GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: NY YANKEES (23-29) at BOSTON (36-17)

Lowell leads Red Sox past Yankees

<h3>BOSTON 11, NY YANKEES 6</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Mike Lowell put a hurting on the New YorkYankees on Saturday.

Lowell was at the center of several physical plays on the baseswhile homering and driving in three runs as the Boston Red Soxcame from behind to beat the Yankees, 11-6.

Dustin Pedroia added three hits as the Red Sox came back to eventhe weekend series between the archrivals.

In Boston's breakout five-run seventh that provided a 10-6 leadand featured two errors by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, Lowellbeat out a run-scoring fielder's choice. He collided withfirst baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, knocking the first baseman tothe ground when Lowell's left leg collided with the back of hishead.

Mientkiewicz, who regained conscientiousness, lay on the groundfor several minutes before being carted off.

Hideki Okajima (1-0) recorded the final out of the seventh andpitched a perfect eighth to earn his first win in his firstdecision with the Red Sox.

Scott Proctor (0-3) took the loss.

The Yankees struck first with a two-out solo homer by MelkyCabrera to right field off Red Sox starter Curt Schilling in thesecond.

Both Schilling and New York starter Mike Mussina seemed tofatigue after a 29-minute rain delay in the fourth inning.

Mussina's problems actually began moments before the rain, whenhe walked David Ortiz and then surrendered a double to MannyRamirez, moving Ortiz to third. Following the delay, Mussinawalked Youkilis. Lowell followed with a run-scoring single, hisfirst RBI of the day that gave a Boston a 2-1 lead.

Jason Varitek followed with a run-scoring double play thatLowell attempted to break up by running into Robinson Cano, whowas blocking the base path.

Schilling was undone by a four-run sixth inning, highlighted byJorge Posada's three-run homer to right on a split-fingerfastball that provided the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Schillingallowed four runs and nine hits in his five-plus innings,walking one and striking out a season-low two.

After the Yankees claimed a 5-3 lead, Lowell struck another blowin the sixth, hitting the first of back-to-back homers offMussina to tie the game. Jason Varitek followed to forge thetie.

Kevin Youkilis went hitless in two at-bats with three walks,bringing an end to his career-high 23-game hitting streak. TheYankees fell 13-1/2 games behind while the Red Sox moved back to20 games over .500 at a major league-best 37-17.

 

Lowell leads Red Sox past Yankees

<h3>BOSTON 11, NY YANKEES 6</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Mike Lowell put a hurting on the New YorkYankees on Saturday.

Lowell was at the center of several physical plays on the baseswhile homering and driving in three runs as the Boston Red Soxcame from behind to beat the Yankees, 11-6.

Dustin Pedroia added three hits as the Red Sox came back to eventhe weekend series between the archrivals.

In Boston's breakout five-run seventh that provided a 10-6 lead,Lowell beat out a run-scoring fielder's choice. He collidedwith first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, knocking the first basemanto the ground when Lowell's left leg collided with the back ofhis head.

Mientkiewicz, who regained conscientiousness, lay on the groundfor several minutes before being carted off.

"It is frightening," Yankee manager Joe Torre said. "He istrying to catch the ball and it was an ugly play to start withand we got the ground ball and (Robinson Cano) gave (Derek)Jeter sort of an unusual (throw) to handle and he just got ridof it quickly. You could see Dougie sort of backing in to tryand get a good hop."

Said Lowell, "Doug's a guy I hang out with sometimes in theoffseason. I know him from growing up in Florida. I just hopehe's OK."

The tables were turned Saturday for both Lowell and the Red Sox,who lost the series opener on Friday. Lowell took a 94 mphfastball off the left hand during the loss but returned to thelineup Saturday with a modified toe-guard on his hand.

"I tested it out in the cage before going out," Lowell said."It's still a little sore but it's good enough. It felt OK.Our trainers devised a little patch and actually a Marlinsdoctors said I should have done it a while ago just because Ibroke my hand in '03 and I haven't found anything elsecomfortable. In about 20 minutes, we found something that'spretty good, the end of a toe-guard. It's light and doesn'taffect my swing so I just might use it all year."



Hideki Okajima (1-0) recorded the final out of the seventh andpitched a perfect eighth to earn his first win in his firstdecision with the Red Sox.



"It was like a football game," Red Sox manager Terry Franconasaid. "With the rain delay and the national broadcast, and usplaying the Yankees, I think everybody leaves the game justmentally and physically exhausted, the coaches, the players, theumpires. Just a lot of hard baseball.



Scott Proctor (0-3) took the loss, allowing five runs but onlytwo earned in a seventh inning that featured two errors byJeter.



"We had an ugly seventh inning," Torre said. "Without question,we just couldn't close the deal and there were some defensiveplays that we didn't make. You give any club an extra out andit is dangerous. You give this club extra outs and it issuicide. That's basically was happened."



The Yankees struck first with a two-out solo homer by MelkyCabrera to right field off Red Sox starter Curt Schilling in thesecond.



Both Schilling and New York starter Mike Mussina seemed tofatigue after a 29-minute rain delay in the fourth inning.



Mussina's problems actually began moments before the rain, whenhe walked David Ortiz and then surrendered a double to MannyRamirez, moving Ortiz to third. Following the delay, Mussinawalked Youkilis. Lowell followed with a run-scoring single, hisfirst RBI of the day that gave a Boston a 2-1 lead.



Jason Varitek followed with a run-scoring double play thatLowell attempted to break up by running into Cano, who wasblocking the base path.



"He was all over the place," Francona said. "The play atsecond, I bet you Cano was off-balance, and again, he was justtrying to do what you need to do, nothing malicious there. Andthen the play with Dougie at first, that looked like he tried tosomehow not hit him. That was almost inevitable the way it wastwo bodies in the way of each other."

<div class="pre">Said Cano, "I've never had a problem with him before. I don't</div>think it's a fair play. He threw his elbow at me."



Torre saw the play differently than his second baseman.

"(Lowell) deked him a little," he said. "If you're in the line,you're fair game. There was nothing dirty, just hard baseball."

"I don't see why," Lowell said, when asked if it were a dirtyplay. "It's a clean play. They taught me how to do it. No, I'mnot worried. I've been hit in the hand with 98 (mph fastball)last night was 94. I'm not that good looking so if I get hitagain, I'm not going to do anything."



Schilling was undone by a four-run sixth inning, highlighted byJorge Posada's three-run homer to right on a split-fingerfastball that provided the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Schillingallowed four runs and nine hits in his five-plus innings,walking one and striking out a season-low two.



After the Yankees claimed a 5-3 lead, Lowell struck another blowin the sixth, hitting the first of back-to-back homers offMussina to tie the game. Jason Varitek followed to forge thetie.



Kevin Youkilis went hitless in two at-bats with three walks,bringing an end to his career-high 23-game hitting streak. TheYankees fell 13-1/2 games behind while the Red Sox moved back to20 games over .500 at a major league-best 37-17.

 

Lowell leads Red Sox past Yankees

<h3>BOSTON 11, NY YANKEES 6</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Mike Lowell put a hurting on the New YorkYankees on Saturday.

Lowell was at the center of several physical plays on the baseswhile homering and driving in three runs as the Boston Red Soxcame from behind to beat the Yankees, 11-6.

Dustin Pedroia added three hits as the Red Sox came back to eventhe weekend series between the archrivals.

In Boston's breakout five-run seventh that provided a 10-6 lead,Lowell beat out a run-scoring fielder's choice. He collidedwith first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, knocking the first basemanto the ground when Lowell's left leg collided with the back ofhis head.

Mientkiewicz, who regained conscientiousness, lay on the groundfor several minutes before being carted off.

"It is frightening," Yankee manager Joe Torre said. "He istrying to catch the ball and it was an ugly play to start withand we got the ground ball and (Robinson Cano) gave (Derek)Jeter sort of an unusual (throw) to handle and he just got ridof it quickly. You could see Dougie sort of backing in to tryand get a good hop."

"Doug's a guy I hang out with sometimes in the offseason,"Lowell said. "I know him from growing up in Florida. I just hopehe's OK."

The tables were turned Saturday for both Lowell and the Red Sox,who lost the series opener on Friday. Lowell took a 94miles-per-hour fastball off the left hand during the loss butreturned to the lineup Saturday with a modified toe-guard on hishand.

"I tested it out in the cage before going out," Lowell said."It's still a little sore but it's good enough. It felt OK. Ourtrainers devised a little patch and actually a Marlins doctorssaid I should have done it a while ago just because I broke myhand in '03 and I haven't found anything else comfortable.

"In about 20 minutes, we found something that's pretty good, theend of a toe-guard. It's light and doesn't affect my swing soI just might use it all year."

Hideki Okajima (1-0) recorded the final out of the seventh andpitched a perfect eighth to earn his first win in his firstdecision with the Red Sox.

"It was like a football game," Red Sox manager Terry Franconasaid. "With the rain delay and the national broadcast, and usplaying the Yankees, I think everybody leaves the game justmentally and physically exhausted, the coaches, the players, theumpires. Just a lot of hard baseball.

Scott Proctor (0-3) took the loss, allowing five runs but onlytwo earned in a seventh inning that featured two errors byJeter.

"We had an ugly seventh inning," Torre said. "Without question,we just couldn't close the deal and there were some defensiveplays that we didn't make. You give any club an extra out andit is dangerous. You give this club extra outs and it issuicide. That's basically was happened."

The Yankees struck first with a two-out solo homer by MelkyCabrera to right field off Red Sox starter Curt Schilling in thesecond.

Both Schilling and New York starter Mike Mussina seemed tofatigue after a 29-minute rain delay in the fourth inning.

Mussina's problems actually began moments before the rain, whenhe walked David Ortiz and then surrendered a double to MannyRamirez, moving Ortiz to third. Following the delay, Mussinawalked Youkilis. Lowell followed with a run-scoring single, hisfirst RBI of the day that gave a Boston a 2-1 lead.

Jason Varitek followed with a run-scoring double play thatLowell attempted to break up by running into Cano, who wasblocking the base path.

"He was all over the place," Francona said. "The play atsecond, I bet you Cano was off-balance, and again, he was justtrying to do what you need to do, nothing malicious there. Andthen the play with Dougie at first, that looked like he tried tosomehow not hit him. That was almost inevitable the way it wastwo bodies in the way of each other."

"I've never had a problem with him before," cano said. "I don'tthink it's a fair play. He threw his elbow at me."

Torre saw the play differently than his second baseman.

"(Lowell) deked him a little," he said. "If you're in the line,you're fair game. There was nothing dirty, just hardbaseball."

"I don't see why," Lowell said, when asked if it were a dirtyplay. "It's a clean play. They taught me how to do it. No,I'm not worried. I've been hit in the hand with 98 (mphfastball)last night was 94. I'm not that good looking so if I get hitagain, I'm not going to do anything."

Schilling was undone by a four-run sixth inning, highlighted byJorge Posada's three-run homer to right on a split-fingerfastball that provided the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Schillingallowed four runs and nine hits in his five-plus innings,walking one and striking out a season-low two.

After the Yankees claimed a 5-3 lead, Lowell struck another blowin the sixth, hitting the first of back-to-back homers offMussina to tie the game. Jason Varitek followed to forge thetie.

Kevin Youkilis went hitless in two at-bats with three walks,bringing an end to his career-high 23-game hitting streak. TheYankees fell 13-1/2 games behind while the Red Sox moved back to20 games over .500 at a major league-best 37-17.

 

Lowell leads Red Sox past Yankees

<h3>BOSTON 11, NY YANKEES 6</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Mike Lowell put a hurting on the New YorkYankees on Saturday.

Lowell was at the center of several physical plays on the baseswhile homering and driving in three runs as the Boston Red Soxcame from behind to beat the Yankees, 11-6.

Dustin Pedroia added three hits as the Red Sox came back to eventhe weekend series between the archrivals.

In Boston's breakout five-run seventh that provided a 10-6 lead,Lowell beat out a run-scoring fielder's choice. He collidedwith first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, knocking the first basemanto the ground when Lowell's left leg collided with the back ofhis head.

Mientkiewicz, who regained conscientiousness, lay on the groundfor several minutes before being carted off.

"It is frightening," Yankee manager Joe Torre said. "He istrying to catch the ball and it was an ugly play to start withand we got the ground ball and (Robinson Cano) gave (Derek)Jeter sort of an unusual (throw) to handle and he just got ridof it quickly. You could see Dougie sort of backing in to tryand get a good hop."

"Doug's a guy I hang out with sometimes in the offseason,"Lowell said. "I know him from growing up in Florida. I just hopehe's OK."

The tables were turned Saturday for both Lowell and the Red Sox,who lost the series opener on Friday. Lowell took a 94miles-per-hour fastball off the left hand during the loss butreturned to the lineup Saturday with a modified toe-guard on hishand.

"I tested it out in the cage before going out," Lowell said."It's still a little sore but it's good enough. It felt OK. Ourtrainers devised a little patch and actually a Marlins doctorssaid I should have done it a while ago just because I broke myhand in '03 and I haven't found anything else comfortable.

"In about 20 minutes, we found something that's pretty good, theend of a toe-guard. It's light and doesn't affect my swing soI just might use it all year."

Hideki Okajima (1-0) recorded the final out of the seventh andpitched a perfect eighth to earn his first win in his firstdecision with the Red Sox.

"It was like a football game," Red Sox manager Terry Franconasaid. "With the rain delay and the national broadcast, and usplaying the Yankees, I think everybody leaves the game justmentally and physically exhausted, the coaches, the players, theumpires. Just a lot of hard baseball.

Scott Proctor (0-3) took the loss, allowing five runs but onlytwo earned in a seventh inning that featured two errors byJeter.

"We had an ugly seventh inning," Torre said. "Without question,we just couldn't close the deal and there were some defensiveplays that we didn't make. You give any club an extra out andit is dangerous. You give this club extra outs and it issuicide. That's basically was happened."

The Yankees struck first with a two-out solo homer by MelkyCabrera to right field off Red Sox starter Curt Schilling in thesecond.

Both Schilling and New York starter Mike Mussina seemed tofatigue after a 29-minute rain delay in the fourth inning.

Mussina's problems actually began moments before the rain, whenhe walked David Ortiz and then surrendered a double to MannyRamirez, moving Ortiz to third. Following the delay, Mussinawalked Youkilis. Lowell followed with a run-scoring single, hisfirst RBI of the day that gave a Boston a 2-1 lead.

Jason Varitek followed with a run-scoring double play thatLowell attempted to break up by running into Cano, who wasblocking the base path.

"He was all over the place," Francona said. "The play atsecond, I bet you Cano was off-balance, and again, he was justtrying to do what you need to do, nothing malicious there. Andthen the play with Dougie at first, that looked like he tried tosomehow not hit him. That was almost inevitable the way it wastwo bodies in the way of each other."

"I've never had a problem with him before," Cano said. "I don'tthink it's a fair play. He threw his elbow at me."

Torre saw the play differently than his second baseman.

"(Lowell) deked him a little," he said. "If you're in the line,you're fair game. There was nothing dirty, just hardbaseball."

"I don't see why," Lowell said, when asked if it were a dirtyplay. "It's a clean play. They taught me how to do it. No,I'm not worried. I've been hit in the hand with 98 (mphfastball)last night was 94. I'm not that good looking so if I get hitagain, I'm not going to do anything."

Schilling was undone by a four-run sixth inning, highlighted byJorge Posada's three-run homer to right on a split-fingerfastball that provided the Yankees a 4-3 lead. Schillingallowed four runs and nine hits in his five-plus innings,walking one and striking out a season-low two.

After the Yankees claimed a 5-3 lead, Lowell struck another blowin the sixth, hitting the first of back-to-back homers offMussina to tie the game. Jason Varitek followed to forge thetie.

Kevin Youkilis went hitless in two at-bats with three walks,bringing an end to his career-high 23-game hitting streak. TheYankees fell 13-1/2 games behind while the Red Sox moved back to20 games over .500 at a major league-best 37-17.