Yankees vs Red Sox (6/1-6/3)

Game 1: Tim Wakefield came out of the gate looking very strong and threw nothing but strikes in his first inning of work. Wakefield then began to struggle in the 2nd inning and allowed 3 runs. The Red Sox were eventually able to battle back in the bottom of the 3rd, but in the top of the 4th, the Yankees tacked on 6 runs to take a 9-3 lead.

Wakefield finished with 3.2 IP, 8 ER, and 6 BB. He also hit a batter. Dustin Pedroia continued his hot streak as he went 3/4. Manny Ramirez was 4/5 and David Ortiz recorded 3 hits.

The Red Sox entered the bottom of the 9th inning with a 6-run lead and began to battle back. They were able to score 2 runs before the final out was recorded. The final score was 9-5. With the win, the Yankees move to within 12.5 games of 1st place in the AL East. Boston has lost 2 straight games for the first time since April.

Game 2: Saturday's game was a back and forth affair and the New York Yankees ended up blowing 3 different leads before the game was over.

The Yankees went ahead 4-3 in the top of the 6th inning on a homerun from Jorge Posada. Posada would be the last batter that Schilling faced, but the Javier Lopez surrendered another run to give the Yankees a 2-run advantage. In the bottom of the 6th, Mike Lowell led off with a solo shot and Jason Varitek followed it up with a solo shot of his own to tie the game.

The Yankees then took a 6-5 lead on a solo homer by Derek Jeter, but the lead was again short lived. The Red Sox came roaring back in the bottom half of that inning and scored 5 runs thanks to shoddy defense by the Yankees.

Okajima and Papelbon closed out the game with scoreless innings and the Red Sox took a 13.5 game lead on the Yankees.

Game 3: Josh Beckett pitched very well on Sunday evening despite what the box score may look like. Beckett left with a 5-4 lead thanks to a 5-run 5th inning. The Red Sox held the 1-run lead, but failed to extend it despite having chances to do so. Finally, in the 8th inning, the Red Sox bullpen cracked and the Yankees were able to tie the game. In the 9th inning, Jonathan Papelbon gave up a homerun to Alex Rodriguez, which turned out to be the game winner.

Dustin Pedroia collected 2 more hits, as did Manny Ramirez but their efforts were not enough to lead the Red Sox to victory. The loss brings the Yankees to within 12.5 games of the AL East division lead.

On Deck: The Red Sox begin a 3-game set with the Oakland Athletics on Monday night. The first game begins at 10:05 PM EST. The Red Sox will be faced with a tough pitching matchup on Monday night when Julian Tavarez takes the hill against one of the AL's best, Dan Haren.