Back In First

It was a comedy of errors in the Bronx last night, with the Yankees headlining the show.

New York posted a 3-spot in the E column by the end of the game last night, led by two key errors from the undeniably un-clutch Alex Rodriguez. His pinstriped partner in crime was AAA callup Melky Cabrera, manning the right field spot while Gary Sheffield sits on the DL nursing a sore wrist. All three Yankee errors led to Red Sox runs, and the eventual 14-3 shellacking on their home turf.

A-Rod’s miscues couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Yankees. Hanging on to a two-run lead in the third inning, Rodriguez booted a David Ortiz grounder with two on and two outs. Half-diving towards his left, as he was the only player on the right side of the infield due to the Ortiz shift, he knocked the ball down but couldn’t find it when he got to his feet for the throw. By the time he located the ball and zipped it to first, Ortiz had already hustled down the line to first. Instead of ending the inning and heading to bat with the lead, Rodriguez’s miff plated two runs and allowed the inning to continue, eventually giving the Sox a 3-2 advantage.

That was all the Sox needed to get to Yankee starter Randy Johnson. The Big Unit was way off his usual game, lasting only 3.2 innings, his shortest outing against the Sox since 1991. Johnson allowed five walks, threw two wild pitches (one of which scored a run), and allowed seven Red Sox to cross home plate. Thanks to the horrific defense of the Yankees, only two of those seven runs were earned.

Sox starter Josh Beckett was Johnson’s antithesis. Beckett shined in his return to Yankee stadium, pitching seven strong innings of three-run ball, notching seven strikeouts along the way to his fifth win of the season. To the delight of the Red Sox Nation, two of those K’s came via Johnny Damon.

For the entire game, everything seemed to bounce in favor of the Red Sox. Mike Lowell lined a hard grounder that bounded up and over Rodriguez at third, his second error of the game, and would score three batters later on a three-run homer by Sox shortstop Alex Gonzalez, his first of the season. Did you catch that last part? A home run by Alex Couldn’t-Knock-a-Butterfly-Off-a-Branch Gonzalez? I bet he couldn’t believe it either. I was fully expecting him to pimp at home plate a-la Omar Epps (as Wesley Snipes) as Willie Mays Hayes, only to have it fall short for the lazy fly ball out.

But it didn’t drop in the left fielder’s glove; it almost made the second deck. That made the score 10-2, and the Sox were cruising along.

Mark Loretta got the green light to swing away on a 3-0 count, facing Johnson, and smacked a two-run single down the left field line past the diving Rodriguez. Ortiz shuffled around to score from second base on a Ramirez single, just getting under Jorge Posada’s tag at home. Ramirez belted a leadoff homer in the sixth.

And in a play that truly illustrates how Boston caught all the breaks, Beckett took a liner from Robinson Cano off his calf in the seventh with a man on first and one out. The ricochet bounced right to Lowell on third, though, who was able to get the force out at second.

It was just that kind of night for the Sox.

The frustration of the Yankees was readily apparent. After getting punched out watching strike three zip by him for the third out of the seventh inning, the usually mild-mannered Bernie Williams flipped his helmet back towards home plate in disgust, nearly hitting the umpire. Williams didn’t bother to argue his ejection, and will be lucky to escape a fine from the incident: replays show that Williams glanced back over his shoulder before throwing his helmet towards the umpire, a move that may prove to be too closely reminiscent of Devil Ray minor leaguer Delmon Young’s bat-tossing spectacle that landed him a 50 game suspension.

Even Steinbrenner, who has been suspiciously quiet this season compared to his rantings and blow-ups of past years, couldn’t help to voice displeasure with his multi-million dollar lineup. When asked what he thought of the lopsided loss to division rivals, Steinbrenner simply replied, “I’m upset at a lot of them.”

But without further solicitation, he added, “The third baseman.”

With 19 regular-season head-to-head games, its hard to call this series a Key Series. Though first place is at stake (and currently in control of the Sox), there’s too much season left to make any definitive conclusions.

But this series is still important. The first real matchup of these two powerhouses. Incredible pitching duels. Games played in the heart of enemy territories. It could all very well set the tone for the rest of the season, and the Sox have firmly planted themselves in the driver’s seat.

Barry Bonds* remains at 713 home runs, one away from pulling even with Babe Ruth, thanks to a highlight-reel leaping grab at the fence by Cubs centerfielder Juan Pierre. Had the blast gone to any other part of Giants stadium (AT&T Park, ugh.), especially the short right field porch designed to give Bonds those dramatic home runs into McCovey Cove, the number two spot on the all-time home runs list would be shared by two sluggers. Instead, Pierre tracked the long fly ball back to the wall, timed his leap perfectly, and hauled in a shot that would have just cleared the 399-foot fence.

Bravo, Pierre. I applaud you for keeping the Giants Juicer in the park, even if its just for one more night. It would take a miracle for Bonds not to catch and pass Ruth on the home run list at this point. Everyone knows its only a matter of time before he launches a few more moon shots and claims sole possession of second place.

But Pierre wouldn’t let that happen on his watch.

The fans in Philadelphia had it right, in my opinion. The seats in left field displayed a special banner for Bonds during Friday night’s game.

“Ruth did it on hotdogs & beer. Aaron did it with class.”

The legacy Bonds has built is a little harder to swallow.