The Yankees clinched the division title with a week to spare on Sunday
afternoon, beating the Red Sox 4-2 behind a superb start from Andy
Pettitte and home runs from Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira. The Red
Sox had an early lead, but starter Paul Byrd faltered in the sixth
inning, and the Yankees rallied to take the lead. They never looked
back.
With the win, the Yanks not only win the East, but the weekend series
sweep gives them a 9-9 split of their season series with Boston, in
which they started 0-8. It's also the 100th win of the season for the
Yankees, who reach that milestone for the first time since 2004.
Final: Yankees 4, Red Sox 2.
There
you have it, folks, the Yankees are your 2009 American League East
champions. Rivera does indeed come in to pitch the top of the ninth,
and while the Sox muster two baserunners with a single and an error by
Robinson Cano, they can't come back to beat Rivera. With two on and two
out, Jacoby Ellsbury grounds one back to the mound to end the ballgame.
That's all she wrote.
End 8th, 4-2 Yanks: The
Yanks do indeed get some insurance. Daniel Bard comes in to face the
heart of the Yankee order, and he gets a rude awakening — Mark
Teixeira takes him deep to right field and out of the ballpark on just
his second pitch, putting the Yanks out in front 4-2. It's Teixeira's
38th home run of the year, inching him closer to Carlos Pena's AL-leading 39 — but more important, it inches the Yankees closer to their first division title since 2006.
Middle 8th, 3-2 Yanks: Bruney
stays in to start the eighth, and he gets two quick outs against
righties Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis. Girardi then opts for the
southpaw Phil Coke to pitch to the lefty DH David Ortiz, and
the move works perfectly — Papi goes down swinging. Teixeira, A-Rod
and Matsui are due up for the Yankees, who will look for some insurance
in the bottom of the eighth before Mariano Rivera presumably comes out and attempts to finish things.
End 7th, 3-2 Yanks: Tito
elects to use Ramon Ramirez in the seventh against the Yanks' 8-9-1
guys, and that decision works out well. Ram-Ram gives up a two-out
single to Derek Jeter on a 2-1 pitch, giving the Yanks a baserunner,
but they fail to capitalize. Brett Gardner flies out to left, and it's
on to the eighth. Bay, Youkilis and David Ortiz will be due up for Boston —
this is the Red Sox' best chance to reclaim the lead and keep the
Yankees from clinching AL East glory.
Middle 7th, 3-2 Yanks: After six innings, Pettitte is done — Girardi gets Brian Bruney
to pitch the top of the seventh for New York. Bruney runs into little
trouble against the Sox' 9-1-2 hitters, setting them down in order —
Alex Gonzalez strikes out, and Bruney then induces back-to-back
groundouts from Ellsbury and Pedroia. The Yankees are six outs away
from winning the American League East.
End 6th, 3-2 Yanks: The
sixth inning brings a combination of good defense and bad from the Red
Sox' outfield — together, they spell a Yankee takeover of this
ballgame. Jeter leads off the bottom of the sixth by giving Byrd a big
scare, driving one deep to the warning track in right-center field, but
J.D. Drew ranges back and makes a nice catch up against the wall. Two
batters later, it's Teixeira at the plate, and he hits one to center
that Jacoby Ellsbury gets to but drops, keeping the Yanks' sixth inning
alive. A-Rod then singles after a 10-pitch struggle of an at-bat, and Terry Francona then comes out to pull the plug on Paul Byrd.
Tito gets Takashi Saito to pitch to countryman Hideki Matsui, and Saito makes the huge mistake of throwing a wild pitch on the 0-2 pitch to Godzilla, putting two runners in scoring position with two outs. Matsui comes through, lining one to right field just beyond Drew's reach, and it's a two-run single that puts the Yankees out in front for the first time today.
Middle 6th, 2-1 Sox: J.D.
Drew finally manages a single to center field against Pettitte with two
outs in the sixth, ending a streak of 10 consecutive Red Sox retired.
That puts a man on for Jason Varitek, but 'Tek disappoints by going
down on three straight swings of the bat. Pettitte has kept the Yankees
in this game, as they still trail by just the one run heading to the
bottom of the sixth.
End 5th, 2-1 Sox: Nick Swisher
leads off the fifth with a double to deep right, but on a Robinson Cano
flyout to Ellsbury in center, Swish tags up and leaves too soon to
advance to third on the sac fly. The Red Sox appeal the play, and it's
ruled that indeed, Swisher was off the bag as Ellsbury made the catch.
A dumbfounded Swisher returns to the dugout, and when Melky Cabrera
promptly singles to right, it becomes clear that Swisher's baserunning
mistake has cost the Yankees a run. A lucky Paul Byrd keeps his 2-1
lead intact.
Middle 5th, 2-1 Sox: Make it
eight straight Red Sox retired by Pettitte since the back-to-back walks
in the third inning. The Yankees' lefty retires the side again,
finishing off the top of the fifth with a swinging strikeout of Kevin
Youkilis, the third Boston K of the ballgame. Pettitte has now thrown
83 pitches in five innings, 54 of them for strikes.
End 4th, 2-1 Sox: All of a
sudden, we've got a pitchers' duel on our hands. Pettitte and Byrd have
now combined to retire the last nine batters — Byrd sets down the
Yanks' 3-4-5 hitters in order with two groundouts and a Matsui flyout
to center field. We're headed to the fifth inning, with the Red Sox
clinging to a one-run lead.
Middle 4th, 2-1 Sox: For the
first time today, we've seen a 1-2-3 inning — Andy Pettitte sets the
8-9-1 portion of the Red Sox' order down quickly, finishing with a
seven-pitch strikeout of Jacoby Ellsbury. The Yankees will turn to the
meat of their order in the fourth to try to sneak back into this game
— Teixeira, A-Rod and Hideki Matsui are due up for the Bronx Bombers.
End 3rd, 2-1 Sox: Melky Cabrera
cuts the Red Sox' lead in half with one swing, hacking at the first
pitch from Paul Byrd and driving it into the bullpen in right-center
for a homer to lead off the bottom of the third. That's all the Yankees
get, though, as two groundouts and a Brett Gardner flyout spell the end
of the third inning. Byrd keeps the Sox' lead intact.
Middle 3rd, 2-0 Sox: The Red
Sox load the bases with nobody out via two singles and a walk, but they
only get one run out of it. Mike Lowell grounds into a pretty double
play, 6-4-3, and he gets an RBI out of it, but it otherwise kills the
Boston rally. J.D. Drew comes up with two outs and a man on, and Pettitte strikes him out looking, the first K of the day for the Yanks' lefty.
End 2nd, 1-0 Sox: Robinson Cano
singles with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the second,
lining one to center field for his 200th hit of the season, his first
time reaching that milestone. The Yankees fail to capitalize in the
inning, but it's still a remarkable achievement for the 26-year-old
Yankees second baseman. Still 1-0 Sox.
Middle 2nd, 1-0 Sox: A couple
of hits for the Sox in the second, but no luck. Jason Varitek lines a
single to right to lead off the inning, but his hopes of scoring are
dashed when Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano turn a 5-4-3 double play to clear the bases. The Sox then threaten again with a bunt single from Jacoby Ellsbury, but Teixeira makes a nice stab of a Pedroia line drive at first, ending the inning.
End 1st, 1-0 Sox: A great defensive play in the Red Sox' infield saves a run in the first. With one out and Derek Jeter at second, Kevin Youkilis makes a diving stab at a Mark Teixeira grounder, and he doesn't catch it, but he bats it to Dustin Pedroia at
second, and Pedroia gets it to first in time to retire Tex. The
Youkilis-Pedroia teamwork keeps Jeter from scoring from second base,
and the Sox' 1-0 lead is intact after one.
Middle 1st, 1-0 Sox: For the first time in this series, the Red Sox have a lead. Jason Bay
manages a two-out double off of Pettitte, dropping one into a puddle in
the right-field corner, and back-to-back walks then load the bases for
Mike Lowell. Lowell lines one off of Pettitte's foot, and the ball
bounces away to the left side and everyone's safe. Bay scores with the
game's first run.
1:51 p.m.: This just in — the Sox and Yanks will attempt to get a game in at Yankee Stadium starting at 2:05 p.m. Stay tuned!
1:07 p.m.: We're rain-delayed
at Yankee Stadium, but the powers that be will attempt to get the tarp
off the field and get a game in this afternoon. In the meantime, some
lineup notes:
Jason Varitek is slated to catch Paul Byrd this afternoon, with Kevin Youkilis staying at first base and Mike Lowell staying at third as Victor Martinez takes the day off. Varitek will bat eighth; Alex Gonzalez is back in the lineup to play shortstop and will bat ninth.
The Yankees' Joe Girardi is giving Brett Gardner a start in center field, moving Melky Cabrera to left field and Johnny Damon to the bench; Gardner will bat second in Damon's spot. Jorge Posada remains on the bench; Jose Molina gets another start for Girardi's Yanks, catching and batting ninth.
Further updates to come whenever possible — we're still waiting on the grounds crew in the Bronx.
8:31 a.m.: So far this weekend, the Yankees have had their
way with the visiting Red Sox. They've won ugly, in a Friday night
slugfest, and they've won crafty, prevailing in a Saturday pitchers'
duel.
Now they'll try to win one when it really matters.
The Yankees need this win for a few reasons: It gives them a sweep of their final weekend series with the Red Sox, it evens the overall season series at nine wins apiece, and it gives the Yankees their 100th win of the season. But most importantly, the Yankees are playing Sunday for the AL East crown. That's a lot to play for in one afternoon.
Andy Pettitte will get the ball for the Yankees, looking to prove he's ready to be a capable playoff performer for the October-bound Bronx Bombers. For the Red Sox, it's Paul Byrd, who's just looking to make the Sox' playoff roster in any way possible. Each pitcher will have a little chip on his shoulder this time out.
