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FINAL: Yankees 8, Red Sox 7

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon have been the kingpins in the bullpen for the Boston Red Sox this season.

Anytime that door swung open in the late innings of a game, it was a given the pair of relievers would simply slam it shut in any situation.

But at a time when they needed that success to continue, Okajima and Papelbon imploded in one catastrophic inning, allowing six runs to score before a single out was recorded in the eighth as the Yankees rallied from a 7-2 deficit and posted an 8-7 victory Friday night at Fenway Park.

The game last four hours and 43 minutes.

The Red Sox took a 7-2 lead into the eighth, but the Yankees scored six, starting with back-to-back solo home runs by Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano off Okajima.

The Japanese left-hander surrendered four runs on three hits in one-third of an inning, while Papelbon gave up two runs on three hits in that eighth inning as New York gained an 8-7 advantage.

For Papelbon, he entered the game having retired 18 of the last 19 batters he’s faced in his last six appearances, but New York got to him as it snapped the right-hander's 16 2/3 innings scoreless streak.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments 2

Photo: Red Sox score first at Fenway

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Jacoby Ellsbury gets the Red Sox on the board with an RBI single off Andy Pettitte in the second inning tonight at Fenway.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 9:18 PM | Permalink

Crisp Scratched; Ellsbury Starting

About 40 minutes before the scheduled first pitch is was announced that Boston center fielder Coco Crisp has beenscratched from the starting lineup tonight. He is suffering from soreness in his left hip.

Crisp is being replaced by Jacoby Ellsbury, who is batting ninth.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 6:27 PM | Permalink

Clubhouse confidential from New York

New York manager Joe Torre just met with the media and had more than a few thoughts on this series.

First and foremost he said he has not been given a pregame warning from the umpires due to the events that occurred in New York that last time these two teams met.

"Is it necessary?" asked Torre. "I would say no."

Torre added: "These two teams have mutual respect for each other; fans have a different outlook on it, obviously. The energy level will be where it usually is.”

The Yankees are quite pleased with the fact Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez will likely miss the entire series due to a strained oblique.

“I like Manny and I had him on a number of All-Star teams, but I’m not going to miss him in the lineup,” said Torre. Having Ramirez and David Ortiz hitting back-to-back in the order “that 1-2 punch is as good as there is in the game.”

Of course Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain will gain a lot of attention during this series for throwing at the Sox' Kevin Youkilis the last time these teams met. The rookie pitcher said he's ready for the fan reaction.

“I’m interested every where I go,” he said. “This place isn’t going to be any different. You need to expect everything.”

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:46 PM | Permalink

Pregame Notes, Sox-Yanks, Sept. 14

-- Brendan Donnelly, who had Tommy John surgery last month, was back in the Sox' clubhouse today. He'll be here through the weekend and will return for the final regular-season homestand and for Boston's playoff run.

"I'm Superfan. I was going stir-crazy at home. Hopefully I can hang out here for the next six weeks or so," said Donnelly, who hopes to be able to return to a big-league mound by the middle of next year.

-- Jacoby Ellsbury's right wrist discomfort doesn't seem serious. He is not in the starting , but that's a function of the fact New York is starting a left-hander, Andy Pettitte. So Bobby Kielty, a switch hitter, is starting in left field instead of Ellsbury.

-- Matt Clement threw a simulated game.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:47 PM | Permalink

Renewing Hostilities?

When last these two rivals met, Yankee rookie right-hander Joba Chamberlain scaled two blazing fastballs behind the head of the Sox' Kevin Youkilis in the ninth inning on Aug. 30 in a game New York had well in hand.

Chamberlain was tossed from the game and subsequently suspended. The Sox were irate after the game.

But Boston manager Terry Francona said this afternoon he hadn't given any thought to whether the hostilities would carry over to this series, nor, he said, did he think about whether the umpiring crew would talk to each team in advance of tonight's game to defuse any hard feelings that might be lingering.

"I think you get aggravated at the time but then you move on and play ball," said Francona. "I think we're better at (doing) that than (the media)."

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:41 PM | Permalink

Manny's Not Ready Yet

Even though Manny Ramirez had taken batting practice two straight days, and even though he hit several balls either out of the park or off the wall, he is not yet ready to return to game action, said manager Terry Francona a few minutes ago during his daily press briefing.

Francona said that the Sox slugging left fielder, who has been out of the starting lineup since Aug. 29 because of a strained oblique, could be ready "maybe by the beginning of the week. That's somewhat realistic, but we just don't know."'

"He's doing a good job. He's making a lot of progress. He's working hard. He came in on his off day (Thursday). He hit balls so far, (people ask) 'Why is he not playing?' But he's not ready. It's not fair to put a (specific) day (on his return)," said Francona.

Francona then was asked if, while he can't play a full game, he'd be available to pinch hit in the series.

"You can tell (Yankee manager) Joe (Torre) yes. Tell him he's ready. I'd appreciate it," joked Francona. "But I don't know."

Ramirez stung the ball again in taking batting practice this afternoon with his group -- David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Julio Lugo. He bashed one ball over the Sports Authority sign. It would be nice to have him in the Sox' lineup tonight because he's a .431 career hitter (31 for 72) with 4 homers and 19 RBI against Yankee starter Andy Pettitte.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:33 PM | Permalink

Starting Lineups, Sept. 14

BOSTON

Lugo ss
Pedroia 2b
Ortiz dh
Lowell 3b
Youkilis 1b
Drew rf
Varitek c
Kielty lf
Crisp cf

Matsuzaka p

NEW YORK

Damon dh
Jeter ss
Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
Posada c
Matsui lf
Giambi 1b
Cano 2b
Cabrera cf

Pettitte p

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:30 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Sox-Yanks (the final chapter?)

Click here to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam. The topics: the importance to the Red Sox psyche of showing they can beat New York; the possibility of Manny Ramirez returning this weekend; Daisuke Matsuzaka's chance to show he belongs; the first taste of the rivalry for Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury; and potential retaliation for Joba Chamberlain's pitching escapades last month.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments.

The stakes this weekend for the Red Sox: "From a confidence standpoint it would be good for them to reverse this trend of the last couple months, where the Yankees seem to be winning the games when they have to. The Red Sox dominated the season series earlier in the year ... but it has been all Yankees since midseason. And it would certainly behoove the Red Sox to maybe try to win a couple and take back a little back of that momentum in the event that these two teams meet in the ALCS, as a lot people think is going to happen."

Will Manny play? "I think we've all learned not to try to predict Manny Ramirez's behavior, but I'd be surprised, because that kind of injury is something that can linger for a long time. It can be easily aggravated, and there's nothing beyond the momentum that we talked about earlier that makes it important for the Red Sox here to try to win these games. Certainly they'd like to, but to get Manny back on the field, perhaps prematurely, would seem kind of silly."

On Dice-K: "There's some doubt creeping in about how and where he fits into the team's postseason pitching plans, and independent of how big tonight is, or the opponent, I think he has to show that he can turn this around and be counted on when the postseason begins."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:04 PM to McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Friday, September 14

It's a single-story day . . .

HERE WE GO: This is the weekend that will set the path for the final two weeks of the season. When it's over, the Red Sox will either have all but clinched the A.L. East title, still be on this safe-but-not-secure perch atop the division, or in a race for first place. And while the old hands in the Boston clubhouse continue to play the one-game-at-a-time, it's-no-more-important-than-any-other-series card, Joe McDonald reports the youngsters among them are pretty excited to see the Yankees coming to town. (projo.com) The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes points out that the Red Sox have not ''blinked, despite forecasts of folding/spindling/mutilating after they were swept three straight in Yankee Stadium at the end of August'' and enter this series with the same lead -- five games in the loss column -- that they had when they left New York three weeks ago. While the New York Post's George King says the series would mean a lot more ''if the Devil Rays [hadn't flushed] two games in Boston this week,'' the Daily News' Mike Lupica thinks this weekend, and the Sox-Yankees rivalry, still has some juice thanks to the way both teams have stood up to their various challenges this year. And baseball analysts like Rick Sutcliffe and Tim McCarver anticipate a great weekend at Fenway. (New York Post)

THE GREAT WHITE NORTH: The lead is five and not four because the Blue Jays scored a run in the bottom of the ninth and beat the Yankees 2-1 last night, ending New York's winning streak at seven games. (New York Daily News) Thanks to their awful start, games like last night's -- which really fall into the you-can't-win-'em-all category -- have a negative impact on the Yanks' postseason chances. (New York Post) Even so, the Yankees still have the division title in their sights and the New York Post's Mike Vaccaro says they should.

CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION: Daisuke Matsuzaka is being viewed warily by the locals because of his six-week slump, but those who knew him in Japan say games like tonight's -- in which he'll be pitching against Andy Pettitte, with a chance to set the tone for the rest of the weekend (and, indeed, the rest of the regular season) -- are the ones that built his reputation in Japan. (Boston Herald) But at the bottom of a Touching All The Bases blog entry that deals mostly with Bill Belichick and the Patriots, Chad Finn has ''a feeling we'll be seeing more of Kyle Snyder or Julian Tavarez tonight than we will Dice-K.''

IT'S DIFFERENT NOW: All season long, it was thought the Red Sox had the edge in starting pitching over the Yankees. But the New York Post's Joel Sherman doesn't think that's true anymore.

OFF-DAY CHAT: Curt Schilling had all but abandoned his 38pitches.com blog, so it was a surprise -- and a delight -- to get a long posting yesterday. He talks briefly about the upcoming series, but also gives his personal postseason awards, tells us about his fantasy football battle with Jon Meterperil of WEEI, and explains why he's no longer breaking down his performances on the blog after every game: ''I am changing just about everything I do, mentally and physically, to prepare and perform. A lot of it is new to me and a lot of it is and will be things that I am not comfortable putting out there.''

'IT NEVER HAPPENED': Joba Chamberlain says he lives in the present, and therefore the beanball incident with Kevin Youkilis last month -- in which he was ejected and suspended for throwing two pitches at Youkilis' head in the ninth inning of the series finale -- ''didn't happen to me. It's over with.'' (New York Daily News) Call me crazy, but I have a feeling the Fenway faithful will stir his memory of it this weekend. (Boston Herald)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:18 AM | Permalink