Alright Yankees fans, it's down to crunch time.
With 32 games remaining (including tonight's), the Yankees (70-60) find themselves five games behind the Red Sox (75-55) in the wild card.
Tonight the Bombers welcome Boston to town for the first contest of a three-game set — potentially the last three games the Red Sox will ever play in Yankee Stadium. I'm Chris Mascaro and I'll be taking you through all of the live game action this evening.
Tonight's game is the start of a six-game homestand for the Yanks, which is big because they will play just 10 games at home in the entire month of September — and because it's against the Red Sox.
Andy Pettitte (13-9, 4.17 ERA) will take the hill tonight for New York. Pettitte had a few rough starts after the All-Star break but pitched a gem in his last outing — Wednesday in Toronto, when he allowed one run on five hits in seven innings.
Pettitte is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA in two starts against the Red Sox this season (the start he won was actually at Fenway). The current Red Sox have solid career numbers against Pettitte (.341 overall).
Old friend and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (7-8, 3.67) will pitch for Boston tonight. For Wakefield, the longest tenured Red Sox player, it will be his first start since August 6, when he went on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in the right shoulder.
Pettitte beat Wakefield on July 26 in Boston, and the knuckleballer has stuggled against the Yankees this season. He is 0-1 with a 6.94 ERA, but was decent in his one start in Yankee Stadium (6 1/3 IP, allowing three runs on four hits). However, he is just 1-9 in his last 12 starts at the ballpark in the Bronx. Here are the Yankees' numbers against Wakefield, who they have seen plenty of over the years.
The Red Sox are in the midst of nine-game road trip (with two off days in between), on which they are 4-2. Like the Yankees, Boston also has 32 games left. But the Red Sox have 20 left at home, including 15 of 26 at Fenway in September.
The Yanks and Red Sox have split 12 games so far this season.
Finally, here are the lineups, courtesy of Yankees beat writer Kat O'Brien:
Yankees
1. Damon, CF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Abreu, RF
4. A. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Giambi, 1B
6. Nady, LF
7. Matsui, DH
8. Cano, 2B
9. Molina, C
Pettitte, LHP
Red Sox
1. Ellsbury, RF
2. Pedroia, 2B
3. Ortiz, DH
4. Youkilis, 3B
5. Bay, LF
6. Lowrie, SS
7. Crisp, CF
8. Bailey, 1B
9. Cash, C
Wakefield, RHP
*Note, no J.D. Drew tonight, who just went on the 15-day DL with a bad back.
Obviously there is plenty more to talk about, so get the conversation going in the chat box below and be sure to vote on the poll questions! I'll be updating this page after every half-inning.
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Top of the 1st: Pettitte got ground outs by Ellsbury (to second) and Pedroia (to first) before consecutive two-out walks to Ortiz and Youkilis. But Bay flew out to right to end the inning.
Pettitte, who didn't love the strike zone (especially to Ortiz), threw 23 pitches in the frame.
Bottom of the 1st: Damon hit the 23rd leadoff home run of his career on a 1-and-2 pitch from Wakefield that stayed just fair down the right-field line to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. It was Damon's 10th homer and 56th RBI of the season.
Jeter grounded out to third, Abreu did the same to second and A-Rod struck out looking.
*Note: The Yanks are 47-15 when scoring first this season.
Top of the 2nd: Pettitte struck Lowrie out looking and got Crisp to fly out, but then he ran into some trouble.
Bailey and Cash (the No. 8 and 9 hitters) each hit swinging bunts down the third-base line for base hits (A-Rod had no play on Bailey's; he bobbled Cash's, but he probably would have been safe regardless) and then Ellsbury drove in Bailey with a single to right to tie the game at 1.
Pedroia smoked a grounder to A-Rod, who got the force at third to end the inning.
Unlucky inning for Pettitte, who has thrown 40 pitches.
Bottom of the 2nd: Giambi grounded back to Wakefield and Nady popped out in foul ground behind first before consecutive two-out singles by Matsui, Cano and Molina.
Molina's drove in Matsui to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was Molina's 15th RBI of the year.
Damon grounded out to second to end the inning. Wakefield has thrown 35 pitches thus far.
Top of the 3rd: Pettitte got off to a rough start in the third, as the first three batters reached base. Ortiz doubled to center before Youkilis did the same to left to score Ortiz and tie the game at 2.
Next was Bay, who drove in Youkilis with a single to center to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
Pettitte settled down after that, getting Lowrie to ground into 4-3 double play and Crisp to strike out looking.
The 3-4-5 hitters for the Red Sox are already 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.
Bottom of the 3rd: Abreu singled after Jeter popped out to second, but A-Rod grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Top of the 4th: Bailey grounded out to second before Pettitte walked Cash (Andy's third free pass given tonight). Then Ellsbury struck out looking (Pettitte's third K) and Pedroia grounded to third to end the inning.
Pettitte, who again had strike-zone issues, has thrown 78 pitches.
Bottom of the 4th: The first three Yankee hitters all narrowly missed home runs. Giambi and Matsui each flew out deep to right field. Nady was in between those at-bats and flied one to left that just tailed foul. He inevitably walked, but Cano grounded to second to end the inning.
Top of the 5th: Ortiz flew out to the warning track in right for the first out, and then Youkilis grounded out to short.
But then the wheels fell off for Pettitte and the Yanks. Bay (on a ball that Pettitte almost snagged), Lowrie, Crisp and Bailey had consecutive two-out singles — the Crisp one scoring Bay to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.
Bailey's single was of the infield variety. He lined a shot to A-Rod, who made a diving stop and fired to first. But Bailey beat the throw, scoring Lowrie. And then Giambi held onto the ball too long (for no apparent reason) allowing Crisp (who stole second during the at-bat) to score as well, giving the Red Sox a 6-2 lead.
That was all for Pettitte, who allowed six runs on 10 hits with three walks and three K's in 4 2/3 innings. He threw 102 pitches.
Brian Bruney (1-0, 2.11) came on and threw one pitch to Cash, who lined a grounder to A-Rod. Rodriguez made the diving stop, but pulled Giambi off the bag with his throw. Yet Giambi made the swipe tag to get the out.
Bottom of the 5th: Molina flied out to center to lead off the inning, but another solo homer by Damon (his 11th of the year) closed the gap to 6-3. Jeter and Abreu singled before A-Rod and Giambi flew out to center.
Top of the 6th: Ellsbury flied out to center before walks to Pedroia, Ortiz and Youkilis loaded the bases. Bay hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Pedroia and put the Red Sox up 7-3.
Lowrie flied to center to end the inning.
Bottom of the 6th: Lefty Javier Lopez came on in relief of Wakefield, who allowed three runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout in five innings. He threw 80 pitches.
Lopez had a 1-2-3 inning, as Nady flew to center, Matsui grounded to second and Cano struck out swinging.
Top of the 7th: Righty David Robertson came on in relief of Bruney, who allowed one run on no hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings.
Robertson gave up a leadoff single to Crisp, but then struck out Bailey (looking) and Cash (swinging). Crisp was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.
Bottom of the 7th: Righty Manny Delcarmen (a Boston native) came on in relief of Lopez, who pitched a scoreless sixth.
Delcarmen struck out Pudge (pinch-hitting for Molina), but Damon walked and Jeter singled in front of Abreu, who also walked to load the bases with one out for A-Rod.
Francona then lifted Delcarmen (who recorded just one out) for righty Justin Masterson, who got A-Rod to ground into a 6-3 double play to end the inning. It was the ninth DP he's hit into in the last 18 games.
Top of the 8th: Righty Edwar Ramirez came on in relief of Robertson, who pitched a scoreless seventh.
Ramirez got two quick outs on a pop out by Ellsbury and a ground out by Pedroia. But Ortiz hit a broken-bat double to right and then the Yanks intentionally walked Youkilis in front of Bay, who ripped a grounder to A-Rod, who one-hopped a throw that Giambi couldn't scoop. (Rodriguez was given the error, his 10th of the season). Lowrie lined out to second with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Bottom of the 8th: Giambi reached on Pedroia's fielding error and then Nady singled to center off of Masterson, prompting Francona to bring in lefty Hideki Okijima to face fellow countryman and Hideki — Mr. Matsui. Matsui struck out looking on a 3-and-2 pitch.
Cano popped out to second, and then Jonathan Papelbon came on to face Pudge, who grounded back to the mound on the first pitch.
Top of the 9th: Righty Chris Britton came on in relief of Ramirez, who pitched a scoreless eighth.
Britton allowed a leadoff single to Crisp and then got Alex Cora (pinch-hitting for Bailey) to line out to right. Cash singled to center, but Ellsbury struck out looking (for the second time tonight) and Pedroia lined out to third.
Bottom of the 9th: Papelbon struck Damon out swinging (on an awkward swing), but Jeter reached on an error by Lowrie. Abreu grounded into a force out and then A-Rod struck out swinging to end the game.
That's the ballgame, folks. Yankees lose, 7-3.
Yankees: 70-61
Red Sox: 76-55
*Red Sox lead in the wild card by 6 games.
WP--Wakefield (8-8)
LP--Pettitte (13-10)
SV--Papelbon (34)
Here are your three stars for tonight's game:
1. Ortiz: 2-for-3 with two walks and a run
2. Youkilis: 1-for-2 with three walks, an RBI and a run
3. Bay: 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run
*A bonus star, Bailey: 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run.
Damon hit two homers for the Yanks, while A-Rod went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
As always, it was my honor and pleasure to bring all of you tonight's live game action. I'll see everyone soon!
Goodnight.
