Yankees - Red Sox

Last night Alex Rodriguez became a hero in the Bronx after hitting a walk off 2-run HR in the bottom of the 15th inning. The home run was the first run of the game, giving the Yankees a 2-0 win, the second in a row in this 4 game series and a 4.5 game lead over the Red Sox in the division. The story of the game was not Alex's HR, it was the pitching. A.J. Burnett went for the Yankees and Josh Beckett went for the Red Sox. It was the third time this year that there guys squared off against each other, and unlike the previous outings, both we on fire. Burnett allowed only 1 hit through 7 2/3 innings and struck out 6. Beckett managed 7 scoreless innings himself, and the game went to the bullpens tied 0-0. Both bullpens were masterful and the game continued on into extras. Inning after inning the game wore on and neither team was able to scratch across a run despite some good opportunities. Finally A-rod belted one into the night after 5 hours and 33 minutes of baseball to end the 15 inning sharade. In typical yankee walk off fashion, Burnett pied A-rod in the face to the delight of the home crowd.

This game was a crucial win for the Yankees. The Yankees went into this 4-game series vs Boston ahead 2.5 games in the standings, but 0-8 against Boston on the season. This can be looked at two ways. The first is the obvious way, wow the Yankees cannot beat the Red Sox this year and that is a problem if they intend to make it anywhere this year. The other interesting thing to look at is, the Yankees are somehow still in first going into this series despite the 0-8 record vs Boston, meaning they must be doing significantly better vs the rest of the league than Boston, which means if they can find a way to get some wins vs the Red Sox, they will create some separation in the division. That is exactly what is happening. The Yankees took the first game of the series behind some spectacular offense, which might have ended John Smoltz's career. Smoltz was signed in the offseason by Boston and missed the first 2 months coming back from surgery. He had been struggling all year and on Thursday night gave up 8 earned runs in only 4 innings. Following the start the Red Sox designated Smoltz for assignment and it is unlikely another team will try to sign him. Back to the Yankees, after winning on Thursday they showed that they could finally beat Boston and got the monkey off their backs. Last night was a great hard fought win which continues to be a staple of this Yankee team, late inning drama. This Yankee team is finding ways to win games in all sorts of ways and as a fan you never lose hope and you never count this team out. 15 inning of scoreless pitching is a remarkable feat and shows the Yankees starting pitching and bullpen are finally getting straightened out.

Before this series began there were talks of the Yankees taking 3/4 or possibly sweeping, becuase this is a different New York team and a different Boston team as well. The Yankee tea that went 0-8 against Boston was missing Alex Rodriguez, had a shaky bullpen, and had unreliable starting pitching. As of today the Yankees have the best record in baseball including fantastic 1-4 starters, a great pen, and the best offense in baseball. Not to mention the addition of Teixeira which brings increased defense all around. The Red Sox right now are without Jason Bay, Dice-k, and Wakefield. Their starting pitching although deep, is struggling mightily. Their bullpen is as good as ever and proved so last night, but the offense is sluggish. Their 5-9 hitters last night all had batting averages under 250. Ortiz, Drew, Varitek, Reddick, and Green/Woodward. The Yankees are so far taking advantage of being the hotter team and should continue that today at 4 with CC on the hill. The Yankees are trying to prove they aren't just the hotter team, but the better team.