Yankees vs Red Sox (9/14-9/16)

Game 1: The Red Sox lost in disheartening fashion on Friday night to the New York Yankees. The club went into the 8th inning with a 7-2 lead before Hideki Okajima allowed back-to-back homers followed by back-to-back hits. Papelbon came in to relieve him and gave up 3 more hits and 4 more runs (2 credited to Okajima). Before the inning was over, the Yankees had an 8-7 lead and a pretty good start by Daisuke Matsuzaka was wasted.

The Red Sox failed to get much going in the 8th or the 9th inning as Luis Vizcaino and Mariano Rivera finished it off for the Yankees giving them some hope of winning the division.

Game 2: The Red Sox rebounded in a big way on Saturday afternoon against the Yankees with a 10-1 win. Jacoby Ellsbury had 2 hits and 3 RBIs as Mike Lowell and David Ortiz chipped in 2 RBIs apiece.

Josh Beckett started the game for the Red Sox and went 7 innings, allowing only 3 hits and 1 earned run. Chien-Ming Wang started the game for the Yankees and kept them close until the 6th inning when the Boston offense finally exploded.

Game 3: The Red Sox and the Yankees played another tight game on Sunday night. Boston had an early 1-0 lead but the Yankees battled back with a solo homerun by Robinson Cano. The game stayed tied until the 8th inning when Derek Jeter connected for a 3-run homer against Curt Schilling who pitched admirably until that point. Schilling ended up with 7.2 IP and 4 ER.

The Red Sox answered in the 8th with a solo homer from Mike Lowell and they scored again in the 9th to make it a one run game. They managed to load the bases against Mariano Rivera and bring David Ortiz to the plate. Unfortunately for Boston, Ortiz popped out to shortstop and the Yankees pulled to within 4.5 games of the division.

On Deck: The Red Sox will begin a 3-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. Tim Wakefield will face Dustin McGowan in the opener.