NYY 6, Bos 4 

W: Aceves (1-0) L: Okajima (1-1) S: Rivera (1) 

HR: NYY: Cano (1), Bos: Martinez (1) 

As far as thrilling games go, last night’s was a nail biter with the end result and winning run being scored because of a uncharicteristic error by Marco Scutaro followed by an even more baffling walk by Okajima to Nick Johnson (with the bases loaded). Through all the excitement and multiple lead changes one would want an ending suited for the game, but Cano’s Home Run came too late for that fairy tale to come true.

Cano’s blast in the 9th gives Mo some un-needed breathing room to close the door on the Yankees first win of the year

Last night’s game was an epic battle with the lead being changed 5 separate times, with the last coming in the top of the 8th on the bases loaded walk noted earlier. I was wrong with my prediction yesterday, however I was correct that the Yankees would win and in my opinion Burnett did not pitch all that bad last night. Giving up only 4 runs, 3 earned, to this Boston team is a feat of it’s own and if we compare AJ’s performance to those last year against the Yankees AL East foe it looks almost as good as a no-hitter, that is obviously a stretch. The starting matchup was not exactly what I had imagined, both pitchers have dominate stuff and can shut down any formidable lineup at any time, but they did what they had to do to keep their teams in the game. AJ made one big mistake on a pitch to V-Mart that landed in the Red Sox bullpen, otherwise he kept the Bo-Sox in check allowing only two other runs, one by way of a Youkilis sac fly and the other on a V-Mart double. The real story of the night, however, was the Yankee bullpen, which is a great sign considering Sunday night. 

Aceves came on in relief of Burnett in the 6th inning and shut down the Sox for 2 innings and earned himself a win in the process. A combination of 3 pitchers handled the 8th with Joba getting the final two outs and looking, somewhat, like his old self on the mound. Of course Aceves was great and I don’t want to take anything away from what he did, but the real talk of the bullpen should be Joba. Chamberlain came in with the tying run on 2nd and didn’t let either hitter he faced, Beltre & Drew, put the ball in play. His command was superb and he completely fooled Beltre and Drew, the latter being a very impressive feat, and struck both of them out to end the inning. Joba is finally throwing his curveball with authority and if he maintains his command he will be just as nasty as he was when he arrived in ’07, especially with that slider waiting for those two strike counts. I was extremely impressed with the entire bullpen last night, however I must say, as it should be obvious, that I was most impressed with Joba. His head seems to be in the right place and as he starts to let himself get into the 8th inning role again we should see shear dominance out of the ‘pen. 

Game 3: Pettitte vs Lackey 

A very interesting matchup that can really go either way. Lackey has the ability to pitch lights out, but has had problems at Fenway in the past and, if you remember from last year’s Championship series, has the propensity to be smacked around by this deep Yankee lineup. Pettitte is also apt to get smacked around and has to be crafty when dealing with the Red Sox. They have a deep lineup with tons of power and hitters who have had success against him in the past, and being a pitcher who has lost a couple MPH’s on his fastball we might see balls fly over the Green Monster if he isn’t careful. The Yankees have to strike early to win this game and can not let Lackey get into a groove. If they rattle him out of the gate he comes unraveled and the Yankees can walk all over him, if they are not aggressive enough they could easily lose this game 3-0. There is no doubt in my mind that the Sox will score on Pettitte so the Yankee lineup must provide support in the early going if they want to win this game and get out of Boston with a 2-1 record. 

Let’s Go Yankees!