The Battle Shifts To Boston: Round 1

Here we go!

The starting lineups from Peter Abraham:

YANKEES (76-45)

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (9-6, 4.09).

RED SOX (69-51)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis 1B
Bay LF
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Gonzalez SS

Pitching: RHP Brad Penny (7-7, 5.22).

More later...

Update 7:05 PM: Not a bad road trip for Derek Jeter with a .552 average. Jeez. Ever since the Mark Teixeira for MVP talk starter, Derek Jeter has been trying to put his name into the discussion. I think he's one person who was upset to have yesterday off.

Update 7:17 PM: Ok...before we get started a few links.

• Ken Rosenthal said that the Red Sox claimed Billy Wagner off waivers. Will be interesting to see what happens with Omar Minaya supposedly wanting a top prospect for him.
• Was Watching reported that Damaso Marte is back and Ramiro Pena is down. I guess the Yankees wanted to make sure they had enough arms in the bullpen in case they had another 15-inning game this Friday night. Damaso Marte did not do well the last time the Yankees went to Boston with him, but the Yankees figured they'd try it again. Great quote from the article "Kei Igawa wants to know if this means the Yankees are instituting a “No Lefty Left Behind” program"
• 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba wants to talk about how great Nick Swisher is. It Is High, It Is Far, It Is...Caught finds a hilarious Tweet from Nick Swisher who they think is trying to become the next John Sterling: "Texsual Healing baby. Do it Tex."
• Lastly for now, Deadspin shows that if you have the Yankees and Red Sox, there will be fights even if there are 8-year-olds involved.

More later

Update 7:25 PM: Jorgie Juiced one...up the middle. Huge hit there for Jorge Posada. Joe West has a strike zone the size of Brad Penny's gut and that led to two backwards Ks for Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. But Posada gets the Yankees on the board with a big single.

Update 7:30 PM: Uh oh. Johnny Damon out of the game after hitting a ball off of his leg. Not a good sign. He was on the Oakland team in 2001 that faced the Yankees in the playoffs and saw Jermaine Dye break a leg with a foul ball.

Update 7:35 PM: Of course. Andy Pettitte can't hit the outside corner (which is a foot outside) and Jacoby Ellsbury steals second base. Great start in the bottom half

Update 7:42 PM: I added the picture (via ESPN) of Johnny after the injury to his knee. Does not look pretty. Let's hope Johnny is OK. The Yankees are playing tonight with one less bench player so they can't really afford to have injuries. And Johnny's been a big part of what the Yankees have done this season so far. Ouch

Speaking of "ouch", what is Pettitte doing out there? 26 pitches in the first inning. 2-1 Yankees after one.

Update 7:52 PM: A few more links to get through:

• MVN's Around the Majors says that the seasons of Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins have gone very differently since the WBC when Ken Rosenthal chimed in that Jeter should sit for Rollins.
• River Ave Blues wants to know what's up with Alfredo Aceves who has been a little shaky as of late. I think that spot start may have screwed up his arm and Aceves, a guy who was toiling in the Mexican League before this opportunity, doesn't want to admit it to anyone.
  
• Well it ends up the Red Sox really got nothing for Julio Lugo as they released Shelley Duncan's brother. Meanwhile, Lugo is doing great for the Cardinals. The Red Sox should trade every prospect they have for Hanley Ramirez in the offseason. They need some consistency at that position.
• Baseball Musings goes over the "New Joba Rules" and says that Girardi has been doing a good job resting some of his regulars besides Joba as we hit the dog days of August. Speaking of the Joba Rules, River Ave Blues says that they're not just for Joba anymore as Neftali Feliz is being put under a similar program with the Rangers (so much for Nolan Ryan's plan). And Rob Neyer points out the Tigers are doing it with Rick Porcello as well.

More later...

Update 7:59 PM: Brad Penny is getting lit up. 6-1 Yankees. Players who substitute for Johnny Damon when he leaves early in the game are doing great. First Brett Gardner earlier in the year and now Eric Hinske with a big double in this game.

A-Rod just got thrown out trying to be a little too agressive. I guess it's been so long since he got an extra base hit that he wanted to try it.

Update 8:01 PM: Matsui missed one there by inches. Inches. Wow.

Update 8:07 PM: Question via Twitter:

@Ledger_Yankees: Good question: If Damon is out for an extended period, who plays for him in LF? Thoughts? --Carig

I've already said it should be Austin Jackson.

Hopefully, though, we'll never need to know.

Update 8:08 PM: So every pitch Penny threw on the outside is a strike but somehow Pettitte didn't get that one vs. Ortiz? I don't get it. Girardi should get run for his players here. Maybe he's waiting until the beanballs start to get tossed.

Update 8:11 PM: Joe West has got to be kidding me. Like seriously. This is why they shouldn't tenure umpires. Oh wait, they don't? You had me fooled. Awful.

Even Andy Pettitte, the man who doesn't yell at anyone but himself, went after West after that inning. Ridiculous

Update 8:13 PM: Bill Simmons gets involved:

@sportsguy33: Tweets you won't see tonight: "Can't believe the Yanks shelled Brad Penny! I never saw this coming. Stunned. Just stunned."

Update 8:15 PM: Good to see Jerry Remy back in the booth. When I worked for ESPN Radio in Boston, I ran into Rem Dawg during one of my promotional nights. Really nice guy. Said hello, I gave him a t-shirt. Great story.

Update 8:18 PM: Johnny Damon with a bruised knee, that's good news. Hopefully that means day-to-day.

Update 8:19 PM: My dad just called. He wanted to know if this was a Little League game. Jorge Posada strikes out, barely makes it down to first. Robinson Cano doesn't run it out. Joe West looks like he's a Little League umpire. I guess they're inspired by the Little League World Series having started.

By the way, to get Johnny Damon on the 2001 A's they made a 3-way trade. The A's gave away Ben Grieve, A.J. Hinch and Angel Berroa. They got in return Damon, Mark Ellis and Cory Lidle. I think they won that trade.

Update 8:34 PM: What time will this game end? Midnight? Later? It's just moving along at a snail's pace.

Sarah just commented on the fans that YES keeps on showing and said "there is SOME age gap there". Michael Kay and Ken Singleton missed that one.

Update 8:43 PM: That was a quick inning! I think when Michael Kay gets bored in the game in the 4th inning, we're all in trouble.

Also, amazingly, Derek Jeter just got out. Call the presses.

Update 8:45 PM: The Yankees should have knocked out Penny a long time ago. If Matsui's ball goes out, they probably do. Somehow he's still in there. Hopefully this is it. The Yankees need to try to wear out this bullpen

Update 8:50 PM: Thank you for listening. Brad Penny out to the boos of the Fenway faithful. I wonder if that's it for him in Boston. Or at least when Tim Wakefield or Dice-K comes back.

Update 8:54 PM: Drew wasn't catching that one. GODZILLA!

A thrilla from Godzilla! 9-1 Yankees. Which Yankee will be hit? I think it's just a matter of time.

Update 9:06 PM: 11-1 and rolling. The Yankees can't rest here. They need to continue to punish this bullpen.

More links!:

• Some random Yankee thoughts from Sweeny Murti including some great points about the Yankees not needing their 5th starter to do much
• Behind The Moat asks if Mariano Rivera should be in the Cy Young discussion? I think he should be but we'll see if the voters will ever look at him with Zack Grienke, Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia out there
  
• Boston fans are idiots and Fenway Park sucks

Update 9:50 PM: The game got out of hand and now it's just gotten sloppy. It too bad that the Yankees have such a short bench tonight because they should have taken out Cano and Melky because of that to teach them a lesson. Or they should have rested guys like A-Rod. Either way, they may not need another pitcher

Update 9:55 PM: Ok...maybe they'll need that other pitcher. A grand slam here by Baldelli would make this interesting

Update 10:01 PM: Fucking Brian Bruney. Let's go

Update 10:03 PM: I can't watch Bruney anymore. More links!

• Peter Abraham had a niece post about the Yankees going for a group outing to a Creed concert planned by Johnny Damon. I'm not sure about Creed, but this Yankees team does seem to be a lot closer than in the past and it shows.
• NBC Sports says that the Yankees being good is good for baseball
• Ian Kennedy is going on a rehab assignment according to Sliding Into Home
• From Peter Abraham again: "Per Tyler Kepner, Dave Robertson has the best strikeout ratio in the American League (minimum of 30 innings). He is averaging 13.1 per nine innings."
• John Garland cleared waivers. I don't think the Yankees still have interest in him, but it will be interesting to see if anyone gets him. I'm sure some team will. The Dodgers did sign Vincente Padilla

Update 10:37 PM: The Yankees will use Bruney, then Marte, then Sergio Mitre. That's how you know it's a blowout.

Too bad the Yankees don't have a bench tonight or else they would unload it. I still think they should bring in Hairston for someone.