YANKS vs. SOX-13

Game over, the Red Sox win 16-11. You can’t panic if you’re the Yankees, but they need a win tomorrow to stop the bleeding. Thankfully for them the pitching match up of Pettitte vs. Masterson favors the Yankees a little bit. Although what do I know, I said today’s game would be a pitchers duel. Have a great night everybody.

YANKS vs. SOX-12

Add Dave Robertson to the list of terrible pitchers for the Yankees today. The score is now 16-11 heading to the top of the 9th despite the fact that espn.com is currently reporting it as 25-7. This is obviously wrong, but if some web producer just guessed at the score you’d have to give him credit for being pretty close…Papelbon is on now and I’ll wrap this mess up once he gets the final three outs. By the way, espn.com’s score is now 18-4.

YANKS vs. SOX-11

The Yankees bullpen is alarmingly bad, only Phil Coke hasn’t given up a run today out of the Yankees pen. The Sox have added an insurance run in the 8th which could prove crucial as it’s now 13-11 with runners at first and third and one out. If they can stop the bleeding here all it takes is a bloop and a blast to tie the game, but that’s going to be tough against Papelbon and even so, the Yankees bullpen hasn’t shown it can hold a lead, the Red Sox have scored in every inning since the 4th.

YANKS vs. SOX-10

In a game like this getting up to go to the bathroom is risky business. I chose to stay by the TV and watched Mike Lowell hit a 3-run shot. Boston now leads 12-10, need I say more?

YANKS vs. SOX-9

If the Red Sox lose this game the scapegoat is going to be Pedroia. He just made an error on a ground ball to second that gave the Yankees a 10-9 lead in the 7th. This game has been crazy and rest-assured Yankees and Sox enthusiasts. Whoever wins this game will surely be immortalized on YES Network or NESN next week. It seems like every time these teams get together it turns into a classic. Let’s see if the Yankees can hold the lead this time.

YANKS vs. SOX-8

Strange play just happened that gave the Red Sox a one-run lead. With the bases loaded and two out, Phil Coke got Ortiz to fly out to right. All runners tagged on the play but Pedroia was caught at second base. It was a good throw by Nick Swisher to get him there, but Pedroia shouldn’t have tagged in the first place. He was tagged out to end the inning, but because it was not a force play the run counts anyway. Twice in my life I was able to get an umpire to change the score based on that type of play while coaching softball. Remember for your own softball or baseball games that if you don’t cross the plate before the tag play, the run doesn’t count, so run hard when tagging up!

YANKS vs. SOX-7

Was that Terry Francona or Grady Little pulling the strings for the Red Sox? Granted this is the regular season, but that’s even MORE reason to pull Josh Beckett. Instead Tito went with Beckett who couldn’t get an out in the 6th, walking Jeter and giving up a Damon homer to right that tied it at eight. Beckett’s coming out now and Delcarmen has come in. You get the feeling this game is nowhere near over, and I don’t just say that because the game is nearing two and a half hours in length and we’re only in the top of the 6th.

YANKS vs. SOX-6

The Red Sox have showed some good perseverance in this game. After 3 innings the game looked destined to be a Yankee blowout, but now it’s 8-6 Sox after Burnett allowed three more runs in the fifth. What figured to be the best pitchers duel of the series has turned into an offensive slugfest. Remember the scene in the movie “Major League 2” when the Japanese player Tanaka tells Cerrano, “You have no marbles”? Someone may want to quote a line or two in the Yankees dugout, because they are on the verge of getting embarrassed in the first two games of this series.

YANKS vs. SOX-5

We have ourselves a game again. Varitek just hit a grand slam after the Sox had already scored a run. It’s now 6-5 Yankees in the 4th. Baseball is a crazy game. Through the first 3 innings Burnett looked untouchable. Now he’s given up five runs and no matter what he does this will reflect as a poor start.

Before the game got close I wanted to mention something about the Red Sox lineup. Red Sox fans are booing Mark Teixeira every time he comes to the plate, it’s as if “Red Sox Nation” has plenty of experience in turning down $180 million. But my point is that they didn’t get Tex, and if Ortiz continues to struggle the way he has the Red Sox will have some major problems in their lineup. They have some good hitters, but he figures to be their thunder. I’m not sure who will become available in terms of bats come July, but the Sox will need to make a move to sure up their offense if they expect to be around in the end. Unfortunately Bay and Youkilis are tried to prove me wrong last night and Varitek just hit the huge grand slam. Still, I stand by my theorem.

YANKS vs. SOX-4

Two-run homer for Robinson Cano in the 3rd and it’s now 4-0 Yankees. I said it would come down to length and so far the Yankees are dominating that battle, look at the pitch counts of each starter through 3 innings- Beckett-73 pitches; Burnett- 37 pitches.

YANKS vs. SOX-3

Burnett looks good through his first two innings. The big thing for him is his curveball, when it’s on he’s tough and today it appears to be on. They’ll need a solid 7 innings out of him today in order to win. The Yankees today made some roster moves to combat some really debilitating injuries. Brian Bruney, who had been terrific in the early going, went on the DL along with Chien-Ming Wang. Replacing them are Dave Robertson and Mark Melancon to give them a little added depth in the bullpen. The good news, if you can call it that, is that Jose Veras is again available for the Yankees after pitching over 3 innings of relief on Wednesday. He’s no stud, but figures to see some time in the 8th inning now that Bruney is out.

Keeping with the theme of the Yankees pitching staff, you have start wondering about the role of Joba Chamberlain. At this point I can see the wheelhouse of Yankees brass devising a plan for Joba’s return to the pen…Phil Hughes will replace Wang in the rotation for now. If he pitches well enough to merit consideration for a spot, Wang comes off the hip injury back in form, and the 8th inning role is unsettled either by Bruney’s injury or ineffectiveness that could pave the road for Joba’s return. At the very least…let the speculation begin…again.

YANKS vs. SOX-2

Excellent start for the Yankees. After disappearing with runners in scoring position last night they got two RBI singles from Swisher and Posada and now lead 2-0. Beckett was all over the place throwing 36 pitches, only 17 for strikes. If he doesn’t find the strike zone this might be a short start Beckett…good luck Sox bullpen.

YANKS vs. SOX

Good afternoon sports fans! We’re just about ready to get underway for game 2 of the series between the Yankees and the Red Sox. This figures to be the best pitching match up of the series as a couple former Florida Marlins go head-to-head in A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett. Both teams will be relying on their starters to go deep into the game after last night’s extra-innings affair strained the bullpens. Stay tuned!

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Hey guys, I'll be blogging throughout game 2 of the Yankees vs. Red Sox series this weekend starting at 4 p.m. Follow my posts and send me some comments during the game and I'll get back to them!