One Last Time -- Or Is It?: Yanks-Sox Gamer XVI

Here we are. Not quite what it could have been, which is either gladdening or disheartening, depending on your sense of fatalism and likely the side for whom you root in this 106-year rivalry of ours.

The Sox and Yanks have played down to the wire more times than probably any teams in sport. Even when the Yankees were the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, they were the Boston Americans' biggest rival, duking out, sometimes literally, on the field. 1904. 1948. 1949. 1977. 1978. 1979. 2003. 2004. 2005. Each of those years, the Sox and Yanks met later in the season than this with a smaller gap separating them in the standings. In 2003 and 2004, it was in the playoffs, about as late and close as you can get.

This year, there are about 10 games left for each team after these three. This isn't the end of 2005, when the rivalry seemed so feverish as the rivals played for the division in the final series of the season that it was exhausting and, frankly, stopped being fun. Even the most fatalistic Sox fans have to admit that winning just one game here all but seals the division, and even being swept keeps the Sox 2.5 games up. Both these clubs, no matter what, are nearly certain of going to the playoffs. So here's the wager I'd put money on, were I to bet: This series isn't the last time the Sox and Yanks will face each other in 2007.

Tonight, it's Pettitte (2-1, 4.97 in five starts vs. Boston this year) vs. Matsuzaka (2-1, 6.98 in three starts vs. the Yankees).

Comment away!

As an aside, I really enjoyed the Providence Journal's interview with Brandon Moss, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Cash and Bryan Corey. Tonight is each rookie's baptism into The Rivalry. What better place to do it than The Fens?

Joe Torre says Joba Chamberlain is probably not pitching tonight because of his work on Wednesday. That means, based on the ballyhooed Rules (though I thought those had been lifted?), he's only likely to pitch once in this series.

Yankees

1. Johnny Damon, DH
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Jorge Posada, C
6. Hideki Matsui, LF
7. Jason Giambi, 1B
8. Robinson Cano, 2B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF

Red Sox

1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Dustion Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Mike Lowell, 3B
5. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Bobby Kielty, LF
9. Coco Crisp, CF

No Manny, and Hideki Matsui's batting sixth. Otherwise, all is as you'd expect.

Comments

[Ron Newman]

Let's not forget the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS of 1999, while we're listing these meetings.

[IronHorse (yf)]

Torre says Joba is "probably out" for tonight. Cashman says unequivocally that he is out. He's out.

[YF and SF]

We have arrived at the festive Fens. Currently in line awaiting Italian Sausage!

[IronHorse (yf)]

Enjoy YF and SF - I am jealous.

Am listening on radio on late work-night. A beautiful night for baseball.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

YF & SF have a blast guys. Where are your seats?

[YF and SF]

Dice warming, first pitch coming momentarily. Great night for ball, dry, 70 degrees. More later!

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Crisp has been scratched fellas.

[YF and SF]

first base line, Trisk, midway between home/1st. Maybe 30 rows from the field.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Dribbler past the mound, Daisuke can't field it. Base hit Johnny.

[IronHorse (yf)]

Nice seats!!!! Please get a couple snapshots of A-Rod rounding third (JUST KIDDING!!!)

[Rob]

Damn, should have done better fielding that. We can't afford too many of those mistakes.

[LocklandSF]

I lost my ticket. Lost it. Came to work with it, it was in my front shirt pocket all day. Now it's gone. I just spent the last two hours tearing apart my entire office and retracing my steps of the day, nothing.

Unreal.

I'm losing it.

Everyone I know is at the game.

Luckily, I have you guys.

Unreal.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Michael Kay is already driving me nuts 2 batters in.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Ok Youk now we are even. Let's play.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Joe hits and runs with Damon and Jeter, Jeter flies out to Ellsbury.

[LocklandSF]

Just you and me Trisk?

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Does Daisuke always nibble this much, I can't remember. Anyone?

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Looks that way Lockland, sorry about the ticket brother, that sucks!

[Rob]

Dice throwing a lot of pitches this inning.

[Rob]

I think he does John.

[Rob]

Pedroia should not have flipped that to 2nd. It did not appear that he was going to get Damon at 2nd.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Hit and run, Damon safe at 2nd, Abreu on 1st. Alex is up, 2 men on, 1 out.

Should have taken the sure out Pedroia. Error on Lugo.

[Rob]

Lugo's 19th E.

Dice plunks ARod. I believe that he did that the first time he faced ARod in NY.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Bases loaded. Daisuke hits Alex with breaking ball. Definitely not intentional.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Error charged to Lugo is bull crap. That was Pedroia's error if there even was one.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Ground ball to 1st, Youk goes home to Tek. 2 outs.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Odd choice by Youkilis, double play gets you out of the inning. Alex is the lead runner, but Posada is running to 1st. Hey inning is kept alive, nice.

[Pete]

I thought this guy threw 250 pitches in a high school game? Why is his arm "fatigued"? And what the hell happened to the gyroball?

[Pete]

Dusty says "a hitter's delight".

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Daisuke breaks the bat of Matsui, ground ball to Lugo on to Youk, inning over.

[YF and SF]

SF: phew

YF: ugh

[Pete]

Great - 27 pitches in the first inning. Who's down with the Diced Buck tagteam?

[Rob]

Of course my Yank friends started calling as soon as the bases loaded up.

[J-YF]

looks like we're in store for a dicey notsuzaka performance.

[Rob]

All about some Buchholz tonight.

[Josh SF (D1)]

1. Gyroball is mostly a myth. I really hope you're kidding there...

2. He's thrown more pitches already this season then in any he threw in Japan, besides 2001 (or something like that). And his velocity is in the 93-94 range; I've never really bought the fatigue thing, personally.

Good news is that inning could have been over two or three batters earlier, what with Pedroia's ill-advised flip to second and Damon's lucky leadoff basehit. Bad news is he threw 27 pitches in one inning. Next inning will be interesting; the Yanks loaded the bases with an infield single, an error, and a HBP. He wasn't really throwing that badly, and there wasn't any solid contact. Which makes me very curious about what happens next...

[YF and SF]

Trisk:

Youk had no shot at two, too far to cover first, Mats not over quick enough. Tough, risky, good play.

SF

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Ground ball to jeter, error on Giambi. Uggh.

[Rob]

Giambi playing Ole!

[Pete]

Namesakes -

What's the stadium energy like?

[YF and SF]

SF: Gold Glove!

[John - YF (Trisk)]

SF - they only showed the play from one angle, you guys are right there so I will take your word. Sorry Youk, didn't mean to criticize unfairly.

[Josh SF (D1)]

And Giambi doing his part to make sure Jeter doesn't win another undeserved Gold Glove...

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Are you guys (SF and YF) wearing the YFSF T-Shirts?

[Josh SF (D1)]

Trisk: In New England, NESN stil has the game with Orsillo and Remy. They showed an overhead and SF/YF are definitely right. ESPN sucks...

Pettitte is very concerned with Lugo...

[Rob]

Pettite throwing to 1st a lot.

[YF and SF]

Pete:

Good, seems like nervous energy, but enthusiastic. Big ovation on the third out, and on thr Jeter E

[John - YF (Trisk)]

During the replay Singleton brings up how Jeter says this is his least favorite infield...He made a bad throw, it wasn't the dirts fault.

Flyball to Leche, 1 Out. Big Papi at the plate.

[Rob]

Jeter bobbles Papi's grounder. Pedroia safe at 2nd. Papi out at 1st.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Good lord Derek! Ground ball off AP's glove deflected to Jeter, Jeter bobbles gets Ortiz at 1st.

[Jackie (SF)]

Is it just me, or are these Y/S games very often characterized by terrible defense on both sides? Maybe it's rivalry jitters. ;) Or, you know, selective memory. But I can't think of another team we play where both sides look so anxious in the field.

[Rob]

Lowell strikes out swinging at an ugly pitch. Sox strand Pedroia at 2nd.

[Rob]

Seems that way Jackie.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Big strikeout for AP. Lowell chases a breaking ball nearly in the dirt.

Good guys coming to bat. Top 2. 0-0.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Pettitte throws a slider that ends up landing in Lowell's batting box but he swings anyway. Ugly...

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Glad to see you are here Jackie, you were the Yankees good luck charm last time ;)

[sf rod]

so here's my delima, YES HD vs. ESPN HD vs. NESN NO-DEF. i've opted for the YES broadcast thus far, but can no longer take it.

[LocklandSF]

SF YF, As you know, I had a ticket and lost it today. It's nice to have you guys there. I'm still really pissed.

[Paul SF]

I thought Matsuzaka actually had a good inning there. Definitely had to get an extra out -- either Lugo staying in the play or pedroia just throwing to first. Still, the HBP to A-Rod and the 3-0 to Matsui are troublesome. Glad he got out of it.

Really thought Lowell was gonna do something there.

I'm commenting in between innings, as the office TV is too far from my desk...

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Walk issued to Giambi.

[Rob]

Giambi walks to leadoff.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Right now, Giambi's the worst hitter in that lineup. Something like 3 for his last 35 or something like that. And Matsuzaka pitches him like he's Barry Bonds. Ugh.

[Jackie (SF)]

LOL, Trisk... I didn't post at all in one of the games and the Sox lost anyway, so I determined it wasn't my being here that was the problem. But it was important to have a negative control in that little experiment. :)

[LocklandSF]

RING HIM UP!!!!!

[Rob]

Cano called out on a check swing. Looked like the right call.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Nice splitter to get Cano. Why is he complaining? That couldn't be an easier call for the umpire...

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Cano takes half a hack at a breaking ball in the dirt. 1 out. Leche is up.

[SF]

posting a pic up top from our seats momentarily, the photo actually makes it look further away than we are.

[Pete]

Sutcliff with good point on Haladay = CY; He has to pitch against the Sox AND Yanks and still shows great numbers. The #1 and #5 offenses in baseball.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

It's no wonder he throws so many pitches, nibble, nibble, nibble...The infielders need to bring a book out there with them.

Fly ball to Lugo. 2 away.

[Josh SF (D1)]

They keep saying that most of Daisuke's troubles are related to pitch selection. But it looks to me that he just isn't as accurate with most of his offspeed stuff as he used to be...that said, I do think selection is part of it. Which makes me wonder what role Varitek has in all this.

[Rob]

Damon rung up looking to end the inning.

[Paul SF]

Much better-looking inning from Dice there. Big props to Robi cano who has yet to see a pitch he hasn't thought he could hit a home run on.

[BostonRAW]

Watch the damn game!

Dice got da 'shit' tonight

[Pete]

Exactly Josh. He's all over with everything. There isn't a pitch where he's completely hitting his spot. He's burning his pitches - 44 - but maybe he's finding himself?

[sf rod]

d1- you're a little tense tonite. you can tell the players are wound tight tonite too. sit back, this is going to be a fun game.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Josh, I remember the game he pitched against King Felix where he looked lights out and he was pitching backwards, like he is tonight. Difference is he was getting those breaking balls and offspeed stuff over for strikes. If he is going to work this way, he must throw early strikes. Nearly 50 pitches through 2 innings helps nobody.

[Jackie (SF)]

That last pitch to Damon looked great to me. When he's got his stuff, he's got good stuff.

[LocklandSF]

"But it looks to me that he just isn't as accurate with most of his offspeed stuff as he used to be"

BINGO! That's the ball issue, I think the different ball is killing him more than other Nippon pitchers to come over.

[Paul SF]

Yeah, he's definitely not all there, but this inning his breaking stuff looked a lot better than last inning, and last inning looked a lot better than the last time he faced the Yankees.

That curve/change/splitter/whatever it was that Damon laid off was very good.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

I don't think his "Stuff" is the issue. The issue is he has nearly 50 pitches through 2 innings AND he is constantly working deep counts. Tough to keep that up for 200 innings.

[Rob]

Youk with the leadoff single.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Base hit by Paul O'Neill, I mean Youk, sorry.

[BostonRAW]

The Yanks are off balance. He's doing fine.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Heh, I'm not tense...I don't think. That was just an observation; I'm wondering why most in the media have attributed A: Fatigue, and B: Pitch selection to his problems, when it looks like a lack of command is at least a big part of it. That's all...

That;s what Youk was doing when he was going good earlier this year, slapping everything on the outer half of the plate into Right-center field. Would love for him to get that swing going again down the stretch...

Drew's been hot. But he looks overmatched against Pettitte...

[Rob]

Drew swinging away on the 1st pitch.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Yeah good thing he will be out of the game by the 5th inning.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Ahh, that should have said "attributed his problems to A: etc. etc." What I said didn't make much sense...

[Rob]

Drew looked super lost that AB.

[John - YF (Trisk)]

That doesn't sound like the standing ovation Tek asked for. Drew strikes out swinging. 1 Out.

[sf rod]

dusty doesn't hold his booze well.

[BostonRAW]

Tek is going to launch one. I feel it.

[Jackie (SF)]

I don't know if it's the same this late in the season, but I definitely noticed that Matsuzaka has better command of his pitches toward the end of outings sometimes... throwing better in 90-110 pitch territory than in 10-20 pitch territory.

I think that's one place where the transition from Japan to the US has been tough, he's used to throwing lots of pitches/working deep counts, which you can't do on a five man rotation and expect to not be dead at the end of the season.

[Jackie (SF)]

Josh - lack of command could be due to fatigue, no?

[Josh SF (D1)]

Does Pettitte always throw his breaking stuff into the dirt? Like is that part of the gameplan? Cuz it seems like there will come a time during the game when the hitters start laying off...

[Rob]

Walks Tek, looks real close on that pitch.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Tek works a nice ab and earns the walk. Twice, possibly, depending on whether you agreed with strike 2.

Bobby Kielty's only job is to hit lefties. He did at first...be real nice for him to bloop a single or something...

[sf rod]

k-zone doesn't hold it's booze well.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Kielty gets a little screwed for strike 2...then a makeup call on strike 3. I guess that evens it out?

[John - YF (Trisk)]

Who is behind the plate tonight? This strike zone is all over the place and tiny, is that possible to be both?