That's More Like It, Red Sox Rally Falls Short Against Yankees

Jacoby Ellsbury had two walk-off hits in a row last season but he couldn't record the same feat this season-obviously-as the Red Sox fell 5-4 to the Yankees tonight at Fenway Park in the middle game of three.

Baltimore beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on a walk-off hit by Nate McLouth so the Orioles and Yankees remain tied for first place in the AL East. The Rays dropped to three games behind both teams.

To show you how important this game was to New York (80-62, 39-34), Joe Girardi used seven pitchers in a nine-inning contest and nobody had to leave early with an injury.

Boston (64-79, 33-42 home) were down 5-1 in the seventh inning but scored twice in that frame on a ground out by Mauro Gomez and Mike Aviles' RBI double. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (double, triple, walk) cranked a solo homer in the ninth (his 24th of the season) against Yankees closer Rafael Soriano. After Aviles reached on an infield single, Ellsbury represented the winning run. He never swings at the first pitch, except then as he grounded to Soriano, who got his fourth and final out for his 37th save.

New York was 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position but it didn't matter since they scored all their runs on three homers. Curtis Granderson had a solo homer in the fourth and two-run bomb in the seventh (his 37th of the season). Robinson Cano had a two-run homer (30th of the season) of his own in the fourth.

David Phelps (4-4) earned the win after 5.2 innings, one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Aaron Cook (3-10) went five innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

Things got wacky in the late innings, try to keep up. Dustin Pedroia (2 for 3 with double, run) left in the seventh inning to attend the birth of his second child; Derek Jeter (2 for 5 with run) hurt his ankle running to first base in the seventh and had to leave the game. Cody Ross was called out on a totally bogus third strike to end the eighth with a runner on second, he went bananas leading to his ejection along with manager Bobby Valentine (6th of the season, new team record) and third-base coach Jerry Royster.

James Loney (2 for 4 with double) produced Boston's first run with an RBI single in the fourth which cut it to 3-1. Nick Swisher was 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles while Eric Chavez also had two doubles.

Tomorrow night (7:10 p.m.) is the series finale and the last Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway in 2012. Felix Doubront (10-8) faces Phil Hughes (14-12).

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