Yankees deflate Red Sox with six-run eighth inning
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| Regular Season Series |
| New York leads 10-8 (as of Fri 9/14) |
| Fri 4/20 |
@BOS 7, NYY 6 |
Recap |
| Sat 4/21 |
@BOS 7, NYY 5 |
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| Sun 4/22 |
@BOS 7, NYY 6 |
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| Fri 4/27 |
BOS 11, @NYY 4 |
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| Sat 4/28 |
@NYY 3, BOS 1 |
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| Sun 4/29 |
BOS 7, @NYY 4 |
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| Mon 5/21 |
@NYY 6, BOS 2 |
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| Tue 5/22 |
BOS 7, @NYY 3 |
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| Wed 5/23 |
@NYY 8, BOS 3 |
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| Fri 6/1 |
NYY 9, @BOS 5 |
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| Sat 6/2 |
@BOS 11, NYY 6 |
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| Sun 6/3 |
NYY 6, @BOS 5 |
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| Tue 8/28 |
@NYY 5, BOS 3 |
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| Wed 8/29 |
@NYY 4, BOS 3 |
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| Thu 8/30 |
@NYY 5, BOS 0 |
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| >Fri 9/14 |
NYY 8, @BOS 7 |
Box Score |
| Sat 9/15 |
@BOS 10, NYY 1 |
Recap |
| Sun 9/16 |
NYY 4, @BOS 3 |
Recap |
| · Complete Schedule: Red Sox | Yankees |
| Scoring Summary |
| NYY | BOS |
 | 2nd | J Ellsbury singled to center, K Youkilis scored, B Kielty to second. | 0 | 1 |
 | 3rd | J Drew safe at first on error by first baseman J Giambi, M Lowell scored, K Youkilis to third. | 0 | 2 |
 | 4th | H Matsui tripled to deep right, J Posada scored. | 1 | 2 |
 | 4th | D Pedroia singled to center, B Kielty and J Ellsbury scored, D Pedroia to second advancing on throw. | 1 | 4 |
 | 4th | M Lowell reached on infield single to shortstop, D Pedroia scored, D Ortiz to second. | 1 | 5 |
 | 6th | J Damon reached on infield single to second, J Posada scored, H Matsui to third, M Cabrera to second. | 2 | 5 |
 | 6th | K Youkilis singled to center, J Lugo scored, D Ortiz to second. | 2 | 6 |
 | 6th | J Drew singled to right, D Ortiz scored, K Youkilis to third. | 2 | 7 |
| · View complete Play-By-Play |
| Game Information |
| Stadium | Fenway Park, Boston, MA |
| Attendance | 36,590 (99% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 4:43 |
| Weather | 70 degrees, cloudy |
| Wind | 14 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Jim Reynolds, First Base - Gary Cederstrom, Second Base - Lance Barksdale, Third Base - Tim Welke |
| A CLOSER LOOK |
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• Summary: Everything was going smoothly for the Red Sox until Jason Giambi stepped to the plate in the eighth inning. His home run started a six-run rally that ended with Alex Rodriguez's RBI single and allowed New York to take an 8-7 lead after trailing 7-2.
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| Damon |
• Familiar tormentor: Ex-Red Sox star Johnny Damon was 4-for-6, had two doubles, an RBI and a run. It was his first four-hit game against Boston and his first overall since June 17, 2006 at Washington.
• Ticking clock: The game lasted 4 hours and 43 minutes, marking the longest nine-inning game this season. It passed the previous high of 4 hours and 8 minutes set by the A's and Rangers on Sept. 9.
• Making history: Derek Jeter's run in the eighth gave him 1,367, moving him into fifth place past Bernie Williams in Yankees' history.
• Figure this: Boston's Hideki Okajima had never allowed a home run to a lefty batter this season, but he gave up consecutive blasts to Giambi and Robinson Cano.
• Hunt for October: The Yankees' win moved them to within 4½ games of Boston for the AL East crown.
• Quotable: "We lucked out. That eighth inning was incredible. The only thing predictable in this ballpark is the unpredictable." -- Yankees manager Joe Torre
-- ESPN.com news services
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Yankees 8, Red Sox 7
BOSTON (AP) -- Perhaps the AL East title is not out of reach of for the
New York Yankees.
Alex Rodriguez capped a six-run eighth inning with a tiebreaking single off
Jonathan Papelbon, and the Yankees overcame a five-run deficit to beat the
Boston Red Sox 8-7 Friday night in a game that mirrored the season.
"You kind of feel like you stole one," said Rodriguez, who called it the Yankees' "biggest win of the year."
With the Yankees trailing 7-2,
Jason Giambi and
Robinson Cano started the comeback with home runs off
Hideki Okajima.
Derek Jeter hit an RBI single against Papelbon (1-3), and
Bobby Abreu tied it with a two-run double.
"It's a character builder," said Rodriguez, who had been 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
By winning a 4-hour, 43-minute marathon -- two minutes shy of the record for a nine-inning game set by the Yankees and Red Sox on Aug. 18 last year -- New York closed within 4 1/2 games of AL East-leading Boston. The Yankees remained 3 1/2 games ahead of Detroit in the wild-card race.
Boston, which hadn't blown a five-run lead and lost since April 26, 2005, against Baltimore, has led the division for the last 150 days. By winning the opener of a three-game series, the Yankees cut the gap to its smallest size since after games of Aug. 19. They have won five straight against Boston and eight of their last 10 against the Red Sox.
"We're still up by 4 1/2, not down by 4 1/2,"
Coco Crisp said, "so it's hardly time to panic."
The Yankees were 21-29 and a season high 14 1/2 games out of first place after games of May 29. Since then, they have baseball's best record, 63-34. And they still have a chance for a second straight three-game sweep of the Red Sox, who were rolled over in New York from Aug. 28-30.
"We went through a big mess early in the season and we were able to brush it off," said
Johnny Damon, who went 4-for-6 against his former team. "This is a special team. Hopefully, we can keep the magic going."
Brian Bruney (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief of
Andy Pettitte for the win. New York had not overcome a five-run deficit on the road to win since May 9, 2004, at Seattle.
"We lucked out. That eighth inning was incredible," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "The only thing predictable in this ballpark is the unpredictable."
Okajima entered with a 1.76 ERA but allowed Giambi's 14th homer and Cano's 17th.
Melky Cabrera walked, Damon doubled him to third, and Papelbon relieved.
Papelbon gave up an RBI single to Jeter on his first pitch, threw a called strike to Abreu, then gave up Abreu's double -- the first by a lefty against Papelbon in 35 at bats. The closer hadn't allowed a run in 16 2/3 innings
Rodriguez then ripped an 0-1 pitch to center field.
"It came apart in a hurry," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.
Pettitte, 9-2 with a 3.14 ERA since the All-Star break, was trying for his 200th win but allowed five runs -- four earned -- and nine hits in four innings -- throwing 101 pitches and making his quickest exit since July 1.
"I hate it that I wasn't able to get us through that game," he said.
Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up two runs, four hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings, one of his better outings of late. He is 1-4 with a 7.15 ERA in his last seven starts, giving up 40 hits and 23 walks in 39 innings.
"It's a fine line between being hit and not being hit," he said through a translator, "and I just tried my best to be on the right side of that line today."
Boston had struck first on
Jacoby Ellsbury's second-inning RBI single and made it 2-0 when
J.D. Drew's grounder went threw first baseman Giambi's legs for a run-scoring error in the third.
Hideki Matsui's RBI triple cut it to 2-1 in the fourth, but Boston scored three runs in the bottom half on
Dustin Pedroia's two-run single and
Mike Lowell's RBI single.
Damon singled in a run in the sixth, but the Red Sox scored twice in the bottom half on RBI singles by
Kevin Youkilis and Drew.
"It was definitely one of the more crazy games that I've seen here," Damon said.
Game notes Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to all 12 games he's played since being recalled Sept. 1 from Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Boston RHP
Matt Clement threw a simulated game before the regular game. He has been sidelined all season following shoulder surgery last Sept. 26. ... Red Sox reliever
Mike Timlin tied
Mike Jackson for 11th place on the career list with 1,005 appearances. ... The Yankees have hit consecutive homers six times in an inning this season. ... Jeter's run in the eighth gave him 1,367, moving him past
Bernie Williams into sole possession of fifth place in team history.