervelli who is usually just a sh*tty player was actually 3 for 4 on the day. I jokingly predicted Cervelli’s performance on Twitter earlier today – although I said he’d have an RBI double and he only had a regular ol’ double. So boo to him. Just kidding.

Now the Yankees are back to being tied for first place and have the daunting task of facing Josh Beckett tomorrow.

Say it with me, “Oh sh*t.”

Flickr Image by you get the picture

It was a typical Yankees-Red Sox contest. Close score, stressful final innings and it took forever … hey wait … it was only 3 and 1/2 hours? That’s not typical at all!

Okay, so I jinxed Bartolo Colon in my series preview and he gave up a walk tonight – sorry Bart. He wasn’t terrible. He gave up two runs on six hits but only lasted four and 2/3 innings. One of those runs came on a David Ortiz solo home run in the bottom of the fourth.

When Colon was taken out of the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Joe Girardi called on Boone Logan to face Adrian Gonzalez. If it were June, Gonazlez definitely hits a double but Logan has been pitching well lately and this time he got the strikeout to end the Red Sox’s scoring threat and keep the game at 2-0.

In the top of the sixth, the Yankees were finally able to strike back and score three runs off Jon Lester. Eduardo Nunez started it off with a walk. Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson followed with back to back singles. Nunez scored on Granderson’s hit. Mark Teixeira walked the bases loaded and the Yankees had something going with no outs. Unfortunately, Robinson Cano grounded into a double play after a long – and tough -at bat against Lester but it was fortunate that Jeter scored from third and that there were only two outs so the Yankees still had a chance to do something. That’s when Nick Swisher – with the #2 album on the Amazon MP3 kid’s chart – stepped up to the plate and hit a double that scored Granderson to make it 3-2.

By the time the inning ended Lester had 108 pitches and Matt Albers would come in to pitch the seventh.

The score would remain 3-2, thanks to the strong performance by the Yankee bullpen. Logan, Cory Wade, Rafael Soriano – yes, that Rafael Soriano, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera combined for 4 1/3 innings of two hit, no run ball. They did not walk a batter and they struck out five.

Soriano’s inning was perfect; no hits, one strikeout and he retired Josh Reddick, Marco Scutaro and Jacoby Ellsbury in order. If he’s healthy, the combo of Soriano/Robertson/Rivera makes the Yankee bullpen pretty freaking scary for opposing teams.

Rivera picked up his 29th save of the season.

It’s only one game and the Red Sox still have a 8-2 advantage so far this season but winning the first game of series is big. Also, beating the opposing team’s ace is also very big and the Yankees were able to do that. Oh and one more thing, this is the Yankees’ eighth win in a row and it puts them into sole possession of first place in the AL East.

So sleep well tonight Yankee fans because we have two more games to stress out about this weekend.

http://youtu.be/UGDRufmoLuY#t=40s

Well this is a very interesting situation.

The Yankees are one game out of first place behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

Boston is behind the Rays five games, tied with Toronto for last place.

Like the Yankees, Boston is currently on a two-game skid: The first a 7-6 loss to Toronto, then a 9-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday. They have lost six of their last nine. On the road, Boston is 6-11. Boston had Thursday off, so perhaps count that in their favor for having a chance to rest and recuperate.

Much like the last time the teams faced each other — when the Red Sox were a young 0-6 team welcoming (welcoming?) the Yankees to Fenway — both are looking to bounce back with a big win. One that will put Boston en route to being over .500. And one that will let the Yankees know they can actually beat their archnemesis from the north.

We saw how that worked out for the BoSox the last time: They took two of three from the Yankees, including a Josh Beckett shutout and a loss for Bartolo Colon, before he snagged the starter role.

So to assume that playing Boston is clearly what the Yankees need? Not exactly the best idea.

Pitching matchups

Via the LoHud Yankees blog

Tonight, 7:05: Yankees RHP Bartolo Colon (2-1, 3.86) vs. Boston RHP Clay Buchholz (3-3, 4.19).

Saturday, 7:10 (FOX): Yankees LHP CC Sabathia (3-2, 2.89) vs. Boston RHP Josh Beckett (2-1, 1.99).

Sunday, 8:05 p.m. (ESPN): Yankees RHP Freddy Garcia (2-2, 2.61) vs. Boston LHP Jon Lester (4-1, 2.96).

Close calls

From Pete Abraham at the Boston Globe’s blog Extra Bases:

In the last 10 years, the teams have played 170 regular-season games. The Yankees have an 87-83 lead in terms of wins, but the Red Sox have scored 23 more runs. So for 170 games, 1,550 or so innings, the difference is 23 runs.

The average score in the last 10 years has been Red Sox 5.47-Yankees 5.33.

Sox it to me

Carl Crawford has hit safely in a season-high consecutive 11 games. … Jacoby Ellsbury went 0 for 4 on Wednesday night, snapping his 19-game streak. … Adrian Gonzalez has homered six times since May 3 and is tied for 10th in the American League with 10 overall. … Big Papi is three homers short of reaching 300.

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For more Red Sox information … and make sure to clear out your browser history afterward. My Google Chrome feels so dirty when I have to search for “Boston” and “Red Sox.” Eek.

Preview from MLB on tonight’s action.

Tonight’s full game notes from MLB for Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.