GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: BOSTON (31-14) at NY YANKEES (20-24)

AL: BOSTON at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
BOSTON 3
NY YANKEES 8 FINAL</div>

 

Pettite, Matsui lead Yanks to series win against Red Sox

<h3>NY YANKEES 8, BOSTON 3</h3>BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- When the New York Yankeesre-signed Andy Pettitte, they envisioned him making big startsagainst the Boston Red Sox. They probably did not think itwould take place in May with a double-digit deficit in thestandings.

Pettitte pitched seven effective innings and Hideki Matsui hit athree-run home run in the bottom of the first inning as theYankees posted an 8-3 victory over the Red Sox in the rubbergame of a three-game series.

The Yankees (21-24) won for the third time in four games and arenow 9 1/2 games behind the Red Sox (31-15). Before Wednesdaythey had not won a series since taking two of three from Texasat Yankee Stadium two weeks ago.

New York was 16-16 when it took the first two games with theRangers and six games behind Boston. The 14-2 loss in theseries finale triggered a 2-7 slide that saw the Yankees facetheir first double-digit deficit since manager Joe Torre tookover in 1996.

In the last four days, the Yankees have shown some signs ofsnapping out of their funk. Before the Red Sox pounded MikeMussina Tuesday, rookie Tyler Clippard and Chien-Ming Wangproduced effective outings against the Mets and Red Sox,respectively.

On Wednesday, it was Pettitte's (3-3) turn to halt any furtherdamage that the Red Sox could inflict, and he did so. He helpedhimself by picking off Coco Crisp in the first during an at-batto David Ortiz and set the tone for an effective night bystriking out Boston's designated hitter on an 83-miles-per-hourcutter to end the inning.

Pettitte also got a pair of double plays, including one in thefifth after Dustin Pedroia's fly ball went off right fielderBobby Abreu's arm for an error. He snagged Julio Lugo'scomebacker and threw to second to easily retire Pedroia and thenavoided confrontations with Ortiz and Ramirez by getting Crispon a foulout to third base.

Pettitte's shutout bid ended with two outs in the sixth whenMike Lowell doubled to right. But he retired Jason Varitek on aflyout to right field.

On Tuesday, the Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead on MannyRamirez's three-run home run in the first. On Wednesday, theYankees did the same against Curt Schilling, whose 3-2 fastballwas deposited into the right field seats by Matsui.

After Matsui's fourth home run, the Yankees scored a run apiecein the next three innings.

Derek Jeter had an RBI single in the second. It was his 2,215thcareer hit, moving him past Joe DiMaggio for fifth place on theYankees' all-time list.

Jorge Posada made it 5-0 with a run-scoring single in the thirdand Doug Mientkiewicz blasted a solo home run off the facing ofthe upper deck in right field.

Schilling (4-2), who was 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA, in his previousfour starts vs. the Yankees, lasted six innings and was reachedfor six runs - five earned and 12 hits.

The righthander set season worsts in runs and hits and alsoallowed an unearned run for the first time since June 16, 2004at Colorado, ending his major league record streak at 69 games.

It also was Schilling's first loss since Opening Day at KansasCity. He had been 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his previous eightstarts but was tagged for five runs and eight hits in seveninnings against Pettitte and the Yankees on April 20.

Kyle Farnsworth allowed a solo home run to Crisp in the eighth,walked Ortiz, balked him to second and gave up an RBI single toKevin Youkilis.

Mariano Rivera closed out the Red Sox with a scoreless ninth.

 

AL: BOSTON at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOSTON (3) AT NY YANKEES (8) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon doubled to right center. D Jeter singled to right,
J Damon scored. H Matsui homered to right, D Jeter scored. A Rodriguez flied
out to center. J Posada grounded out to first. B Abreu singled to right.
B Abreu picked off first.(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 3.

NY YANKEES 2ND: J Giambi struck out swinging. R Cano reached on bunt
single to pitcher. D Mientkiewicz struck out looking. J Damon reached on
infield single to shortstop, R Cano to second, R Cano to third on throwing
error by shortstop J Lugo. D Jeter reached on infield single to third, R Cano
scored, J Damon to second. H Matsui flied out to left. (1 Run, 3 Hits,
1 Error) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 4.

NY YANKEES 3RD: A Rodriguez doubled to center. J Posada singled to right,
A Rodriguez scored. B Abreu grounded into double play, second to first,
J Posada out at second. J Giambi fouled out to catcher. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 5.

NY YANKEES 4TH: R Cano grounded out to shortstop. D Mientkiewicz homered
to right. J Damon lined out to left. D Jeter grounded out to pitcher. (1 Run,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 6.

BOSTON 6TH: D Ortiz grounded out to second. M Ramirez doubled to center.
K Youkilis struck out swinging. M Lowell doubled to right, M Ramirez scored.
J Varitek flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 1, NY YANKEES 6.

NY YANKEES 7TH: B Donnelly relieved C Schilling. D Jeter tripled to deep
left center. H Matsui singled to center, D Jeter scored. A Rodriguez flied
out to left. J Posada struck out looking. B Abreu flied out to center.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 1, NY YANKEES 7.

BOSTON 8TH: K Farnsworth relieved A Pettitte. C Crisp homered to right.
D Ortiz walked. M Ramirez flied out to right. D Ortiz to second on balk by
K Farnsworth. K Youkilis singled to right center, D Ortiz scored. M Lowell flied
out to center. J Varitek popped out to shortstop. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 3, NY YANKEES 7.

NY YANKEES 8TH: J Pineiro relieved B Donnelly. J Giambi grounded out to
second. R Cano grounded out to first. D Mientkiewicz doubled to deep right.
J Damon singled to center, D Mientkiewicz scored. D Jeter grounded into
fielder's choice to third, J Damon out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 3, NY YANKEES 8.</div>

 

AL: BOSTON at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 12 1
NY YANKEES 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 x 8 16 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: BOS - CURT SCHILLING, BRENDAN DONNELLY (7TH), JOEL PINEIRO (8TH) AND
JASON VARITEK

NYY - ANDY PETTITTE, KYLE FARNSWORTH (8TH), MARIANO
RIVERA (9TH) AND JORGE POSADA


WP - ANDY PETTITTE (3-3)
LP - CURT SCHILLING (4-2)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: BOS - COCO CRISP (1) OFF KYLE FARNSWORTH IN THE 8TH, 0 ON

NYY - HIDEKI MATSUI (4) OFF CURT SCHILLING IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ (4) OFF CURT SCHILLING IN THE 4TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:59 ATT: 55,000

PROBABLES: LAA - JERED WEAVER (3-3, 3.46)
NYY - TYLER CLIPPARD (1-0, 1.50)

PROBABLES: BOS - DAISUKE MATSUZAKA (6-2, 4.06)
TEX - BRANDON MCCARTHY (4-4, 5.82)</div>

 

AL: BOSTON at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOSTON (3) AT NY YANKEES (8) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boston Starting Lineups -- J Lugo SS, C Crisp CF, D Ortiz DH, M Ramirez LF,
K Youkilis 1B, M Lowell 3B, J Varitek C, W Pena RF, D Pedroia 2B,
C Schilling RHP.

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- J Damon CF, D Jeter SS, H Matsui LF, A Rodriguez
3B, J Posada C, B Abreu RF, J Giambi DH, R Cano 2B, D Mientkiewicz 1B,
A Pettitte LHP.

Umpires -- C.B. Bucknor (HP), Joe West (1B), Ed Rapuano (2B), Ed Hickox (3B).


Gametime Weather: 68 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind right to left at 15 mph.


BOSTON 1ST: J Lugo grounded out to shortstop. C Crisp walked. D Ortiz
struck out swinging. C Crisp caught stealing second, pitcher to first to
second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon doubled to right center. D Jeter singled to right,
J Damon scored. H Matsui homered to right, D Jeter scored. A Rodriguez flied
out to center. J Posada grounded out to first. B Abreu singled to right.
B Abreu picked off first.(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 3.

BOSTON 2ND: M Ramirez flied out to center. K Youkilis doubled to left.
M Lowell flied out to right. J Varitek fouled out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 3.

NY YANKEES 2ND: J Giambi struck out swinging. R Cano reached on bunt
single to pitcher. D Mientkiewicz struck out looking. J Damon reached on
infield single to shortstop, R Cano to second, R Cano to third on throwing
error by shortstop J Lugo. D Jeter reached on infield single to third, R Cano
scored, J Damon to second. H Matsui flied out to left. (1 Run, 3 Hits,
1 Error) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 4.

BOSTON 3RD: W Pena grounded out to second. D Pedroia singled to left.
J Lugo lined out to right. C Crisp singled to center, D Pedroia to second.
D Ortiz lined out to second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 4.

NY YANKEES 3RD: A Rodriguez doubled to center. J Posada singled to right,
A Rodriguez scored. B Abreu grounded into double play, second to first,
J Posada out at second. J Giambi fouled out to catcher. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 5.

BOSTON 4TH: M Ramirez reached on infield single to third. K Youkilis
grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, M Ramirez out at
second. M Lowell reached on infield single to shortstop. J Varitek flied out
to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 5.

NY YANKEES 4TH: R Cano grounded out to shortstop. D Mientkiewicz homered
to right. J Damon lined out to left. D Jeter grounded out to pitcher. (1 Run,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 6.

BOSTON 5TH: W Pena reached on infield single to third. D Pedroia singled
to right, W Pena to second. J Lugo lined into double play, pitcher to second,
W Pena out at second. C Crisp fouled out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 6.

NY YANKEES 5TH: H Matsui grounded out to second. A Rodriguez grounded out
to shortstop. J Posada struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 0, NY YANKEES 6.

BOSTON 6TH: D Ortiz grounded out to second. M Ramirez doubled to center.
K Youkilis struck out swinging. M Lowell doubled to right, M Ramirez scored.
J Varitek flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 1, NY YANKEES 6.

NY YANKEES 6TH: B Abreu grounded out to first. J Giambi popped out to
second. R Cano singled to center. D Mientkiewicz singled to center, R Cano to
second. J Damon flied out to left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 1,
NY YANKEES 6.

BOSTON 7TH: W Pena flied out to left. D Pedroia grounded out to third.
J Lugo grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 1,
NY YANKEES 6.

NY YANKEES 7TH: B Donnelly relieved C Schilling. D Jeter tripled to deep
left center. H Matsui singled to center, D Jeter scored. A Rodriguez flied
out to left. J Posada struck out looking. B Abreu flied out to center.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) BOSTON 1, NY YANKEES 7.

BOSTON 8TH: K Farnsworth relieved A Pettitte. C Crisp homered to right.
D Ortiz walked. M Ramirez flied out to right. D Ortiz to second on balk by
K Farnsworth. K Youkilis singled to right center, D Ortiz scored. M Lowell flied
out to center. J Varitek popped out to shortstop. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 3, NY YANKEES 7.

NY YANKEES 8TH: J Pineiro relieved B Donnelly. J Giambi grounded out to
second. R Cano grounded out to first. D Mientkiewicz doubled to deep right.
J Damon singled to center, D Mientkiewicz scored. D Jeter grounded into
fielder's choice to third, J Damon out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
BOSTON 3, NY YANKEES 8.

BOSTON 9TH: M Rivera relieved K Farnsworth. W Pena doubled to right.
D Pedroia struck out looking. J Lugo struck out looking. C Crisp struck
out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) BOSTON 3, NY YANKEES 8.</div>

 

AL: BOSTON at NY YANKEES

<div class="pre">BOSTON (3) VS NY YANKEES (8) - FINAL

BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Lugo ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .236
C Crisp cf 4 1 2 1 1 1 2 .240
D Ortiz dh 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 .319
M Ramirez lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .250
K Youkilis 1b 4 0 2 1 0 1 2 .347
M Lowell 3b 4 0 2 1 0 0 2 .333
J Varitek c 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 .274
W Pena rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .269
D Pedroia 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .269

Totals 36 3 12 3 2 5 19

BATTING: 2B - K Youkilis (14, A Pettitte); M Ramirez (6, A Pettitte); M Lowell
(12, A Pettitte); W Pena (3, M Rivera). HR - C Crisp (1, 8th inning off K
Farnsworth 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - M Lowell (37), C Crisp (13), K Youkilis (25).
2-out RBI - M Lowell. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Crisp 1, J
Varitek 2, D Ortiz 1. GIDP - K Youkilis. Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: CS - C Crisp (2, 2nd base by A Pettitte).

FIELDING: E - J Lugo (5, throw). DP: 1 (D Pedroia-K Youkilis).


NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Damon cf 5 1 3 1 0 0 2 .275
D Jeter ss 5 2 3 2 0 0 1 .367
H Matsui lf 4 1 2 3 0 0 2 .291
A Rodriguez 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .306
J Posada c 4 0 1 1 0 2 1 .367
B Abreu rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .239
J Giambi dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .260
R Cano 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 .254
D Mientkiewicz 1b 4 2 3 1 0 1 1 .231

Totals 38 8 16 8 0 4 10

BATTING: 2B - J Damon (6, C Schilling); A Rodriguez (10, C Schilling); D
Mientkiewicz (7, J Pineiro). 3B - D Jeter (2, B Donnelly). HR - H Matsui (4,
1st inning off C Schilling 1 on, 0 Out), D Mientkiewicz (4, 4th inning off C
Schilling 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - D Jeter 2 (28), H Matsui 3 (23), J Posada (27), D
Mientkiewicz (13), J Damon (16). 2-out RBI - D Jeter, J Damon. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - J Damon 1, H Matsui 1. GIDP - B Abreu. Team LOB - 6.


BASERUNNING: Picked Off - B Abreu (1st base, C Schilling).

FIELDING: DP: 2 (R Cano-D Jeter-D Mientkiewicz, A Pettitte-R Cano).


----------------------------------------------------
BOSTON - 000 001 020 -- 3
NY YANKEES - 311 100 11x -- 8
----------------------------------------------------

BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
C Schilling (L, 4-2) 6 12 6 5 0 3 2 3.94
B Donnelly 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 4.50
J Pineiro 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 5.89

NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
A Pettitte (W, 3-3) 7 9 1 1 1 2 0 2.66
K Farnsworth 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 5.12
M Rivera 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 6.32

BALK - K Farnsworth. Pitches-strikes: C Schilling 93-64; B Donnelly 18-13; J
Pineiro 16-8; A Pettitte 106-66; K Farnsworth 18-11; M Rivera 17-12. Ground
balls-fly balls: C Schilling 8-6; B Donnelly 0-2; J Pineiro 3-0; A Pettitte
7-10; K Farnsworth 0-3; M Rivera 0-0. Batters faced: C Schilling 28; B Donnelly
5; J Pineiro 5; A Pettitte 28; K Farnsworth 6; M Rivera 4.

UMPIRES: HP--C.B. Bucknor. 1B--Joe West. 2B--Ed Rapuano. 3B--Ed Hickox.

T--2:59. Att--55,000.
Weather: 68 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 15 mph, right
to left.</div>

 

Pettite, Matsui lead Yanks to series win against Red Sox

<h3>NY YANKEES 8, BOSTON 3</h3>BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- When the New York Yankeesre-signed Andy Pettitte, they envisioned him making big startsagainst the Boston Red Sox. They probably did not think itwould take place in May with a double-digit deficit in thestandings.

Pettitte pitched seven effective innings and Hideki Matsui hit atwo-run home run in the bottom of the first inning as theYankees posted an 8-3 victory over the Red Sox in the rubbergame of a three-game series.

The Yankees (21-24) won for the third time in four games and arenow 9 1/2 games behind the Red Sox (31-15). Before Wednesdaythey had not won a series since taking two of three from Texasat Yankee Stadium two weeks ago.

"It was a huge series, no doubt," Pettitte said. "You just gotto remember that it's so early and you still feel like you havesuch a good team that we're going to start playing a lot betterand reel off a lot of wins. That was our whole mindset."

"It's all about winning games," Yankees manager Joe Torre added."That's the only thing I will continue to remind them. It'sabout our record and we need to win our games."

New York was 16-16 when it took the first two games with theRangers and six games behind Boston. The 14-2 loss in theseries finale triggered a 2-7 slide that saw the Yankees facetheir first double-digit deficit since manager Joe Torre tookover in 1996.

"When you're trying to catch a team, every game you play ispretty much two games," New York captain Derek Jeter said.

In the last four days, the Yankees have shown some signs ofsnapping out of their funk. Before the Red Sox pounded MikeMussina Tuesday, rookie Tyler Clippard and Chien-Ming Wangproduced effective outings against the Mets and Red Sox,respectively.

"We're going to look back in a couple of weeks and hopefully wecan say this got us going a little bit." Pettitte said. "Itseems like it's been a while since we won a series. I don'tknow when and it was nice to get this series."

On Wednesday, it was Pettitte's (3-3) turn to halt any furtherdamage that the Red Sox could inflict, and he did so. He helpedhimself by picking off Coco Crisp in the first during an at-batto David Ortiz and set the tone for an effective night bystriking out Boston's designated hitter on an 83-miles-per-hourcutter to end the inning.

"He never got a lot of attention when he was here last time,"Torre said of Pettitte. "Not that he wanted it but there wasalways somebody who was higher up on the ladder. He sort ofliked being in the shadows.

"But coming back as he has here, he's getting a lot moreattention. But he's never shied away from responsibility. Helost a game 3-2 to the Mets, he pitched a helluva ballgame andfelt that he let everybody down. That's what he's all about.He has a heart this big and I'm just glad New York brings outthe best in him."

Pettitte also got a pair of double plays, including one in thefifth after Dustin Pedroia's fly ball went off right fielderBobby Abreu's arm for a base hit. He snagged Julio Lugo'scomebacker and threw to second to easily retire Pedroia and thenavoided confrontations with Ortiz and Ramirez by getting Crispon a foulout to third base.

Pettitte's shutout bid ended with two outs in the sixth whenMike Lowell doubled to right. But he retired Jason Varitek on aflyout to right field and finished his 105-pitch outing byallowing one run and eight hits.

"I thought he was very aggressive with his fastball," Bostonmanager Terry Francona said of Pettitte. "He always has thecutter and the breaking ball. I thought he threw his fastballin to righthanded hitters to open up the rest of the plate."

On Tuesday, the Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead on MannyRamirez's three-run home run in the first. On Wednesday, afterJeter's RBI single gave them a 1-0 lead, the Yankees did thesame against Curt Schilling, whose 3-2 fastball was depositedinto the right field seats by Matsui for a three-run edge.

"More than hitting a home run, just getting three runs on theboard from the get-go (was big)," Matsui said through aninterpretor. "I think that was very important for the team."

While the home run had a very positive effect for the Yankees,it had just the opposite impact for Boston, which had not lostits previous nine series.

"We were (behind the eight-ball)," Schilling said. "It was 3-0after three hitters. With Andy throwing the way he's throwing,the last thing you want to do is against either one of theseteams is to put your team in a hole. We were never in this gamebecause I couldn't execute."

After Matsui's fourth home run, the Yankees scored a run apiecein the next three innings.

Jeter had an RBI single in the second. It was his 2,215thcareer hit, moving him past Joe DiMaggio for fifth place on theYankees' all-time list.

Jorge Posada made it 5-0 with a run-scoring single in the thirdand Doug Mientkiewicz blasted a solo home run off the facing ofthe upper deck in right field.

Schilling (4-2), who was 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA, in his previousfour starts vs. the Yankees, lasted six innings and was reachedfor six runs - five earned and 12 hits.

"For the most part (it was location issues)," Schilling said.

The righthander set season worsts in runs and hits and alsoallowed an unearned run for the first time since June 16, 2004at Colorado, ending his major league record streak at 69 games.

"I was just inconsistent in counts and pitches," Schilling said."I was consistently inconsistent and I couldn't afford to beagainst a lineup where you got to locate."

It also was Schilling's first loss since Opening Day at KansasCity. He had been 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his previous eightstarts but was tagged for five runs and eight hits in seveninnings against Pettitte and the Yankees on April 20.

Kyle Farnsworth allowed a solo home run to Crisp in the eighth,walked Ortiz, balked him to second and gave up an RBI single toKevin Youkilis.

Mariano Rivera closed out the Red Sox with a scoreless ninth.

Matsui had three RBI and added a run-scoring single in theseventh. Johnny Damon, who had three hits capped the scoringwith an RBI base hit in the eighth.