Game 124 - Yanks 5 Jacks Beat Boston, Beckett

Derek Jeter took Josh Beckett deep on the first pitch of the game, and it was a premonition of things to come. ARod, Robbie Cano and another 2 jacks from Hideki Matsui led the Yanks to an 8-4 victory over Boston in the rubber game of the 3-game series. CC Sabathia gutted through 6.2 innings, giving up 4 runs, 3 earned while striking out 8. He allowed no walks in his 118-pitch effort, winning his 5th straight and league-leading 15th game.

The Yanks scored at least a run in the first 5 frames against Beckett. Matsui followed up Jeter's leadoff HR with a shot of his own to leadoff the 2nd. Tex and ARod had RBIs in the 3rd, Cano homered in the 5th, and ARod hit a rising liner over the Monster for a 2-run shot. Matsui finished off the scoring with another solo blast in the 8th. Curiously enough, Terry Francona kept Josh Beckett in the game for 8 innings, despite surrendering all 5 dingers and 8 earned runs. Does this demonstrate a lack of faith in the once highly touted Sox bullpen? The move, or lack thereof, was interesting.

Sabathia, for the most part, kept the Sox in check. He blew an early 2-0 lead in the 2nd. Yet again, the Yanks allowed 2 runs to score with 2 out. After striking out Big Nugget Youkilis and Jason Bay to start the inning, Crooked Cap gave up a double to the crippled Mike Lowell, an RBI single to mysterious fatigue-diseased Rocco Baldelli and an RBI double to the overhill Jason Varitek. It wasn't CC's finest moment.

Cano was at fault for the Sox 3rd run. With 2 outs (of course), he dropped Varitek's pop up after calling off Tex, allowing Bay to score all the way from 1st. It was Cano's 2nd error of the game and it continues his recent fielding slump where recently, he's been making errors at a regular clip. Is this a sign of fatigue or lack of focus with a huge lead? Either way, Cano is someone I don't feel comfortable with in the big game or big moment.

Phil Hughes pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to bridge the gap to Mariano Rivera. Mo walked JD Drew to leadoff the 9th for only his 9th free pass of the season, but struck out 2 of the next 3 hitters to seal the win. With the victory, the Yanks won the series, ended their 10-game road trip at 7-3 and increased their division lead to 7.5 games over the Bosox.

Godzilla's 2-homer game was his 2nd in the series and 3rd in his last 7 games. The man is "en fuego". I don't know how to say "on fire" in Japanese. Reportedly, the Yanks won't be re-signing Matsui in the off-season, but he's making a pretty good case for someone to take a flyer on him. Oakland perhaps?

Off day today and the Yanks return home to the Bronx to face the Texas Rangers, who are 1 game back of the Sox for the wild card. Would the Yanks sabotage this series to help eliminate the Sox? Starting Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin tomorrow may be a good start to hurting the Sox. We'll see.

Yankees Record: 78-46