Live Blog: Yankees vs. Red Sox (7/25)

10:11 p.m. So fitting.

J.D. Drew just struck out LOOKING to end the game and give the Bronx Bombers (although they weren't in this game) a 1-0 victory.

The Red Sox struck out 12 times.

And cried almost as many times.

I, on the other hand, couldn't be any happier. I don't have to do this live-blog anymore.

And it only took three hours!

10:09 p.m. Somebody has a temper.

Yikes.

Somebody REALLY has a temper.

Mike Lowell...grow up, please.

Lowell struck out looking in the 7th and wasn't happy. He just struck out looking in the ninth (it did appear inside) and really really wasn't happy.

And he just acted like a little baby. I guess Mariano Rivera has that affect on opposing hitters.

10:05 p.m. Youkilis singles to left on a 1-2 pitch. Mariano's cutter has clearly lost its luster and effectiveness.

10:02 p.m. Mariano's cut fastball = good. Ortiz is jammed and flies out. One down.

10:00 p.m. Hideki Okajima gets the Yankees to go in order in the top of the 9th. Mariano needs just three more outs for the save and a two-game deficit in the AL East.

David Ortiz will lead things off for the Sox.

Who thinks that Manny Ramirez in the lineup tonight would have been helpful?

9:53 p.m. Ellsbury K's. Two out. Pedroia weakly grounds out. Three out. Mariano Rivera is good.

9:50 p.m. Mariano is 25-for-25 in save opportunities. So I'm an idiot for that prediction a minute ago.

9:46 p.m. Sometimes the swinging bunt is the deadliest play in baseball.

Coco Crisp hit a slow dribbler down the first-base line, and Farnsworth tried to scoop up the ball and tag Crisp. Bad idea. He's too tall and goofy to pull off such a complex maneuver.

And that's it for Kyle. With runners on first and second and one out, Mariano Rivera is coming in.

FEARLESS PREDICTION: The Red Sox score at least once in this inning. I can just feel it.

9:40 p.m. Joba: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K (103 pitches).

So guess what happened just seconds after Joba was lifted in favor of Kyle Farnsworth.

The Red Sox actually got a baserunner!

9:33 p.m. How many pitchers does it take to get three outs in the 8th inning of a scoreless game?

Any team (not Boston or New York) vs. Any team (not Boston or New York)...ONE.

Boston vs. New York...THREE.

9:24 p.m. Beckett pitched a gem, but he's out of the game now in the 8th and can only lose it.

9:20 p.m. And ANOTHER strikeout for Joba. That's nine now. This is getting fun. And Joba has a shutout now through seven.

9:16 p.m. Oh boy.

Now THAT is what I'm talking about!

Joba just threw a heater in the vicinity of Youkilis' head. Man, those two don't like each other. I love it.

But this couldn't have been intentional. It's a 1-0 game in the 7th, and the count is 2-0. The LAST thing he wants is to put the leadoff man on base in a crucial spot, in a crucial game.

The ball came EXTREMELY close to hitting Youkilis in the head, but instead it hit the handle of the bat. Warnings were issued to both sides.

Youkilis ended up striking out. And as he walked back the dugout he said "that's ******* horse***"

How can you NOT like Yankees-Red Sox games?

9:12 p.m. I love pitchers' duels. But this game has been a bit boring and uneventful.

Yanks up 1-0 after 6 1/2 innings.

9:02 p.m. Joba's on cruise control out there, but his pitch count is quite high also. He's gone for six shutout innings, but has thrown 89 pitches to get there.

8:54 p.m. A-Rod is stranded in scoring position in the sixth. Beckett pitching very well, but not enough as Chamberlain has been even better.

But we'll see how long he can stay out there -- in his nine career starts, he hasn't pitched seven full innings once.

Beckett won't last much longer...he's thrown 94 pitches through six.

8:48 p.m. A-Rod falls behind 0-2, but works the count full and leads off the 6th with a single.
Beckett gets ahead of Giambi 0-2, as well, but throws a wild pitch, which moves A-Rod to second. But he doesn't lose the Giambino, striking him out.

8:42 p.m. That was a big trade.

Yanks still lead, 1-0, after five. Joba and Beckett turning this one into the duel we expected. Both pitchers have thrown 75 pitches, with Joba striking out six and Beckett with five.

8:27 p.m. Forget the game for a second, BREAKING NEWS for Yankees fans.

The Yankees just traded for outfielder Xavier Nady and left-handed reliever Damaso Marte in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates will receive four players, most notably current Yankees reliever Ross Ohlendorf and outfield prospect Jose Tabata. Disregard his poor numbers somewhat, as he is still very-highly thought of.

Interesting move. I gave New York my full endorsement for Barry Bonds, but they chose to go a different way.

Go figure.

Two additional thoughts: Nady, a right fielder, is going to play where for New York? Must be left field.

Also, for PIT fans (if there are any), this undoubtedly means the arrival of top-prospect Andrew McCutchen to the big-club.

UPDATE: the two other prospects are pitcher George Kontos (doing well) and Phil Coke (also, doing well).

8:20 p.m. Shame on you, Robinson.

The shift was on for Ortiz and he hit a grounder to second to Cano -- who was standing in the outfield, a good distance from the infield dirt.

The ball hit the lip of the grass/dirt and took a big hop and Cano mishandled it. And the BELLIGERENTLY DRUNK official scorer ruled it a hit.

Jerry Remy agreed it was a hit, saying it was a tough play because it hit the lip. Fine, but Cano had PLENTY of time to adjust, as he was standing quite far back.

Come on, people. These are major leaguers. That play should be made EVERY-SINGLE-TIME. No excuses. Would that have been a great play if he had made it? Heck NO. So it's an error. That simple. 'Embarrassing' is the only word to describe the quality of official scoring in baseball today.

8:17 p.m. After three complete, the Yankees lead 1-0.

Pitchers' duel and we STILL won't get this game over within three hours. Of course not. I'll be happy if it lasts shorter than 3 hours, 45 minutes.

8:12 p.m. Apparently Melky is a frequent reader of 'The "Next" Peter Gammons', because he just got a single just to spite me for what I wrote about earlier in the game about his hitting "prowess" (or lack there of).

...And now I have something new to say about Melky. He can't run the bases well, either.

He just got gunned down. But hey, he can field well!

8:09 p.m. Joba goes for a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the third inning. Surprised it still didn't take 30 minutes.

8:02 p.m. It typically takes longer than 2 1/2 innings for this to happen, but Don Orsillo is annoying me immensely. I think I would rather listen to the Spice Girls.

Where's the MUTE button?

Anyway, Beckett evades further damage in the third.

7:59 p.m. I stand corrected. A-Rod singled Abreu over to third, and Giambi got the biggest gift of a single I have ever seen, hitting a little dribbler to where a shortstop SHOULD be playing.

Shift = not a good decision in that instance.

Yankees now lead 1-0.

7:56 p.m. Nothing is happening, and the game is still moving slower than (plug in clever joke here).

I hate Yankees-Red Sox games.

7:46 p.m. Melky Cabrera can't hit a lick, but he sure can "go get it" in center field. A great diving catch by him is followed up by a beautiful 4-6-3 DP started by Cano to end the inning.

Scoreless after two.

7:44 p.m. Yes, Fenway Park is awesome. It's unique. It's fun. It's creative. It's historic.

But sometimes I hate it. Mike Lowell just drilled a line-drive that would have been a home run just about anywhere else, and the stupid Green Monster limited it to a single. That's just lame.

But I suppose the Monster "takeith" and "giveth" away. I totally spelled that incorrectly, didn't I?

7:40 p.m. Robinson Cano continues his torrid hitting with a leadoff single, but no problem for Beckett as he gets the next three guys out in order.

The Yankees' offense just isn't as good as it usually is. What could they possibly do to improve it?

Hmm.

I wonder.

7:30 p.m. On the Ortiz punchout, Pedroia looked dead on a steal attempt but made a beautiful slide to avoid Jeter's tag on a throw that beat him to the bag my a MILE. But Youkilis (who just gets along so well with Joba) ended the inning by whiffing (and it was quite ugly I might add).

On the plus side for Kevin, it was just the first time in six plate appearances that Joba has retired him. See, that's what happens when you don't throw the ball at his head and throw it in the strike zone.

Scoreless after one, but both starters had to throw a lot of pitches in the inning (24 for Beckett, 20 for Joba). Both struck out two.

7:28 p.m. David Ortiz is back!!!!! You may have heard!!!!

His first at-bat back was everything it could have been and (less). He struck out. Clearly he's not ready. Send him back down to AA.

7:24 p.m. And what else is new, Dustin Pedroia just got a single. Does he ever make an out?

7:23 p.m. Jacoby Ellsbury's struggles continue. He grounds out. He was originally slated to bat ninth today to take some of the pressure off of him, but Manny decided to fake being hurt again tonight, and the lineup was changed.

7:19 p.m. Jason Giambi and his 'stache strikes out, as well. If only the Yankees had Barry Bonds...

No, seriously. They should sign him. That guy would help that team IMMENSELY. And let's fact it folks, they need help.

7:16 p.m. Next time maybe A-Rod should play 'Like a Prayer' by Madonna for his at-bat song to pump himself up. No way he strikes out just now if he had.

7:12 p.m. Consecutive singles (Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu) bring up Alex Rodriguez with runners on first and second and just one out. If A-Rod gets out, it's Madonna's fault.

7:08 p.m. When is an out, not really an out?

When the leadoff man makes the starter throw 10 pitches in the first at-bat of the game. Johnny Damon grounded out, but at this rate Josh Beckett will pitch four perfect innings but get taken out due to a really high pitch count (120).

6:45 p.m. Live-blogging a Yankees-Red Sox game is not a good decision.

Why not, you ask?

Because as much as I love doing this, sometimes sitting here for four-plus hours, documenting every little thing I find interesting is more than a little draining. And this game WILL take more than four hours. They always do. Pitchers' duel tonight or not (and it will be), it will somehow find a way to last 4+ hours.

But hey, it won't take more than six hours and 15 innings to end, will it? God, I hope not. Because I can't do THIS again. No!

But hey, tonight's game between the Sox and the Yanks is simply too good to pass up.

Joba vs. Beckett.

The return of David Ortiz to the lineup.

The talk of Barry Bonds potentially wearing pinstripes.

Manny still being Manny. Sorry, no links for that one. Just too many idiotic Manny moments to pick any specific link. Maybe someone should start a "Manny being Manny" Web site to fully document this.

Well, actually, here's a link. The cry-baby Prima Donna is being a (wuss) and not playing tonight. Go figure.

But perhaps more important than any of this, the Yankees are charging in a very-intriguing AL East race, and are now just three games back from both Boston and Tampa Bay in the standings.

A sweep would sure be interesting, wouldn't it?

Check back here throughout the night to see if the Yankees can get that sweep started with a Game 1 victory.