Boston is back to .500 and pulls within 6 1/2 games of the front-running Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
End 8th, Red Sox 9-3: Tim Wakefield is jogging in to finish this one off. It will be his third relief appearance since joining the Red Sox bullpen. He has been reached for six runs in 5 1/3 innings in the role thus far.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 9-3: It took 31 pitches for Manny Delcarmen to get through the eighth, but he limited the damage to an RBI single by Robinson Cano. Daniel Bard got up at one point in the Boston bullpen, but has since sat down. We'll see who emerges for the ninth.
End 7th, Red Sox 9-2: Sure enough, here comes Manny Delcarmen to start the eighth for the Red Sox. He threw 14 pitches in Saturday's contest and figures to get an inning here. Tim Wakefield is up in the Red Sox bullpen and could work the ninth.
The final line for Jon Lester looks like this:
7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
A clutch start for Lester.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 9-2: If that's it for Jon Lester, he goes out on a good note. On his 102nd pitch, Lester strikes out Brett Gardner. It is the seventh strikeout for the lefty. Manny Delcarmen was warming in the pen and there is no need to work Lester too much in a seven-run game.
The Yankees have basically thrown up the white flag anyway, replacing both Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez with Ramiro Pena and Kevin Russo.
End 6th, Red Sox 9-2: Forgot to mention earlier that this is Terry Francona's 1,004th game as Red Sox manager. He is now in third place on the team's all-time list, trailing Joe Cronin (2,007) and Mike Higgins (1,119).
Romulo Sanchez struck out David Ortiz looking to end the sixth.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 9-2: An Alex Rodriguez strikeout and a double play helps Jon Lester work around a leadoff walk. At 91 pitches, Lester has at least another inning left in him.
End 5th, Red Sox 9-2: This is exactly what the Red Sox needed, isn't it? They hammer A.J. Burnett and have an efficient Jon Lester on the mound to get this one to the finish line.
For all the misery of the past two days, the Sox figure to be 5-2 on this critical homestand with only the Blue Jays remaining, a team they've already swept this year.
9:59 p.m.: A.J. Burnett used to love pitching here. He just looks like a wreck at Fenway as a Yankee. After a two-run homer by Jeremy Hermida, Burnett is lifted for Romulo Sanchez, who is making his first appearance since 2008 with Pittsburgh.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 7-2: The Yankees waste a one-out single by Brett Gardner in the fifth. Jon Lester is now officially in line for his 45th career win and third in a row.
End 4th, Red Sox 7-2: A.J. Burnett has failed to last longer than five innings in each of his last four starts at Fenway. He figures to keep that streak alive after allowing another run in the fourth and finishing the inning with 88 pitches thrown.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 6-2: We mentioned that Jon Lester did not look quite as sharp in the third inning, and then he had a long wait in the dugout afterward. Perhaps some effects were felt. Lester serves up a pair of solo home runs to Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez, and also allowed a single in a long fourth.
For Rodriguez that snaps a string of 61 at bats without a homer, and ties him with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for seventh on the all-time list. He has also tied Jim Thome for the most home runs at Fenway Park (21) by an active player who has never played for the Red Sox.
That was a mouthful.
Marcus Thames struck out looking to end the inning and argued rather heatedly with home plate umpire Tim McClelland. Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out to protect Thames and must've said some bad things, for he was tossed.
It is Girardi's 12th career ejection, seventh as a manager with New York. We are just filled with Yankees stats tonight.
End 3rd, Red Sox 6-0: We gave you some good A.J. Burnett numbers earlier (see below). Now here is a bad one: after giving up five runs in the third inning, Burnett's ERA in four-plus starts as a Yankee in Fenway Park is now 12.19.
The big blows in the third are an RBI double by David Ortiz, a two-run double by Adrian Beltre and a run-scoring single by Jeremy Hermida, all in a row. J.D. Drew chipped in a sacrifice fly.
Pardon me for not noticing this early, but Dustin Pedroia is sporting the high socks look. Maybe just trying to change things up, or it could have something to do with Mother's Day. Not sure. If he is trying to change things up, it's working.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: Jon Lester needed 16 pitches to get through the first two innings. He needed 17 more just to get the first out in the third after losing the strike zone for a bit.
Francisco Cervelli walked with one out and Brett Gardner got ahead of Lester before fouling off a ton of pitches and flying out to deep center. A liner to center off the bat of Derek Jeter allowed Lester to escape, but he was not as sharp in the third as he was the first two frames.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox nearly wasted a leadoff single for the second straight inning but got a little help from the Yankees to score first.
With two outs and J.D. Drew on second (he singled to record a hit for the 15th time in 17 games), Jeremy Hermida lined one to left that Marcus Thames misplayed for a two-run error. It appeared as if the ball did catch a piece of Thames' glove, but he looked shaky from the start going back on that one.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Jon Lester has now allowed one run in his last 22 2/3 innings, and that one run came in on an infield single against the Angels in his last start. The Sox need him in a big way tonight, and he's off to a good start.
For what it's worth, Marco Scutaro is on pace to set the Red Sox record for assists by a shortstop in one game. He has three through two. The record is 11, last accomplished by Rick Burleson in 1977. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat.
End 1st, 0-0: Much was made last year in New York of the shaky working relationship between A.J. Burnett and catcher Jorge Posada. Most onlookers figured that based on the results, Burnett would rather work with Jose Molina, the Yankees backup catcher in 2009.
But the numbers suggest a third man is the favorite of Burnett. After working around a leadoff single by Marco Scutaro in the first, Burnett has now allowed two earned runs in 30 1/3 innings while pitching to Francisco Cervelli.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Jon Lester has been so strong in the first inning all year. He struck out two in a perfect first against the Yankees at Fenway in his first start, but things unraveled after that. It's a better bet that he will maintain things after a 1-2-3 first in the rematch.
8:10 p.m.: First pitch by Jon Lester has been delivered to Derek Jeter. We are underway.
7:39 p.m.: After conferring with the Red Sox' medical staff, Mike Cameron will begin a rehab stint Monday for Triple-A Pawtucket. He may play in the outfield Tuesday. Good news for the injury-plagued Boston outfield.
7:10 p.m.: This Alex Rodriguez-Dallas Braden stuff you just can't write. I raced to get A-Rod's reaction and was too late, but the Yankees third baseman did meet with reporters briefly and took the high road, saying "Good for him" when asked about Braden's perfect game and adding that he was happy he pitched it against the Rays. With a win over the Sox, New York would move ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Maybe, from A-Rod's perspective, the tiff is over, at least until the A's and Yankees meet in July. But Braden has family members still chirping. According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, Braden's grandmother said, "Stick it, A-Rod," when talking to the press after the perfecto.
Again, you just can't write this kind of stuff.
New York visits Oakland for three games starting July 5.
6:40 p.m.: Temperatures are expected to plunge into the low 40s, giving this one a bit of an October feel. Question is, will both of these teams actually play well into October?
That will be answered later on. For now we focus on a few in-house items with the Red Sox.
It is not certain yet if Mike Cameron will begin a rehab assignment Monday, as was the hope a few days ago. He was going to meet with Sox medical officials after batting practice and other activities and map out a plan for the next few days. We await word on that.
Jacoby Ellsbury still remains "a little behind Cameron," according to manager Terry Francona.
Ramon Ramirez, who left Saturday's contest with tightness in his right triceps muscle, showed up at the park feeling good, and even told Francona he could pitch if needed. The skipper said he will likely shy away from using Ramirez.
As for the bullpen as a whole, Francona indicated he will be in good shape. Neither Jonathan Papelbon nor Hideki Okajima pitched Saturday (Papelbon hasn't pitched since Wednesday), and Daniel Bard and Manny Delcarmen threw just 12 and 14 pitches, respectively. In addition, Tim Wakefield may be available after a day off.
Finally, Francona was asked at length about Dustin Pedroia, who has been the team's best offensive and defensive player all season. With the Yankees in town, the comparisons to Derek Jeter emerged.
"That's the type of player he is," Francona said, comparing Pedroia to the Yankees captain. "Remember back when Jeter went to the first-base line and flipped that ball to home [in the 2001 playoffs against Oakland]. I don't care how much you can talk about that in spring training, that's Jeter. That's an extraordinary play. Pedroia has a lot of those characteristics. He's a really good player but when the game's on the line you get the best out of him."
This is not the first time those two players have been compared.
6:18 p.m.: First of all, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Second of all, congratulations to Dallas Braden, who just threw a perfect game against Tampa Bay.
It looked as if Alex Rodriguez was told about it the moment it happened. He was stretching on the field and seemed to be talking to several teammates. Braden and A-Rod are not the best of friends.
I imagine there will be some reaction from the Yankees clubhouse on that one.
4:34 p.m.: Heading downstairs to visit the Red Sox clubhouse and to hear from Terry Francona. In the meantime, here are the starting lineups for Sunday's finale with the Yankees:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
J.D. Drew RF
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Darnell McDonald CF
Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Marcus Thames LF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner CF
8 a.m.: Following back-to-back routs at the hands of the rival New York Yankees, the Red Sox will try to save face in the finale of a three-game series that has gone horribly wrong so far.
The Yankees, despite multiple injuries to key players, have outscored the Sox 24-6 through the first two games of the series.
Factoring in a 74-minute rain delay Saturday, New York took five hours, 10 minutes to humiliate Boston 14-3. It got so bad that Sox manager Terry Francona was forced to use outfielder Jonathan Van Every as a reliever in the ninth inning.
All that can be erased if Jon Lester stays on track in Sunday's start. He has been dominant his last two times out and goes opposite A.J. Burnett, who has struggled mightily at Fenway Park of late.
First pitch for this one is set for 8:05 p.m.
