Yankees! Red Sox! Live!

You probably were not aware of this, but the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are playing baseball tonight! Yes! Tonight! And apparently this Japanese pitcher that you may have heard about is pitching. I have no idea how the mainstream media could miss this ... I think it's a pretty big story.

So, let's do a live blog. Sure, why not. And to help us along the way, we will chat live with brother-in-arms, Mike Vaccaro, New York Post columnist, author of the Red Sox-Yankees bible "Emperors and Idiots" and Civil War geek. It's why we love him.

It's the Yankees! The Red Sox! And it's coming to you live right here.

(It must be big: Announcer extraordinaire Jon Miller just spoke Japanese in the intro).

Commercial thought: They just showed a Chevy commercial which featured the song "Crocodile Rock." I read somewhere a few years ago that Elton John decided he hated that song and wouldn't play it anymore. That has bothered me ever since. Hey, I don't blame Elton for hating that song -- it blows. But I mean, millions of people bought that song. You want to make a point -- how about returning some of the cash? To me, once you cash all those checks you OWE people that song in concert. Doesn't Elton remember when rock was young?

Pregame: Mike Vaccaro reports that five hours before the game, he saw Dice K throwing HARD. He capitalized HARD. This would be the opposite of Minnesota's Sidney Ponson, who seems to prepare for games by burping. It took Ponson about nine minutes to walk from the dugout to the mound to start Friday's game ... Jon Miller just said that Doug Mientkiewicz is "struggling early this year." I mean, let's be blunt here, huh? Dougie just can't hit. He's a wonderful guy. He's a terrific defensive first baseman. But he ain't struggling. This is like saying that Kenny G. is struggling to make cutting edge jazz. ... OK, let's get this game started.


Top of the first inning: Johnny Damon comes up. Vac reports that the Boston fans are booing him. Which leads to our first chat:

Me: (7:15:36 PM): How many years do you think the Red Sox fans will boo Damon?
Vac (7:15:13 PM): As long as he's a Yankee.
Vac (7:15:20 PM): If he retires a Yankee, forever.

Damon pops out. Jeter flies to right. And then Bobby Abreu walks. That's all Bobby Abreu EVER does.

Vac (7:15:43 PM): Has there ever been a more boring good player than Bobby Abreu? Every at bat lasts 10 pitches
Me (7:17:06 PM): Well, it seems impossible now to get a called strike on him. He's like Frank Thomas circa 1998.

Dice K plunks A-Rod, which makes everybody at Fenway Park happy. Joe Morgan makes the point that Dice K wasn't TRYING to hit A-Rod, he was just trying to come inside. You know, Joe Morgan is one of the greatest players in baseball history. But I have no idea how he could know whether or not Dice K was trying to hit Rodriguez.

Jason Giambi pokes a double to left center, scoring two. It's 2-0 Yankees! The inning ends when Robinson Cano grounds out.

Vac (7:18:30 PM): Apparently "Matsuzaka" means "Aaron Sele" in Japanese.
Me (7:19:39 PM): Gyro Ball = bad change-up.
Vac (7:19:58 PM): Yup.
Vac (7:20:57 PM): That ends the competitive portion of the Yankee lineup, though. Check out 7-8-9: Doug Mientkiewicz .128; Melky Cabrera .210, Wil Nieves .000.
Vac (7:21:02 PM): And that's a legit .000
Me (7:22:25 PM): Jon Miller said Dougie is just struggling at the plate. Yeah. So is Carrot Top.

Bottom of the first: Boston lead-off hitter Julio Lugo walks right off the bat, which seems like a nice way for Yankees starter Chase Wright to begin.

Me (7:28:37 PM): This seems an opportune time to ask this question: Who in the hell is Chase Wright?
Vac (7:28:32 PM): The evil spawn of Chase Utley and David Wright.

He then walks Kevin Youkilis. Pitching coach Ron Guidry comes to talk to him.

Me (7:29:22 PM): Kid looks good.
Me (7:29:38 PM): What has he thrown 97 pitches?
Vac (7:29:12 PM): 14
Vac (7:29:16 PM): Half of them for strikes!
Vac (7:30:03 PM): You know what drives pitching coaches like Gator to drink? Walking two guys IN FRONT OF PAPI AND MANNY.
Me (7:30:52 PM): Do you think Ron Guidry can just take the ball and pitch the rest of this inning?
Vac (7:30:39 PM): I've seen him pitch live BP. The answer is yes.

Lo and behold, Chase Wright gets Papi to pop out. Joe Morgan goes on and on about how Chase got away with a bad pitch. Wright then gets MannyBeingManny to pop out. Joe Morgan goes on and on about Chase got away with another bad pitch. Now J.D. Drew fouls one off, and apparently that was a bad pitch too. "He's getting away with bad pitches," Joe Morgan said.

Drew strikes out on a slider. That was probably a good pitch.

Second inning: Doug Mientkewicz just pulled off his specialty ... a nice slow roller to second base. At this point his number should just be 43, right? That's all he does: 4-3.

Vac (7:43:10 PM): That would be awesome! And if they ever go to three digits he'd be first in line for: 123
Vac (7:44:23 PM): By the way, this seems like the perfect time to mention: Buy Joe's book!
Me (7:45:18 PM): You said it, not me.
Me (7:47:39 PM): OK, subject change: What do you think: Should Hank Aaron be there when Barry breaks his record?
Vac (7:47:34 PM): Hell no
Vac (7:47:47 PM): That's like being there for your wife who cheated on you when her second husband wins the lottery.
Vac (7:48:02 PM): Or something like that
Me (7:48:58 PM): I agree with you. I honestly don't see how he could have handled this any better. He said he won't go to the game, but he hasn't ripped Barry publicly. So you know exactly how he feels, but he remains above the fray.
Vac (7:48:40 PM): I'll tell you what: calling him a coward, as (Detroit columnist) Rob Parker did the other day, is one of the worst things I've ever seen. I like Rob a lot but that was so far out of line it was out of the picture
Me: (7:49:38 PM): Yeah, I like Rob too. But that was a way out of line.
Vac (7:49:20 PM): The guy listened to death threats for a year. He doesn't have to answer to you, me, Rob Parker, Barry Bonds, or anyone but his God.

Lots of meaningless things have been happening in the game, by the way. Dustin Pedroia just got the Red Sox first hit though. Then Julio Lugo grounded out to Jeter. Still 2-0 Yankees.

Third inning: Johnny Damon leads off with a single. And then DiceK plunks Jeter. Joe Morgan is pretty sure he wasn't trying to hit Jeter.

Me (7:56:15 PM): You know Johnny Damon stays healthy for a few more years, he's going to get 3,000 hits.
Vac (7:56:12 PM): Just think how many he'd have gotten if he'd decided to hit two-handed.
Vac (7:56:42 PM): DiceK can run for mayor now. Plunks ARod and Jeter in the same hour.
Me (7:58:20 PM): I was just wondering ... do you think he will go to Bucky Dent's house and throw a fastball at him through the window?
Vac (7:58:41 PM): A drive-by beaning!
Me (7:59:17 PM): It's now 0-2 on Abreu. He could throw it underhand over the middle of the plate and not get a strike three call.

I'm wrong. Three pitches later DiceK throws a pitch over the heart of the plate and it's a strike three. Abreu whines.

Me (8:00:29 PM): I don't think Abreu was complaining about the call. I think he was unsure of the rule that an umpire can call a strike three.
Vac (8:01:03 PM): I think the conversation just went like this:
Sam Holbrook: "Strike three! You're out!"
Bobby Abreu: "Don't ever take sides with anyone against my strike zone again. Ever."

And then A-Rod strikes out looking.

Me (8:02:56 PM): And it is followed by a strike three call against A-Rod. Wow. Next thing you know Holbrook will call a charging call against Duke.
Vac (8:02:37 PM): By the way, you know the coolest thing about the way Arod has been playing (that last K notwthstanding)? The fact that he wears his socks like Jackie Robinson. Who played with Buck O'Neil. Who is the subject of a terrific book you may have heard of.
Me (8:05:16 PM): You know A-Rod won the Josh Gibson award like three years in a row -- the Negro Leagues Museum gives out annual awards named after Negro Leagues players. A-Rod recorded a video thanking everyone for the award each year ... and I swear they looked EXACTLY alike. I mean, frame for frame. It was like that modern day version of "Psycho" with Vince Vaughn.
Vac (8:06:09 PM): That's the problem with ARod. even when he does something genuinely nice, its easy to suspect there was something else behind it.

Jason Giambi hits a single to right field, even though Pedroia is playing short fielder out there, scoring Damon. It's 3-0 Yankees.

Vac (8:06:52 PM): You know, Dice K looked a lot better trying to get Tony Pena Jr out.
Me (8:10:44 PM): I will say that people were getting awfully excited about Dice K striking out a lot of Royals. Boof Bonser struck out a lot too.
Vac (8:11:57 PM): Can you imagine if he's a bust? I mean, seriously: what if hes like 10-14 every year, with a 4 ERA? He cost the Sox 103 MILLION!
Me (8:13:07 PM): Then everyone will realize the truth: The Royals got a BARGAIN with Gil Meche.

We're now in the bottom of the third inning, and Joe Morgan is STILL ripping Chase Wright. Apparently now Chase is falling in love with his change-up. I mean the guy has given up one stinking hit. And he just got Papi to poppy up. Here comes Manny Ramirez, who is hitting like .180.

Vac (8:13:07 PM): How about Manny? What if Manny being Manny means that he's realy Manny being Manny Trillo?
Me (8:15:02 PM): OK, that cracked me up. You know the famous Harry Caray moment when the Cubs sent Manny Trillo up to pinch hit. And Caray said: "You know, on a lot of teams you would send a pinch hitter for Manny Trillo."

While I was writing that Manny Ramirez hit a home run that went about 983 feet. Wow. And then J.D. Drew came up and he hit a ball about 843 feet. And then Mike Lowell hit a ball about 879 feet. Wow. None of those three homers were cheapies. OK, now it's OK for Joe Morgan to rip away at Chase Wright. It's 3-3 now.

Vac (8:17:09 PM): Chase Wright = English for Kaz Ishii
Me (8:18:55 PM): It looks at this point like Chase Wright may never get anyone out for the rest of his life.

As soon as I wrote that, Jason Varitek homered. You have to be kidding me. That's four in a row. They just showed 11-year-old Theo Epstein, and he was mouthing: "Oh ... my ... God." It's 4-3 Red Sox.

Me (8:19:12 PM): Oh for God's sake.
Vac (8:18:44 PM): You always want to come to the ballpark and see things you've never seen before. i have never seen that before
Me (8:19:34 PM): Joe Morgan just said the samething. He's never seen four homers in a row.

Four homers in a row. That's pretty amazing, obviously. And all of them were pretty well blasted. The Varitek homer was the cheapest of the bunch, and it wasn't exactly cheap.

Vac (8:19:50 PM): Chase Wright = Masato Yoshii
Vac (8:21:52 PM): Fifth time that's (four homers in a row) ever happened
Vac (8:21:56 PM): last by LA Dodgers last year
Vac (8:22:08 PM): Last AL time -- Twins vs KC A's May 2, 1964
Me (8:27:28 PM): Yep. That was in the 11th inning too. Oliva, Allison, Hall and Killer -- score was tied 3-3 before that.

Fourth inning: Well, the place is still buzzing over the four consecutive home runs. Dougie Baseball did hit a long double to the deepest part of the ballpark but he's stranded at third. Wil Nieves lined out, so he's still hitting .000, which leads to the question: Will Nieves ever get a hit? ... OK here comes one of my favorite TV features: It's the one where they interview the manager right in the middle of the game. Let's hear what Joe Torre has to say:

Highlights: "You know Joe, you've played the game. ... Our lineup goes out there and fights. ... Four homers in a row is a little tough. We just wanted to get him out of there."

And Joe Morgan's response: "That's why Joe's a good manager." Apparently Joe Torre's unique ability to determine that it might be a good idea to take out Chase Wright after he has given up four homers in a row is the very skill that makes him a winner.

Vac (8:34:12 PM): i am having a heck of a good time with this, by the way. And our old pal (Yahoo! baseball columnist) Jeff Passan just walked by and said, "Make sure you tell people to buy Joe's book."
Me (8:36:40 PM): That's what makes Jeff the talented young writing star that he is.
Vac (8:38:14 PM): He is a star. he actually wrote his story yesterday from his hotel room. He not only never has to work on deadline anymore, he scoffs at it. Jerk.

Explainer: We newspaper people -- since we work in an industry that still relies on, you know, presses and trucks -- have to work on ridiculous deadlines. In fact, we often have to write something called an "early" column before the game even ends. So when we see these Internet people who have no deadlines, well, yeah, it will bring out some raw emotions. Jeff used to be a newspaper person. He doesn't seem to miss it.

OK, there is something amazing about tonight's game: It's Jackie Robinson day in Boston. Papi is wearing No. 42. I mean this is a FULL WEEK after Jackie Robinson day in the Major Leagues. Then we all know the Red Sox never were on the cutting edge of integration.

Me (8:42:13 PM): You have to be kidding me. Today is Jackie Robinson day in Boston? Is that serious? Did the people in baseball think it was best for the Red Sox to be the last ones to celebrate that?
Vac (8:43:11 PM): Yup. Pumpsie Green was made the team 12 years after Jackie. Should have had their Jackie Robinson Day 12 days after the Dodgers did.
Me (8:44:56 PM): Almost did. So what do you think: Absurd joke that Tom Yawkey is in the Hall of Fame?
Vac (8:45:16 PM): if you think about it, it's almost as sick a joke as all those ones that circulated after the Challenger blew up. Think about it:
Vac (8:46:05 PM): Yawkey was: 1. One of the all-time racists, ever. 2. He owned the team 34 years. Zero titles. THREE pennants.
Vac (8:46:35 PM): What, exactly, did he do to even be allowed into Cooperstown buying a ticket, much less getting a plaque?
Vac (8:46:48 PM): (Boston columnist) Steve Buckley wrote a great column in the Herald this week saying he should be removed.

Sigh. Tom Yawkey in the Hall of Fame. Buck O'Neil not.

Nothing too exciting happened in the fourth. But wait, it's an interview with Terry Francona. We need highlights:

"So far, I think (DiceK) may be trying to rush a little bit. ... He might be a little bit excited. ... We've been economical with our swings."

Then they talk about Terry's dad Tito for a while.

Fifth inning: Derek Jeter hits a cheappie homer over the Green Monster -- it's 4-4 now. That's leadership. And it's another classic Red Sox-Yankees. game. DiceK then strikes out Abreu looking for the second straight time (hey, the home plate umpire likes this called strikeout feeling!) and he strikes out A-Rod on three pitches that are nowhere near the strike zone. A-Rod is one of the three or four greatest players I've ever seen, but he can have some flat awful looking at-bats. And here comes Jason Giambi.

Vac (8:54:36 PM): Do you remember that hole in the wall of the Camden Yards press box a few years back? The one that was put there by Jason Giambi like seven months earlier?
Vac (8:55:10 PM): Every time he fouls one back I duck.
Vac(8:55:20 PM): He's a strong ess-oh-bee
Me (8:56:50 PM): Here has always been my question about the Giambis -- Jason and Jeremy. When they were kids, which one of them played the field while the other one hit?
Vac (8:56:42 PM): I think their Pop just used pitch-backs for the position players.

Giambi fouls out. Still 4-4 going into the bottom of the fifth. The Red Sox will have another inning of facing pitcher Yankees great Colter Bean.

Me (8:58:53 PM): Seriously, by the way, you cannot win a division or a World Series with Chase Wright and Coulter Bean, right?
Vac (8:58:31 PM): Wil Nieves' last major league hit, btw: Sept. 29, 2002.
Vac (8:58:52 PM): And no, i think you have a better chance with Steven Wright and Orson Bean.
Me (9:01:16 PM): What about Robin Wright and Mr. Bean?
Vac (9:01:42 PM): David Chase and Ann Coulter.

J.D. Drew walks and steals second base on what Jon Miller (and later Joe Morgan) called a "semi pitchout." Is that like a "partially blocked punt?" Then Bean walks Varitek. And here comes Wily Mo Pena, who seems like one heck of a candidate to strike out. Hey, what do you know? He strikes out. Then Pedroia grounds out and we go to the sixth inning.

Commercial observation: They just showed a Budweiser commercial, and the voice sounded EXACTLY like George Clooney. That can't be right, can it? You telling me George Clooney needs to do voiceovers for beer commercials. I mean, Oceans 48 didn't pay enough?

Sixth inning: Robinson Cano leads off with a single, which seems like a waste considering who is coming up for the Yankees. Maybe Dougie Baseball can come through -- AND HE DOES WITH A SINGLE. And it is a classic Doug single. It looked like he hit it pretty good off the bat, which of course fooled the outfielder. But he didn't hit it well at all. The ball dropped in front of the outfielder. First and third, nobody out, Yanks in business. And we're just one batter away from the man, Wil Nieves.

Sadly, Melky Cabrera hits into a double play. The run scores, so now Nieves comes up with nobody on base. Let's go pitch by pitch.

First: Ball. 94 mph fastball low.
Second: 82 mph breaking ball of some sort -- Nieves hits soft pop-up to short. Well, that wasn't as much fun as it should have been.

Me (9:12:01 PM): OK, so who beats a team made up of Yankees coaches? You've got Tony Pena behind the plate, Don Mattingly at first, Larry Bowa at short, Joe Torre at third, Ron Guidry on the mound. No way any other coaching staff beats that team.
Vac (9:13:18 PM): To bad Lee Mazzilli got fired. He'd look good in extra-tight doubleknits
Vac (9:15:07 PM): Your new yankee pitcher: Andy Pettitte
Me (9:16:06 PM): Yeah, what, Sparky Lyle wasn't available?
Vac (9:16:12 PM): Andy Pettitte: not nearly as effective as Lyle at sitting bare-assed on birthday cakes.
Me: (9:17:53 PM): Plus he's slightly older.

Pettite gets Lugo to fly out, then walks Youkilis. So it's Pettite against Papi -- this should be exciting, this great matchup between one of the toughest lefties who has ever pitched for the Yankees against the clutch slugger ... oh, never mind, Papi hits into a double play on the first pitch. The inning is over. Yankees lead 5-4.

Seventh inning: Yanks go up and down, 1-2-3, the highlight being a not-so-tense 382-pitch at bat between DiceK and Bobby Abreu -- including a clear strike three called a ball as the umpire gets back in the Abreu rhythm.

Vac (9:29:27 PM): Abreu's back to doing the Jedi mind trick on the ump.
Me (9:30:36 PM): Watching Abreu -- you know, I know it's better that all of us appreciate on-base percentage and all. But man, it's awful watching some of these high OBP guys. It's like what Pat Riley did to basketball with the Knicks.
Vac (9:30:32 PM): Baseball isn't supposed to be that dull. It's just not.

Commercial update: They just did a commercial for Cialis, where the narrator again reminded anyone taking this stuff that they really should seek immediate medial attention if they have an erection lasting more than four hours. Really? Does any male need this advice? And do you have to wait the full four hours? I mean, are you waiting by the phone that last half hour?

OK, MannyBeingManny just singled here in to lead off the seventh, so there might be some excitement now. Joe Morgan doesn't think Proctor matches up very well with J.D. Drew. And Drew proceeds to crack a double off the monster.

Joe Morgan = Soothsayer.

(Joe follows that up by congratulating his daughter for making the national gymnastics championships. Aww. I know, it's corny and borderline, but I've got daughters too).

Meanwhile, Mike Lowell hits a home run over the Green Monster. Three runs score. It's 7-5 Red Sox. Excitement! And it leads to the constant Fenway argument.

Vac (9:40:56 PM): In every other ballpark in America, thats an F-7.
Me (9:42:04 PM): I don't think so. He hit that on a pretty nasty line. I think it's over the outfieler's head for sure. Jeter's homer was cheaper.
Vac (9:41:44 PM): Maybe.
Me (9:43:21 PM): How many times do you think someone has seen a home run at Fenway Park and wondered if it would have gone out anywhere else?
Vac (9:43:30 PM): Every one that doesn't make it to Landsowne Street. Of course the funny part is, you get just as many screaming line dribves that would be clear home runs everywhere else that die a singles death slamming into the Monster.
Me (9:46:45 PM): The great question: How many home runs would Dave Kingman have hit had he played his career at Fenway?
Vac (9:46:40 PM): Good lord
Vac (9:46:44 PM): He NEVER would have gotten robbed.
Vac (9:46:46 PM): Not once.
Me (9:47:36 PM): All the guy ever did was hit long pop ups to left field.

You know, I asked that question on Kingman based on memory. And usually my memory is awful. But in this case, I was dead on -- Kingman started 18 games at Fenway Park in his career, and most of those were late in his career. He hit 13 home runs. Seriously, you put him in that ballpark, he would be in the Hall of Fame right now.

OK, we're going to the eighth. Red Sox lead 7-5.

Eighth inning: Jon Miller says that the Red Sox are looking to sweep the Yankees at Fenway for the first time 17 years. I'm trying to figure out: Is this is a long time? I mean, there are probably other teams that have not swept the Yankees at home in at least that long, right? Maybe not, though. The Royals did sweep the Yankees at home in 2005 -- the first three games of Buddy Bell's Royals career. He might have quit right then.

(I remember once talking to Gerry Faust, who -- this still amazes me -- went from being a high school football coach in Cincinnati to coach at Notre Dame. No stops in between. The Irish won Faust's first game against LSU and was ranked No. 1 in America. The next week, they led Michigan 7-0. Faust told me: "I should have take a photo of the scoreboard and quit right then. He was right. Michigan won the game. And it was downhill from there).

Me (9:56:20 PM): What does this mean if the Red Sox sweep the Yankees?
Vac (9:56:41 PM): It means the Yankees are in a little trouble if they dont get their players back quick.
Vac (9:57:02 PM): 1-6 (in the lineup) is still the Yankees -- 7-9 is like the Batavia Yankees.
Me (10:02:13 PM): And how about that rotation? Yikes.
Vac (10:04:22 PM): Wang returns Tuesday. They need him in the worst way.

Here in the eighth, A-Rod singles, Dice-K leaves to an ovation, and Hideki Okajima is in the game for the Red Sox -- this means that the Japanese papers will have absolutely nothing except for coverage of this game. But there's a bit of a Yankees buzz here. Robinson Cano singles. And Jorge Posada comes in to pinch-hit. Whenever I see Posada, I think of Opening Day ... wait, we interrupt this story to bring you this Joe Morgan quote on a 2-2 pitch that just missed.

"That was a good pitch from Okajima in that if he had been able to throw it over the plate he would have gotten Posada out."

You figure that one out. Really. Go ahead.

OK. Posada walks -- bases are loaded. ... Back to the story. Opening Day 2001, Yankee Stadium, game tied 2-2 in the sixth. The Yankees put runners on first and second, and Posada was coming up to face Jeff Suppan. Royals manager Tony Muser pulled Suppan and brought in a very nice and very young left-handed pitcher named Tony Cogan. He was a Stanford kid, smart, and he had pitched well in spring and had somehow made the team against all odds. Tony had never pitched above A Ball, I believe. Muser thought it would be a good idea to break him in at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day against Jorge Posada.

You don't need me to tell you that Posada hit a homer, and poor Tony was never the same. ... My favorite part of the story, though, is that after the game we asked Muser what he could have been thinking. Muser said he wanted to "turn Posada around." ... In his career, Posada hits 40 points as a right-handed hitter, and he slugs 50 points higher. That's the Royals, folks.

Quick update on the game: Yankees score a run to make it 7-6. Then Josh Phelps hits a rocket up the middle, that might have scored the tying run. Pedroia makes a nice diving catch. This is really a terrific game. It's 7-6 Red Sox going into the bottom of the eighth.

Vac (10:15:40 PM): God ... is there any worse tradition in sports than "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway?
Vac (10:15:46 PM): and heres the worst part ..
Vac (10:15:50 PM): they've started doing that at Shea, too.
Me (17:56 PM): You're kidding about the Sweet Caroline thing at Shea, right?
Vac (10:17:53 PM): I wish I were.
Vac (10:18:15 PM): That place isnt crappy enough, now theyre stealing everyone elses crappy ideas.
Me (10:20:20 PM): Why doesn't anyone sing along to "Walking Man?"
Vac (10:20:33 PM): That would be too creative.
Me (10:21:27 PM): I think I'm going to suggest that here. I mean, who walks more people than the Royals?

Papi flies out ... all sorts of crazy things happening in this game (including Josh Phelps catching for the first time since 2001) and Papi hasn't been a part of it. ... And here's MannyBeingManny -- you know, Manny was always one of Buck O'Neil's favorite players. Buck just loved watching Manny hit. And he wasn't bothered by the other stuff; he used to say: "Manny's a thorougbred. And you can't treat a thoroughbred like a mule." Manny rips a single to center, his third hit of the day.

The Red Sox leave two on though ... and we go to the ninth. Red Sox lead 7-6. Papelbon vs. Damon, Jeter, Abreu and A-Rod in the hole. This could be good.

Ninth inning: You have to love this -- sure, it's overhyped Yankees-Red Sox, and we're all pretty sick of it, and it's just April so this doesn't mean much. Still you have Papelbon against the guts of the Yankees lineup -- Papelbon hasn't given up a run all year. He could face three or four Hall of Famers to protect a one-run lead. Let's go pitch by pitch.

Papelbon vs. Damon:
Pitch 1: Ball. 98 mph fastball up and away. Yikes.
Pitch 2: Strike. 98 mph fastball that Damon can't catch up with.
Pitch 3: Strike. 94 mph splitter that drops like two feet. Damon swings over.
Pitch 4: Foul. 98 mph fastball fouls back.
Pitch 5: Foul. No speed gun, but it is really fast. Damon fouls it back.
Pitch 6: Ball. 90 mph splitter. Damon checks swing. Joe Morgan had called for the splitter.
Pitch 7: Fly out to left. Splitter that Damon tries to flick to left --but he hits it right at MBM.

Papelbon vs. Jeter:
Pitch 1: Strike. 98 mph fastball that Jeter looks at.
Pitch 2: Ball. 98 mph fastball that drifts outside.
Pitch 3: Strike. 99 mph fastball. Jeter swings way late. Original gun says 95 but it's obviously faster as a later radar gun confirms.
Pitch 4: Strike three. 99 mph pitch -- same pitch a bit more inside. Jeter swings late. He mouths the word: "Wow."

Papelbon vs. Abreu
Pitch 1: Ball. 90 mph splitter sinks low and out of strike zone.
Pitch 2: Ball. 95 mph fastball is up and away.
Pitch 3: Strike. 95 mph fastball nails outside corner. This guy Papelbon is something.
Pitch 4: Ball. 94 mph fastball up and away.
Pitch 5: Foul. 95 mph fastball, Abreu fouls it back.
Pitch 6: Ball 4. 96 mph fastball up. It's a walk (of course) and we get to see A-Rod. Yes. For once, it's fun to see Abreu walk.

Papelbon vs. A-Rod.
Pitch 1: Strike. He throws an 84-mph slider, first slider of the game. A-Rod is fooled.
Pitch 2: Foul. 95 mph fastball, A-Rod just a bit late.
Pitch 3. Grounder to third -- high fastball, A-Rod chops it down to third base. Game over. Red Sox get the sweep. And we are out of here. Thanks to Mike Vaccaro -- buy his book too.