Daily Archives: July 6, 2008

Seven batters were hit in Saturday’s game and yet there was no beef between the Yankees and Red Sox.  My, how times have changed.  But things got lively on Sunday night–Kevin Youkilis slid hard into home, brushing against Joba Chamberlain’s leg in the fifth inning, and Chamberlain threw a pitch behind The Greek God of Walks in the sixth before walking him on a 3-2 pitch.   Joba vs Youk would be some Beffy Battle Royale but it’ll have to wait for another day.  The loudest fight of the night came when Joe Girardi got himself run for arguing balls and strikes with home plate ump, Laz Diaz.  But the Yanks had the biggest fight in them, as they rallied and won in extra innings, 5-4. 

Chamberlain pitched well in the early going, working quickly and efficiently through the first four innings.  But he allowed the first three runners to reach base in the fifth, with Youkilis scoring on a wild pitch.  Chamberlain regrouped, struck out the next two batters and then shook Jose Molina off before throwing a 3-2 pitch to Jacoby Ellsbury.  Molina went out to talk to Chamberlain who proceeded to walk Ellsbury on a check swing.  Chamberlain threw a slider; apparently, Molina wanted a fastball.  Dustin Pedroia was next and he fisted an inside fastball into right field for a two-run single.  Chamberlain gave up three runs on four hits, he walked four and struck out five in six innings. 

Alex Rodriguez, front page tabloid fodder all weekend, launched a knuckle ball into the left field seats to lead off the second inning, his 18th homer of the year and 536th of his career, tying him with Mickey Mantle on the all-time list.  It would be the last hit the Yankees would collect until the sixth.  Derek Jeter singled home a run before that inning was out, then helped give one right back in the top of the seventh as a throwing error led to a run.

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We’ve got a nice pitching match-up for the Sunday Night finale of this four-game series, as Joba Chamberlain goes against the old knuckler, Tim Wakefield. Never know what you are going to get from Wake, but we’ve seen him hand it to the Yanks on more than one occasion. Chamberlain is coming off a poor start against the Rangers where he was wild and threw a ton of pitches and was gone after four innings. Tonight is his biggest start yet. A huge game for the Yankees to keep pace–yes, the Rays won again this afternoon.

The All Star rosters were announced this afternoon and neither Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi made the team. I’m sure that’ll give Joe Morgan something to talk about tonight.

Oy.

Let’s hope the bats are boomin’ so it ain’t too painful and

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

…Something great can happen and that’s why we watch sports.

Today at Wimbledon, something great did happen. Rafael Nadal, the Red Sox to Roger Federer’s Yankees, defeated the five-time defending champ in what could possibly be the greatest finals match of all time, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7. John MacEnroe sure thought it was. Nadal and Federer both showed great courage and determination, and the level of play was brilliant, the shot-making suburb, the drama palpable.

It reminded me of something Carlton Fisk once told Tom Boswell about being on deck with Yaz up in the ninth at the end of the playoff game of ’78 between the Yanks and Sox:

I was in the on-deck circle, just like I was when Yaz flew out to end the ’75 Series. You know, they should have stopped the game right then and said, ‘Okay, that’s it. The season is over. You’re both world champions. We can’t decide between you, and neither of you should have to lose.’

Nadal and Federer elevated the game today. Remarkable.

Here’s a quick look at Mike Mussina’s greatest efforts against the Red Sox.

May 24, 2001

May 30, 2001

Sep 2, 2001

Sep 8, 2001

June 1, 2002

July 19, 2002

Aug 28, 2002

July 7, 2003

Sep 19, 2004

July 5, 2008

And of course, the biggest relief outing of Moose’s career came against Boston.

The Yankees and Red Sox combined to put 23 men on base yesterday afternoon, but just three of them came around to score as the Yankees pulled out a slim 2-1 victory.

The Sox set the tone in the top of the first inning. With one out, Dustin Pedroia lined a ball down the left field line that kicked out to left fielder Brett Gardner. Pedroia attempted to stretch the hit into a double, but was nailed at second base by a perfect throw from Gardner. Two pitches later, J.D. Drew doubled, but with Pedroia already in the dugout, Boston had nothing to show for their back-to-back hits. Yankee starter Mike Mussina then moved Drew to third on a wild pitch and lost control of a 3-2 changeup which slipped behind Manny Ramirez and hit him in the rump to put runners on the corners, but rallied to strike out Mike Lowell to strand both runners.

The Yankees took an early lead against Boston’s rookie starter Justin Masterson in the bottom of the second on a four-pitch walk to Jason Giambi and two-out singles by Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, but Jose Molina grounded out to strand two more runners. An inning later, they loaded the bases with one out when Derek Jeter singled, Bobby Abreu walked, and Alex Rodriguez was hit on the right thigh by a pitch, but Giambi struck out and Wilson Betemit grounded out to strand all three.

That third inning featured two key defensive plays by the Red Sox’s infield. With Brett Gardner leading off the inning, third baseman Mike Lowell was playing several steps in on the grass to protect against the bunt. When Gardner instead hit a would-be double down the third base line, Lowell made a great diving stop to his right to retire the rookie. Betemit’s inning-ending groundout was also hit hard and required second baseman Dustin Pedroia to range far to his left and make a spinning catch and throw to kill the Yankee rally.

Hit batsmen, sharp defensive plays, and runners left on base would continue to be the order of the day.

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