Mark Texiera hit a single. So did Robinson Cano. And down by a single run with a two outs and a 3-2 count, the Philadelphia Phillies turned Yankees savior Raul Ibanez stepped into the batters box. One devastatingly gutsy slider from Phil Coke later, the Yankees officially have their back against the wall.

The question now is simple – can the 2012 Yankees match what only the 2004 Red Sox have managed to do in the history of baseball – come back from down 0-3 in the ALCS? I doubt it, but I wouldn’t rule them out just yet. CC Sabathia will be taking the mound in game 4, and the Yankees bats just have to come alive at some point. If they manage to in time, watch out.

Last night’s game really brought three issues to light for me. The first is the issue of the Yankees’ team chemistry. New York fans have been so quick to point out the Red Sox flawed chemistry, that perhaps they haven’t spent enough time reflecting on their own team’s lack thereof. There’s no question that the Yankees clubhouse doesn’t even begin to resemble the catastrophe that was the Red Sox this past season – hell, they made the playoffs. But I think it’s been apparent for a long time now that while stockpiling loads of talent can win you a championship on occasion, it’s incredibly tough to do it without the right chemistry in the dugout and locker room. Do you think the Yankees have the chemistry that the 2004 Red Sox had? Far from it. How about the Tigers of this season? No way. If you think the Yankees are playing for each other and not simply for those fat paychecks the only thing smoking more than you is Justin Verlander’s right shoulder.

Which brings me nicely to the subject of Justin Verlander, whose 132 pitch performance last night was yet another gem. Verlander’s last two seasons represent undoubtedly the most dominating pitching we’ve seen since Pedro Martinez decided to light up the league from 1997-2003. I can rest somewhat assured knowing that if the Yankees do push this series to seven games, it will be Verlander taking the mound.

All of this makes me think back to March, when I wrote my 2012 Red Sox season preview and mused on the competitive landscape of the AL. I wrote, “The Yankees will be good. The Tigers will be awesome.” And after a season in which I heard so much about the Yankees playing so well despite so many injuries, coupled with the Tigers’ relatively lackluster performance in the regular season, this sentiment seems to be ringing true at last. Detroit is now 9-3 against the Yankees in their last 12 meetings.

At the end of the day it’s tough to match up against a team with the most dominant pitcher in baseball, a triple crown winner, and Prince Fielder thrown in, just for good measure. I had been rooting for the Nats to win it all, but I’m now solidly in camp Detroit.

In a season in which I’ve been to more Red Sox games than any other, last night I officially lay the 2012 Red Sox to rest. Sure, at 15.5 games back in the AL East the Red Sox have been over and done with for some time now. Bet despite my grief, I needed closure. It felt very much like a funeral as I walked through the Yawkey Way entrance.

I can vividly remember buying a ticket package last January. I specifically chose the package that I did because it included a Yankees vs Red Sox game on September 11th – a late season game bound to have playoff implications. Instead I watched a decimated Red Sox team trying their best to play spoiler. As my girlfriend scanned the starting line-up on the centerfield scoreboard, unprovoked she stated, “I only recognize two names up there.” Whether you’re a Red Sox fan or not, almost everyone in Boston (except Mayor Menino) has gotten used to rattling off names like Papelbon, Big Papi, Beckett, A-Gone, Youk, and Pedroia. Instead last night’s lineup was filled with Loney, Lavarnway, Kalish, and Ciriaco. Only the names of Ellsbury and Pedroia resonated with the casual fan.

The game itself was bittersweet, for several reasons. Sweet in the sense that Jacoby Ellsbury had a walk-off single, one which would drop the Yankees back into a tie for the AL East lead with the Orioles. As much as I want to root hard for the Yankees to somehow fade and miss the playoffs, it just ain’t happening – the rest of their schedule is brutally easy and mostly at home. It was also sweet to see Dustin Pedroia hit a home run to tie the game after the Sox found themselves down 3-2. Pedroia and Ellsbury absolutely have to stay – I just hope that Ellsbury wants to, and Scott Boras doesn’t play spoiler.

Fenway was stuffed to the max, which frankly was surprising to me. I guess the Fenway faithful will always get up for Red Sox vs Yankees, regardless of how poorly the hometown team is playing. I managed to find seats in the second row directly behind the Sox dugout, and it was more of the same – sloshed 60-year-old businessmen sitting in front of us, similarly sloshed 22-year-old college kids from Boston and Philadelphia sitting behind us and heckling Yankees first baseman Nick Swisher to no end. Swisher, to his credit, was a good sport and went back and forth with people in the stands on several occasions. He clearly has some “idiot” in him, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’ll end up in Boston next season. On the Red Sox side Jacoby Ellsbury was one of the few to acknowledge the fans as he ran into the dugout each inning.

While the house was packed and the game was tight, there’s no doubt that the Red Sox lineup was missing many of the old personalities that’s made this rivalry great in recent years. The electricity that you’d expect in any Yankees vs Red Sox series, let alone a September series, just wasn’t there. Bobby Valentine seemed to trudge out to the mound as he pulled Lester from the game, and it felt very much like the good times had passed the team by.

Realistically, it might take 2 or 3 seasons for the Red Sox to truly emerge as a contender once again. And while there’s no doubt that Red Sox fans will continue to head to Fenway in droves, it won’t truly be the Fenway I’ve come to love until the electricity is back in the air.

For now we have the Patriots – New England is now solely focused on you, Mr. Brady. Go get ‘em.

By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, NY

When Derek Jeter hit his 3000 hit last summer Mr. HowiGit tried to play devil’s advocate by saying that Jeter’s 3000th hit was “…at the end of the day a celebration of … a singles hitter with longetivity.”  Yankee fans have also been criticized for treating Jeter like a “God” even if none of us have ever said that he is. However this past weekend Jeter hit his 250^th career home run against the 4 games under .500, 3^rd highest payroll in baseball, 4^th place in the AL East side show that is the Boston Red Sox. By doing this Jeter put himself in elite company, very elite, as in only one other player has done it elite. That player is baseball “God” Willie Mays. With Jeter’s 250 home runs, only Jeter and Mays have hit 250 home runs, 3,000 hits, stolen 300 bases, and had 1,200 RBI. Not bad for a “singles hitter.”

This past weekend I attended my first Red Sox game of the season, a 13-5 route of the Rays. We’re now 11 whole games into the 2012 baseball season – a whopping 6.79% of the regular season is complete. While it’s still far to early to draw any significant conclusions (hell the Orioles are leading the AL East at the moment), it’s not too early to have learned a bit about who this team is. Here are my five early takeaways from this young season.

1) Papi’s still got it – Hell with Stella, I say. David Ortiz never needed to get his groove back, yet it seems as though every year he ends up defending himself against the “he’s washed up and old” argument. Ortiz is off to a torrid start this year – through the first three games against the Rays this weekend, Ortiz was 9-13 with 1 home run, 3 doubles, and 8 RBIs. He’s hitting .395 on the season, and I think it’s fair to say he appreciated Bobby Valentine immediately flying down to the D.R. when he became manager and letting him know that he was wanted and was a priority. Better yet, Ortiz is hitting lefties this year – historically his weakness. In his own words, “they throw the ball over the plate just like righties do.”

2) Felix Doubront’s got some filth – Sure, it’s not like Felix Doubront has pitched a great game yet. But having watched both of Doubront’s starts, this guy has a serious opportunity the help the Sox this year. He’s lefty, has fantastic accuracy with a 92-94 mph fastball, and his curveball in particular has been impressive to me. I’m not saying we have an ace in the making – far from it – but I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen out of Doubront.

3) Bobby Valentine is a clown – We’ve all known this in the back of our minds, and I know I’ve been calling for patience. No, Valentine hasn’t had a fair shake yet and if the Sox go on to do anything good this year we’ll hear all about how people wrote him off so early. Regardless, I think this guy is an absolute clown. I saw it in person on Saturday for the first time as Valentine charged out onto the field and caused a stink (and interruption) about a phantom balk that no one else saw. He then made comments that were far to easy to misconstrue about Kevin Youkilis of all people, which were bizarre to the extent that Dustin Pedroia had to shut him up. “Maybe those tactics work in Japan, but not here,” was Pedroia’s sentiment. “He’ll learn.” When you are hearing that from Pedroia of all people, you know you’ve got a problem.

4) Your move, Benny boy – While the Red Sox still have a plethora of talented players, an injury to a starting pitcher could really derail the season. If the Sox are serious about contending this year, they’ll need to add another pitcher – and a good one at that. Whether it’s Roy Oswalt or somebody else, Cherington will need to make a move. Seize the day Ben.

5) The AL is as good as advertised –  In what I’ve been calling the most competitive season in the AL that I can remember, I think the teams we all expected to be great will live up to the hype. Sure, the Angels and Red Sox aren’t off to hot starts, but they’ll stick around. The Yankees have been pretty good, the Rays have proven to be better than expected (as they always do), and let’s just say the Rangers pounded the Red Sox 18-3 yesterday. Detroit is far and away the best team at this point and they show no signs of slowing down.

It’s a young season still, and I’m not as optimistic about the Sox as I have been in past years (see 2011). That said, this year is going to be one hell of a fun season to watch unfold. What will the standings look like at the All-Star break?

It has been a pretty exciting week in sports with the Final Four, hockey and basketball’s playoff race heating up, as well as baseball’s official Opening Day. We saw the Red Sox season preview last week so now let’s take a look at the defending AL East Champions, the New York Yankees.

Projected Line Up
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2.   Curtis Granderson, CF
3.   Robinson Cano, 2B
4.   Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5.   Mark Teixeira, 1B
6.   Nick Swisher, RF
7.   Raul Ibanzez/Andruw Jones, DH
8.   Russell Martin, C
9.   Brett Gardener, LF

Projected Starting Pitchers
1. CC Sabbathia, L
2. Hiroki Kuroda, R
3. Ivan Nova, R
4. Michael Pineda, R
5. Freddy Garcia, R
6. Phil Hughes, R
7. Andy Pettitte, L

Bullpen
Mariano Rivera
David Robertson
Rafael Soriano
Boone Logan

Bench
Infielders – Eric Chavez, Eduardo Nunez
Outfielders – Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones,
Catchers – Francisco Cervelli, Austin Romine

Players to watch in the minors
Pitchers – Manuel Banuelos, Dellin Betances
Infield – Romiro Pena
Catcher – Gary Sanchez

Starting Line-Up 
The only change in terms of positions from last year is at DH. Raul Ibanez looks to receive a majority of the at bats at DH with Andruw Jones also seeing some time. These two also represent the outfield depth which is a little concerning because they are both very old and very slow. One other fairly significant change is something seen towards the end of last year of Cano batting third and Teixeira batting fifth. Cano has established himself as the Yankees best position player and hitter so I am in favor of the permanent change. There were not a lot of position battles in spring training this year for the Yankees so hopefully everyone can stay focused and not have to look over their shoulder. If A-Rod can stay healthy (here’s looking at you Ivan Drago’s doctor) the Yankees should challenge for the most potent offense in baseball.

Starting Pitching
There is an old baseball saying that you can never have enough pitching; the Yankees may challenge that this year. Right now the Yankees have 7 players who can start. This is in stark contrast of last year when going into the season they had maybe three. In the span of about an hour in January the Yankees changed that by trading for Michael Pineda, a move I am a big fan of, and signing Hiroki Kuroda, a move I am lukewarm on. Kuroda had a pretty good year last year but he is switching from the NL West to the AL East and is no spring chicken; however he is a proven pitcher that hopefully can have a solid season. I am very high on the Pineda move; I have been a fan of Pineda for a little while now and was ecstatic to hear about the trade. Montero was a pretty big chip to give up, but I do not believe the Yankees will miss his offense all that much. Pineda is a huge, young power pitcher that at the time is very cheap. There are concerns about how he showed up at camp and his decline at the end of last year but I think he will be a stud. He will begin the year with tendinitis in his shoulder but he hopefully will be back soon enough. The fortunate thing about having 7 starters is that if someone gets hurt we will not have to see a guy on the mound that has never pitched in the majors and was playing in Scranton the week before. Who knows how Pettitte will be after taking a year off, but I would much rather see him on the mound than an unknown. I would like to see Phil Hughes moved to the bullpen, somewhere he has had success before but the Yankees want him to be a starter. Regardless of how the rotation shapes out it is nice to have some legit options instead of hope and prayers.

Bullpen
The age-less Mariano Rivera returns again to be the closer, in what he has hinted maybe his last year. Mo has hinted at this before so I am not going to worry about it until I hear either way. It is a nice feeling to not have to worry about your closer and the Yankees have not had to do that since Hansen was making music. The rest of the bullpen is rounded out by David Robertson, who had a great year last year, Rafael Soriano, who missed a lot of time and hopefully can bounce back to his Tampa form, Boone Logan, the lefty specialist, and my hope of Phil Hughes. We probably won’t see Joba or Pedro Feliciano this year, but a bullpen of Robertson, Soriano, Hughes, and anchored by Mo is pretty damn strong.

Season Prediction
The Yankees do not have many question marks going into this season. Yes they are older at some positions but if age is the only real question mark I will take that going in. This past offseason the Yankees identified their weakness, starting pitching, and turned it into a strength. My bold prediction is that the Yankees will win the AL East (I have the Rays in second) and will challenge for the World Series.

By Chris Horne, howiGit Contributing Writer, Wrentham (Foxboroland), MA

Around the All-Star break this year, after it had become clear that David Ortiz was again the Big Papi of olden times, my roommates and I began preliminary talks of what would happen if Ortiz wanted more dough than the Sox brass were willing to dole out in the off-season.  We could only think of two possible outcomes: tears of sadness (if Ortiz signed with another team) and unhinged, furious rage (if Ortiz signed with the Yankees).

By now you’ve heard that Ortiz isn’t all too pleased with the situation in Boston these days.  ”There’s too much drama, man,” Papi said last week regarding the collapse and its aftermath.  “There’s too much drama. I have been thinking about a lot of things. I don’t know if I want to be part of this drama for next year.”  Playing for the Yankees, he said, is “something [he’s] gotta think about.”

Enter unhinged, furious rage.

Look, I know the guy can and should do whatever he wants.  He should play where someone’s willing to pay him and where he can rake everyday.  But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.  And, I didn’t like it.

But now, after a week, with baseball’s talking heads all pretty much agreeing that the Yankees have no real interest in Ortiz, and with Ortiz—sort of—taking back his words yesterday:

“I never said that I would sign with the Yankees. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he said. “They asked me if I would play for the Yankees. I said I would think about it. But I didn’t confirm to nobody that I would play for the Yankees. I’m still a Red Sox, aren’t I?”

I can breathe again.  As a Red Sox fan, with all the shit currently hitting the fan, it’s hard to think about the team in a rational or logical way – but after a week of clouded thoughts about Ortiz’s original words, I’ve come to what I think might actually be some reasonable benefits for the Sox should Ortiz sign with New York.

Work with me:

1. Redirection of Media Attention: Consider Ortiz’s own words: ”There’s too much drama, man.”  Agreed, man.  It would take a bolder person than myself to argue that one.  But couldn’t Ortiz leaving for greener bluer pastures lessen some of the scrutiny over these Sox? Or at least channel that scrutiny elsewhere?  Take the rabid media attention off the chicken eaters and the beer drinkers and move it elsewhere.  Transfer this hatred of Sox back to where it belongs, to hatred of Yanks.  Disloyalty trumps debauchery in my mind.  Hopefully in Dan Shaughnessy’s mind, too.

2. Comparable Bang for Less Bucks:  I’m not the first to point out 23 year-old Ryan Lavarnway’s monster numbers in Portland and Pawtucket last year, but they are worth mentioning over and over again:

116 games, .290 /.376 /.563, 32 homers, 93 RBI, 57 BB

For the sake of comparison – not the tightest comparison, but still – here are Ortiz’s stats from his 1999 season with the Salt Lake Buzz when he was 23 years old:

130 games, .315 / .412 / .590, 30 homers, 110 RBI, 79 BB

These, for whatever it’s worth, are pretty similar numbers.  Lavarnway only had 43 big league plate appearances this year, but his minor league highlight-reel is impressive.  The guy drops lunar bombs and comes with a much cheaper price tag than does Papi, and while it wouldn’t be ideal, I would be fine with him getting the majority of DH at-bats in 2012.

3. Prince: From John Harper of the New York Daily News this summer:

Fielder smiled at the mention of the short right-field porch here, but he wouldn’t go near any talk of potential landing spots for next season, though he did leave open the possibility that he could be happy as just a DH.

“I’m not ruling anything out,” he said, “but as for right now, I like playing first base.”

Now Harper, obviously, is insinuating the Fielder is willing to hit for the Yankees, but why not the Red Sox? If he’s all smiles about a short right-field, Fenway can match that, and the Sox can match any monetary offer, too. For now, this is far-fetched and a pipe dream, but it’s something to keep an eye on, especially with Ben Cherrington trying to make his mark as new GM.

4. Purely aesthetic reasons.  Vertical stripes are slimming, and the chin-strap has seen better days.

All kidding aside, Papi has done one thing since joining the Sox in 2003: produce. Oh, and also, he helped them to two World Series wins. Regardless of whether or not the Sox owe Ortiz a deal after the season he just completed (I can understand both sides of the argument here), they owe the man a great deal of gratitude for how he has competed over the last eight years.  Would I be mad to see him go? Yeah, real mad. But I can see more clearly now, and losing Papi to the Yankees wouldn’t be the end of the world.  That, apparently, will come later in 2012.

While the Yankees finished up the regular season going 15-12 compared to the impressive 7-20 record the Red Sox put together, both teams’ seasons ultimately ended in similar fashion – with their high-powered offenses going silent and their best pitchers faltering in a do or die game.

Just how bad was last night’s 3-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers? God knows New York had countless opportunities. New York went 2-9 with runners in scoring position, including a clutch 0-4 with the bases loaded. A-Rod hit .118 for the series, getting shown up by Mark Texiera’s .167 average. All of the earned runs in last nights game? Charged to either CC Sabathia or Ivan Nova, who were 35-12 combined on the season.

It’s now time for New York to feel the sting of disappointment.

Likewise for the Rays, who lost their series to Texas after punching the Red Sox in the gut and stealing the wild card. I always thought that the Rays had the pitching to win, but knew that they lacked the pop to get past the Yankees, Texas or Detroit. That was not the issue for the Yankees.

While there’s no doubt that the Red Sox are in the midst of a plethora of now well documented issues, the bottom line is the AL East did not produce a complete team this season – a team with serious championship potential. While there’s no doubt that the Red Sox were the biggest disappointment, especially given the expectations, none of these teams could make it past the Division Series. Tampa would play only 6 days longer than Boston, New York only 8. Everybody is now at home golfing – frustrated, disappointed, and with plenty of doubt.

I for one am looking forward to next season. May one team be good enough to make the ALCS.

Mariano Rivera is the best closer in major league baseball history, and he was even before he recorded his record 602nd save yesterday afternoon. He’s also been one of the Yankees I’ve respected the most over the years, and he’s everything you want in a closer – he’s dominant, consistent, and has incredible longetivity. I had intended to write a very favorable article about Rivera until I had a discussion yesterday with some Yankees fans who absolutely refused to acknowledge any blemish on Rivera’s record throughout the course of his career. My intention here is not to discredit Rivera whatsoever, but to show that even Rivera has had some major flaws. Hey, I mean even Tiger Woods lost a major to Y.E. Yang. I think most people would agree that Yankees fans have been calling Rivera the best ever for seemingly a decade. I consider that a bit of a knock on Trevor Hoffman, and I generally think that for as great at Mo has been Yankees fans need to take him off of the he’s an untouchable mountain of perfection pedestal they’ve built him up on.

First off, there’s the matter of #602. Yesterday was a celebration of Mariano’s record, which deals entirely with his regular season outings. Rivera should be celebrated for having more saves than anyone else, absolutely, but it’s not like he’s in a class of his own. Trevor Hoffman recorded 601 saves in 677 opportunities, in contrast with Rivera’s 602 saves in 674 opportunities – any way you cut it those are eerily similar numbers, and saw very few people putting Trevor Hoffman on an untouchable pedestal. But we all know that Mo’s career is defined by the playoffs, where he’s been at his best (see a .71 ERA). That is, however, also where some of his biggest chokes have taken place.

So what’s my point in all this? You can acknowledge the man’s mistakes – no need to avoid them – without tainting his legacy. It’s OK, I promise. It’s sort of like the Michael Jordan missed way more game winning shots than he ever made argument. But in the light of my discussion yesterday, open your eyes Yankees fans. It’s not taking anything away from your boy. Here are the 3 biggest knocks on Rivera’s career…

3) Mariano Rivera is at his worst against the Yankees’ biggest rival. Mariano has blown 16 saves in his career against the Red Sox. That’s 21% of his total blown saves, and he’s blown 40% of his blown playoff saves against the Sox. Sure, they play a lot and the Red Sox are typically a good offensive club. But you’d want your closer to be at his best versus your biggest rival, no?

2) Mariano Rivera blew games four and five of the 2004 ALCS. We all know what happened there, with the whole David Roberts stealing second ordeal and David Ortiz delivering walk-offs in both games. If Rivera had been able to save either of these games, we’d likely be looking at an ongoing 93 year curse in Boston. We all know Yankees fans would love that.

1) Mariano Rivera lost the 2001 World Series. Mo pitched one of the worst innings in World Series history in the 9th inning of game 7 during the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Luis Gonzalez singled to win the game, a walk off that left a dejected Mo to crawl back to the dugout. The blown save cost the Yankees a title and signaled the end of their dynasty – it would have been 4 straight titles. The Yankees would make it back to the World Series in 2003, only to lose to Josh Beckett’s Florida Marlins.

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Sorry Mo. I know that you’ve come to terms with these moments, or else you would never have been able continue to pitch as well as you have. I will write a favorable post about you, but we’ll save (no pun intended) that one for when you retire.

A guest post by Josh Baldwin, a technology blogger and sports enthusiast

A lifelong, diehard Yankees fan, I recently took my first trip to Fenway Park to watch my Yankees play the Red Sox. This was not simply watching a highlight game on Direct TV or tuning into the Yankees’ YES network – it was the real thing, at last. I do not live in a state with a professional baseball team, but grew up in a family of New Yorkers and have always found ways to get to Yankee Stadium a couple of times a year; so, naturally I am more used to a gigantic, glitzy stadium than a smaller, simpler one. That said, my first impression of Fenway was that it had a certain charm… to me, not quite a charm that equaled that held by old Yankee Stadium, but still something in that league.

Long before game time, I was walking around, exploring the ballpark in an aisle about twelve rows up behind the Yankee dugout. Two Red Sox fans in front of me were walking along talking about how Dustin Pedroia was becoming the Red Sox version of Jeter… the kind of passionate leader and consistent performer with an x-factor that fans will always be in love with. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter himself walked over to the side of the dugout, tossing balls to elated kids and smiling widely. The Boston fans in front of me stopped in their tracks, one excitedly asking the other “Was that Jeter?” I smiled behind him… “Yeah, it was,” I replied. “Be in awe.” He had no response… it was as if we’d silently agreed that the fact that Jeter’s presence had delighted even him meant that Pedroia, while promising, has a long way to go to achieve the same level of reverence among the fans.

This was merely the beginning of what I considered an underwhelming first visit to Fenway Park. From everything I’ve ever heard and experienced in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, Boston fans ought to have been screaming themselves hoarse at me for pointing out Jeter’s greatness… no children of Red Sox fans should have been giddy to be tossed balls by Jeter. I wore my Yankees clothing and loudly supported my team all weekend, and I was barely even heckled. When the Yankees won, I received no anger or taunts about the Sox owning the season series. When the Yankees lost, no one rubbed it in my face…. All of this while the two biggest rivals in professional sports battle for first place.

Clearly, I am biased toward New York, and I will be the first to admit it… but I don’t write this to put down Fenway Park or Boston fans specifically… more to illustrate that, as much as it pains me to say it, the rivalry is losing its luster. New Yankee Stadium is far tamer than its predecessor – that much I already knew. But it appears that Fenway has lost its spark as well. I can only hope that the coming postseason brings drama and reignites the flame that so recently burned between us.

After a wild weekend of baseball at Fenway, the Red Sox clinched their season series against the Yankees and remained atop the AL East standings. Friday night saw a nailbiter as John Lester, Bartolo Colon, and their respective bullpens battled it out to a 3-2 Yankees victory. On Saturday the Red Sox continued their dominance of CC Sabathia en route to a 10-4 victory. Sabathia is now 0-4 with a 7+ ERA on the season versus the Sox while going 16-2 against all other opponents.

As for last night’s series concluding match-up, well, it was befitting of this rivalry to say the least. Josh Beckett pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball, yielding yet another no decision as Freddy Garcia threw 5 innings allowing a single earned run as well. The Red Sox squandered bases loaded opportunities in the 2nd and 6th innings, displaying nothing but an ineffective offense until the bottom of the 9th inning when they found themselves down 2-1. All of a sudden, three players executed perfectly. Marco Scutaro drove a double high off the monster, Jacoby Ellsbury laid down a perfect bunt to move him to third, and Dustin Pedroia (who was 0-10 against Mariano Riveira in his career) drove a ball to deep left field scoring Scutaro and tying the game.

Surprise surprise David Ortiz doubled in the bottom of the tenth, setting up a Josh Reddick game winning single. This hit was huge for Reddick, who has come out of the AAA gates hot as could be. After cooling off  bit as of late, I think this hit will help Reddick keep his momentum going and realize that he can contribute the the team’s success at the highest level. As I watched this game go into extra innings just after midnight you couldn’t tell from the atmosphere at Fenway that it wasn’t October.

The Red Sox are now 10-2 against the Yankees this season, so I have few major concerns there. But I must admit that watching Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon pitch so well against the Sox only adds to my hesitations about whether or not Boston will be able to beat the Phillies in October. We’re still a few months away, so for now we’ll savor this win.