The Red Sox Are Still Alive (For One More Day At Least) Thanks To Jacoby Ellsbury

Being unemployed and having a Sunday Night Football matchup of the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts (with no Peyton Manning) will drive a man to do many things: drink, do drugs and the most abusive behavior of all-watching a 14-inning Red Sox-Yankees game.

Thankfully for my sanity, Boston (89-70) made it all worthwhile (kind of) with a thrilling 7-4 win over New York (97-62) in Yankee Stadium.

Mr. AL MVP Jacoby Ellsbury (sounds good, doesn't it?) made sure that the Rays wouldn't end the day tied with the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card as he crushed a three-run bomb off Yankees fossil reliever Scott Proctor (0-2).

Felix Doubront got a 1-2-3 14th for his first save of the season. It's not hyperbole to say that this was the Red Sox' most important win of 2011 since if they had lost (like they did earlier in Game 1 of the day-night doubleheader), they were cooked (tied with Tampa Bay).

John Lackey didn't exactly spin a gem but by keeping Boston in the game, he succeeded in his most meaningful start for the Red Sox. He allowed three runs in the first but Big Hoss (hat tip to El Pres) held on for six innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves (1.2 innings), Daniel Bard (1 inning, 3 walks), Jonathan Papelbon (2.1 innings), Franklin Morales (1-1; 2 innings) and Doubront teamed up for an incredible performance by the Red Sox bullpen which has been running on empty for weeks. Most impressive were Aceves and Papelbon who didn't allow any hits and Morales for holding on during a rocky 44-pitch, 2 walks outing.

Would you believe that J.D. Drew was in the lineup after a three month plus vacation (last game July 19)? Yup, when the team is collapsing you need to bring him in to deliver the goods. He actually got Boston's first run in the fifth with an RBI single.

Adrian Gonzalez's ground out in the sixth and Marco Scutaro's RBI double in the seventh tied it before Jason Varitek put the Red Sox ahead with an RBI single later in the seventh.

Chris Dickerson tied it with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

The win tonight more than made up for the forgettable 6-2 loss this afternoon and I don't just say that since I saw probably three total minutes of it. Hey, I had to watch the Patriots choke away a big lead to the Bills!

Tim Wakefield (7-8) lost that one just like we all knew he would. A.J. Burnett (11-11), Lackey's tattooed cousin from another uncle, was the latest recipient of Boston's turd sandwich against shitty starting pitchers.

From my perspective, the only notable aspect of Game 1 is that Ellsbury hit two homers (his 29th and 30th of the season). Coincidentally, the second one gave him 100 RBIs on the season. He's the first 30-30 player in Red Sox history.

Here we go, the 2011 regular season ends at Camden Yards. The pitching matchups are Josh Beckett vs. Tommy Hunter tomorrow night (one the O's won last week), Erik Bedard vs. Zach Britton on Tuesday and Jon Lester vs. Alfredo Simon on Wednesday. The Yankees go to Tropicana Field to face the Rays in their last pretend series.

If they can't beat the Orioles enough to hang on, there will be no excuses. Baltimore won three of four at Fenway last week. Hopefully this win propels Boston to the finish line and where they go from there, we'll worry about that later.

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Yankees Win Marathon 9-Inning Game, Burnett Shocks World By Not Imploding

The super slow motion of a typical Red Sox-Yankees game is bad enough but when somebody like A.J. Burnett wins for New York, a contest that takes way too long turns into a marathon (four hours and twenty one minutes) of torture.

The Yankees (82-53) took two out of three at Fenway Park as they beat the Red Sox (82-53) 4-2 tonight. Boston is back to the slim half game lead atop the AL East while the season series moves to 11-4 in favor of the Red Sox (three left in NY in a few weeks).

Logic dictated the first two outcomes of this latest series: CC Sabathia was due for a win against the Red Sox while Josh Beckett is light years ahead of Phil Hughes at this point. This was the game that on paper that seemed to be a lock for the home team since Jon Lester was starting. As the crappy cliche goes, that's why they play the game.

Burnett got a no-decision but by not completely shitting the bed, he was wildly successful. He went 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

A high pitch count (114 pitches) was the thing that caused Lester to crumble. He lasted only five innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Robinson Cano's (2 doubles) first inning double drove in Curtis Granderson (2 hits) for a 1-0 Yankees lead.

With both starters out relatively early, it became a battle of the bullpens and to their credit, New York was better. Alfredo Aceves (9-2) was charged with two earned runs and Daniel Bard gave up an earned run and two hits.

Russell Martin put New York ahead with a two-run double in the seventh and pinch-hitter Eric Chavez came through with an RBI single for a 4-2 cushion. Those guys have both been Red Sox killers this season.

Boone Logan got an out, Cory Wade got an out (and earned a fraudulent win) while Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless seventh and David Robertson had a scoreless eighth. Mariano Rivera had to work in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs and Adrian Gonzalez at bat but Rivera struck him out looking with his 28th pitch to get his 36th save.

One positive for Boston is that Felix Doubrant made his first appearance since April 17 and it was a good one. He recorded four outs, gave up no hits and struck out two. If he can give them anything, it could be big since they desperately need a lefty out of the bullpen for the playoffs that's not named Franklin Morales.

The Texas Rangers come to town this weekend for a three-game series: Andrew Miller vs. Derek Holland tomorrow night, Erik Bedard vs. Colby Lewis on Saturday afternoon and John Lackey vs. Matt Harrison on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully the Red Sox can keep their momentum going vs. the Rangers that they gained last week in the Lonestar State.

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Yawn, Red Sox take another game from the Yankees

It was so considerate of the Boston Red Sox to get out to a big lead last night on the New York Yankees, meaning that you didn't have to worry about them while we watched the Bruins dominate the Canucks in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Boston (35-26) was up 7-0 in the top of the fourth and hung on for a 11-6 win over the Yankees (33-26) last night at Yankee Stadium. It gave the Red Sox six wins in the teams' seven meetings so far this season and also catapulted Boston a game ahead of New York for first place in the American League East.

The game that figured to be dominated by hitters with Tim Wakefield and A.J. Burnett on the mound, turned out just as you'd expect with both teams using them as batting practice.

Wakefield (3-1) at least saved some face and survived for 5.1 innings, earning the win. He allowed five earned runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Alfredo Aceves, the former Yankee, picked up his first save of the season by getting the final 11 outs. He allowed one earned run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. More importantly, with Bobby Jenks back on the DL (what a useless tub of goo) and the Red Sox bullpen taxed, Aceves gave them some much needed rest in the brutal heat.

Burnett (6-4) used to own Boston when he was in the no-pressure zone of Toronto. Since he's been with the Yankees, he can't do anything positive against the Red Sox. Last night in 5.2 innings, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits) led off the game with a single, he stole second and moved to third on an error by Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs). Adrian Gonzalez drove Ellsbury in for a 1-0 lead. For the second straight game, David Ortiz went deep (his 15th of the season) with a two-run bomb in the first. There was no bat flip so Joe Girardi will have to find some other inane thing to cry about.

J.D. Drew made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly in the second. The Red Sox tacked on three more runs in the fourth, including an RBI double by Ellsbury.

Alex Rodriguez really stepped up in the clutch with a solo homer when his team trailed 7-0 in the fourth. After Cervelli's RBI double, Derek Jeter's RBI single and Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly, New York cut it to 7-4 in the fifth.

The teams both scored one run in the sixth before Boston put it away with a pair of home runs in the ninth. Carl Crawford (sixth of the season) had a solo homer and Drew hit a two-run bomb off somebody named Lance Pendelton (Joba is on the DL and is going to have Tommy John surgery).

Teixeira's RBI single in the ninth made it 11-6 which was the final margin.

Josh Beckett faces CC Sabathia tonight in the series finale. A win would give the Red Sox their second straight sweep in Yankee Stadium and it would plant some serious dobut in the Yankees' minds.

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Jed Lowrie, You Give Me the Business

With the injuries piling up lately, it hasn't been pretty but the Red Sox took care of business (baby) with a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings yesterday at the Rogers Centre.

Boston (75-55) won two of three in Toronto and has a day off today before playing its final regular season series at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto (67-63) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Daisuke Matsuzaka and with A.J. Burnett on the mound, the Blue Jays looked poised to take another one from the Red Sox.

It was a true team win as numerous guys on the Red Sox contributed in big ways. Jacoby Ellsbury ran into a wall to make a catch, Jason Bay made a leaping catch at the left field fence to end the 10th, Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run bomb, Jonathan Papelbon threw two scoreless innings, Manny Delcarmen recorded a save and Jed Lowrie put Boston up for good with a homer in the 11th inning.

On a day where Dice-K really needed to give his beleaguered bullpen some innings, he came through. Kinda. Matsuzaka lasted six innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Now that Rich Harden is healthy (knock on wood) and racking up wins and double digit strikeout totals for the Cubs, Burnett has officially taken over the title of baseball's most hyped pitcher, who has never put it together for a full season. Believe it or not, for as good as Burnett's stuff is, he's never had more than 12 wins in a season.

He entered yesterday on a hot streak, with a career-high 16 wins to his name but his record didn't change. Burnett went seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

No hitter has killed the Red Sox as much this season as Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells (2 runs, 2 hits, 3 RBIs, walk). He added to his stats with a two-run homer in the first off Dice-K.

Pedroia put the Sox up 3-2 in the third with his 14th homer of the season. Boston's other hitter having a dream season, Kevin Youkilis, increased the lead to 4-2 with an RBI single later in the frame.

Lyle Overbay hit a solo homer in the fourth and the Jays tied it in the sixth on Wells' RBI double. Rod Barajas put Toronto up 5-4 but Matt Stairs was thrown out at home to end the inning.

Coco Crisp hit a solo homer in the seventh to tie it up and then Lowrie hit his first lefthanded homer (and second overall) in the majors, to put Boston up 6-5 in the 11th.

The Red Sox bullpen gets an A yesterday as they combined for five scoreless innings. Justin Masterson (who's settling down nicely in his new role) got four outs before Hideki Okajima (who has quietly turned his season around) got the last two outs of the eighth. Even in a tie game on the road, Papelbon went two innings and Delcarmen managed to nail down the save after walking the leadoff hitter.

The Rays lost in 10 innings yesterday to the White Sox so they're currently 4.5 games up on Boston. The Yankees are five games behind Boston and the Red Sox lead the Wild Card by one game.

Clearly, the three games against the Yankees could prove pivotal as the Sox could put the final nail in the Bombers' coffin by taking at least two games. Nothing is ever that easy though and with Tim Wakefield (fresh off the DL) and Paul Byrd scheduled to start the first two games, it could turn into batting practice quickly.