Yankees vs Red Sox (4/27-4/29)

Game 1: Daisuke Matsuzaka was pretty good on Friday night with exception of one rough inning as he picked up his 2nd consecutive win against the New York Yankees. Dice-K finished with 6 IP, 4 ER, and 7 K. He threw 117 pitches. The Yankees countered with Andy Pettitte who was touched up for 5 runs in 4.2 IP.

The Red Sox offense received big contributions from Julio Lugo, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Coco Crisp. The game was close early on, but the Red Sox broke it open in the later stages of the game. Timlin, Okajima, and Pineiro pitched scoreless innings in relief. They are now 6.5 games ahead of the Yankees and remain in 1st place in the AL East.

Game 2: Saturday's game started with a hard-hit comebacker by Julio Lugo that struck Yankees starter Jeff Karstens just below the knee. After walking around for awhile, Karstens was allowed to stay in the game and pitch to Youkilis. Youkilis smacked a single into the outfield and Torre removed Karstens. It was discovered later on that Karstens had suffered a broken fibula. Kei Igawa releived Karstens and was very good for the Yankees over 6 innings. Meanwhile, for the Red Sox, Tim Wakefield was average and his control was erratic.

Jorge Posada hit a 2-run homer in the 4th inning off of Wakefield and it put the Yankees up for good. The Red Sox threatened in the 8th inning against Kyle Farnsworth. Coco Crisp came up as the go ahead run and displayed great patience in the at bat. Unfortunately, Bruce Froemming's strike zone expanded and Coco was the victim of some poor calls. Crisp struck out looking to end the inning on a ball that appeared to be a foot out of the strike zone. Crisp was understandably frustrated, as there were two other very questionable strike calls in that at bat. Crisp threw his bat and helmet after striking out and was ejected from the game.

Rivera came in to pitch the 9th and allowed a leadoff single but was able to maintain his composure to close out the game. With the loss, the Red Sox lead on the Yankees diminishes to 5.5 games.

Game 3: Julian Tavarez kept the Red Sox in the game while opposing Chien-Ming Wang. Tavarez went 5+ innings and allowed 3 runs, but left the game with a 4-3 lead. He was relieved by Hideki Okajima who threw 2 scoreless frames and struck out four in the process. Timlin pitched the 8th and allowed a homerun to Jeter, followed by a basehit to Bobby Abreu, but was able to finish the inning thanks to a double play ball off the bat of Alex Rodriguez. Jonathan Papelbon came in to pitch the 9th and allowed a leadoff double to Giambi. Papelbon then struck out Matsui and got Posada to ground out.

The Red Sox benefitted from an early homerun by David Ortiz and went ahead in the 5th when Alex Cora hit a 2-run homerun (his 2nd of the season). The Red Sox added another run on a sac fly hit by Julio Lugo in the 7th and a 2-run homer from Manny Ramirez in the 8th.

The win moves the Red Sox 6.5 games ahead of New York and gives them the best record in the Majors. The Yankees have now lost 8 of 9 games.

On Deck: The Red Sox will have their first off day in awhile on Monday and it will be followed by a 2-game series against Oakland from Fenway Park. Curt Schilling will take on Joe Blanton in the opener. On Thursday, the Red Sox will make up a game against the Seattle Mariners that was rained out on April 12th.