Behind The Box Score

Going into this weekend’s series, the New York Yankees were winless in their last nine games against their arch rival, the Boston Red Sox. With three games already played in the series, New York has one every single one of them and looks to sweep today in Yankee Stadium. With Joba Chamberlain, AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia all picking up wins, Andy Pettitte will be relyed upon to win the fourth game. Holding a five game lead in the East, Sabathia, Phil Hughes and David Robertson combined to throw nine scoreless innings, allowing only four hits. For two consecutive games, Boston has yet to cross the plate and has only picked up eight hits in both contests. With a potent, sometime roided lineup, the Yankee pitching has been phenomenal. The bullpen has stood strong, note the 1-0 win in 15 innings two nights ago and the starters have gone deep into games. If the lineup can continue to get timely hits, we could be looking at a six game lead for the Bronx Bombers midway into August. For a team that hasn’t struggled too mightily all season, Boston better get back on track or they could see Tampa passing them up. The Red Sox will need to be honest with themselves or they could be looking at golf course reservations in late October, as the Sox have scored as many runs the last two games as David Ortiz has credibility with his positive test, ZERO!

The New York lineup came alive for the third straight game this series, picking up five runs on nine hits. Robinson Cano carried out the strongest attack, going 3-4 and improving his batting average to .314, incredible for a seven hole hitter. Derek Jeter homered in the eighth inning, his 12th on the year and also picked up RBI’s 43 and 44. Mark Teixeira was 1-3 while picking up two walks and bringing in a run, his 82nd RBI on the season, only strengthining his case for AL MVP. On the contrary, Alex Rodriguez continue to struggle, going 0-4, a night after his walk off HR to bring the Yankees home with a win. The best performance by far from anyone on the team was CC Sabathia.

Sabathia, who reached the eighth inning in a 7.2 inning performance giving up two hits while striking out nine and only walking two. Phil Hughes threw the rest of the inning, not allowing a hit and David Robertson cleaned up the ninth inning, allowing two hits but not surrendering a run. The Yankees played their best series at the right time, and if they can continue to play at their current level, they will win the AL East and will make a trip to the World Series. For Boston, steroid allegations loom and the aura of Fenway is no longer there as the tides have turned in Major League Baseball’s toughest division.