The Boston Red Sox

Friday, September 2, 2011

* The Boston Globe

Edge to Yankees

Peter Abraham

The bases were loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning last night. The Red Sox were down

by two runs against the Yankees and Mariano Rivera, but had the right man at the plate in Adrian

Gonzalez.

Rivera doesn‘t watch other teams celebrate from the mound very often, but has blown five saves this

season. Those fans who had endured a long night at Fenway Park were standing in anticipation.

Gonzalez took a two-strike pitch from Rivera that was low and on the outer corner of the plate. On a night

when his strike zone had been tight, umpire Alfonso Marquez called Gonzalez out to end the game.

Sitting in front of his locker after a 4-2 loss, Gonzalez looked up as reporters entered the clubhouse.

―That pitch was low, I should still be hitting. That‘s all I have to say,‘‘ he said.

An attempt at a follow-up question was politely batted away.

―That‘s it,‘‘ Gonzalez said, getting up to trudge to the showers.

Replays showed the pitch was close. Rivera usually doesn‘t need much help, but may have gotten a little in

notching his 36th save.

The Yankees looked relieved as they walked out of Fenway Park, having taken two of three from the Sox

to move within a half-game of first place. The race to win the American League East may just be heating

up.

The Sox are 11-4 against the Yankees this season but the teams have split their last six games. They will

meet again in New York Sept. 23-25.

The Yankees have won four of their last five. The Sox are 3-3 on their homestand with Texas arriving for a

three-game series tonight.

―We‘re playing better against them,‘‘ Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. ―They beat us up pretty good

there for a while. We‘re just pitching a lot better now.‘‘

Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning, driving a two-run homer to center field off

A.J. Burnett. It was his 18th of the season, a career high.

The Sox knocked Burnett out of the game in the sixth inning. Pedroia singled with one out and stole second

before David Ortiz drew a walk. That was it for Burnett after 96 pitches.

Lefthander Boone Logan came in and struck out Carl Crawford. Girardi went to his bullpen again, this time

for righthander Corey Wade. Jed Lowrie made good contact, but a diving Curtis Granderson caught his

liner to right-center. That saved a run.

―Huge play at the time,‘‘ said Sox manager Terry Francona.

Sox starter Jon Lester was able to go only five innings, holding the Yankees to one run on seven hits and

three walks over 114 pitches. He put runners on base in every inning, but the Yankees were 0 for 4 with

runners in scoring position against him after Robinson Cano‘s double in the first inning.

Former Yankee Alfredo Aceves, reliable all season, was on the mound in the seventh inning.

With one out, he got ahead of Andruw Jones. But Jones fouled off eight two-strike pitches before drawing a

walk on the 14th offering.

Jesus Montero, playing in his first major league game, was next. Aceves got ahead of him then threw a

pitch that Marquez ruled struck Montero.

―The ball just hit his uniform,‘‘ Francona said.

Francona went to Daniel Bard, who had allowed only three of the 29 runners he had inherited this season to

score.

Bard threw two sliders past a swinging Russell Martin. Three straight fastballs missed. Martin then fouled

off a slider before lining a high fastball to the gap in right to drive in two runs.

―The 1-2 pitch I thought was a pretty good pitch, maybe an inch off,‘‘ Bard said. ―I guess [Marquez] got it

right, but it was a good pitcher‘s pitch. The last fastball caught too much of the plate. I just didn‘t put him

away.‘‘

Martin took third on the throw to the plate and pumped his fist at the Yankees dugout. With the infield in,

pinch hitter Eric Chavez singled to right to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead.

Aceves (9-2) took the loss, his first in relief since May 26, 2009. Until last night, he had won 18 straight

decisions out of the bullpen.

Despite the relative lack of offense, the game lasted 4 hours 21 minutes.

―It‘s kind of ridiculous,‘‘ Pedroia said. ―But that‘s what we expect. These two teams grind it out every

time.‘‘

Thoughtful evening at the park

Dan Shaughnessy

Midnight confessions and random thoughts while watching the Red Sox and Yankees for that last time at

Fenway this year (unless we get the overdue dream ALCS matchup) . . .

■The length of these games has become intolerable. Last night, it took the Sox and Yankees 4 hours 21

minutes to score six runs over nine innings. Jon Lester threw a whopping 43 pitches in the first frame of

Boston‘s 4-2 loss. Played to the tune of Iron Butterfly‘s ―In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,‘‘ the game ended at 11:32

when Adrian Gonzalez took a called third strike with the bases loaded. It was a very good game, but it was

also longer than Albert Haynesworth‘s rap sheet. Think about this for a second: On Sept. 12, 1979, the Sox

beat the Yankees, 9-2. The game was halted for 15 minutes when Carl Yastrzemski recorded his 3,000th

hit. Still, they managed to play nine innings in 2 hours 8 minutes. As Ned Martin would say, ―Mercy!‘‘

■I want to declare that the Red Sox are simply better than the Yankees, but I can‘t. Winning 11 of the first

14 head-to-head meetings would suggest that Boston is the superior team, but the Yankees have scored

more runs (736-731) and allowed fewer (540-569) than the Sox. So, how do we dismiss the Bronx Bombers

as inferior?

■Yankees phenom/prospect Jesus Montero went 0 for 4 in his big-league debut. The 21-year-old fanned on

a 3-and-2 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in his first at-bat. Fortunately, there‘s no pressure on

Montero. Thursday‘s New York Post hailed his arrival with the headline, ―Jesus on the way.‘‘ Why can‘t

we write headlines like that?

■In the old days, it was Ted Williams vs. Joe DiMaggio. Then we had Carlton Fisk vs. Thurman Munson.

Now we have a debate at three pivotal positions. Who would you take? Dustin Pedroia or Robinson Cano?

Jacoby Ellsbury or Curtis Granderson? Gonzalez or Mark Teixeira? These are almost impossible choices.

At this hour, I‘m going with Cano, Ellsbury, and Gonzalez. But I might flip on all three as early as

tomorrow. It‘s certainly hard to vote against Pedroia after watching the little guy crush a two-run homer to

center on yet another one of his patented violent swings.

■Is there anything more ridiculous than Bill James‘s ―temperature gauge‘‘ currently being forced on us by

NESN? There‘s not a man alive who can comprehend the formula. We‘d have a better chance deciphering

WWII transcripts of the Navajo Code Talkers.

■The Yankees can only be encouraged by the performance of piñata righthander A.J. Burnett. Pitching for

his playoff life, Burnett was not terrible. He allowed two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. It‘s

inconclusive. Joe Girardi is still searching for playoff starters Nos. 2, 3, and 4.

■Have your fun hooting on the guy, but when the playoffs start, J.D. Drew will be the Red Sox‘ right

fielder. Like it or not, September will be devoted to getting J.D. ready for the postseason stage.

■With the Yankees out of town, there‘s finally some rest for paparazzi and gossip columnists. Yankees-

Red Sox games at Fenway always feel like a cover shoot for ―Sgt. Pepper‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band.‘‘

You never know who‘s going to show. When the Yankees visited last month we had Carlos Slim, the

richest man in the world, hanging around the batting cage. This week, we saw just about everybody except

the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Yesterday, it was Phil Mickelson taking some hacks while Sox

players got ready for batting practice. Lefty is, indeed, a lefthanded hitter. He has a nice soft swing and

managed to hit some looping singles to right-center. No power. Must need the Big Dog to hit the long ball.

Mickelson‘s deepest shot probably went 250 feet.

―Not so easy when it‘s not on a tee, is it, big guy?‘‘ taunted Pedroia. Mickelson threw out the first pitch,

wearing a Red Sox No. 62 jersey. His appearance was only part of the circus. During batting practice Tim

Thomas sat on the Red Sox bench for some championship talk with David Ortiz. Meanwhile, Kevin Millar

and Hazel Mae broadcast from a makeshift MLB Network stage beyond the first base dugout (Curt

Schilling and Nomar Garciaparra broadcast Tuesday‘s game). Sox owners walked around accompanied by

a crew from National Geographic. The vaunted mag is working on a piece celebrating Fenway‘s 100th

anniversary.

In the ancient visitors‘ clubhouse, Luis Tiant and Bob Costas worked the room, both taking time to speak

with Reggie Jackson. Alex Rodriguez sat in front of his locker wearing headphones, while Derek Jeter

signed a couple of baseballs for Freddy Garcia.

■A word about autographs: Fans would be surprised, and heartened, to see how often players ask other

players to sign stuff. In this way, the athletes are not much different from the people who pay to watch

them play. Players need items for family members, for charities, and sometimes for posterity. Just like you.

And woe is the ballplayer who won‘t accommodate a fellow teammate. Bill Russell once refused to sign a

program for Tommy Heinsohn before the two played a game at Madison Square Garden. That leaves a scar.

■Nine-inning games that last 4 hours 21 minutes also leave a scar. Time for Bud Selig and Joe Torre to step

in. This cannot continue. Baseball has survived a lot of blunder and stupidity over the last hundred years,

and now the sport has to figure out how to get the Sox and Yankees to pick up the pace.

It was a grind for Lester

Michael Vega

The first inning was as torturous for Jon Lester as it was interminable.

It took the Red Sox lefthander 43 pitches to extract himself after allowing three consecutive hits, including

an RBI double to left by Robinson Cano, to spot the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Initially, it was reported Lester had thrown 44 pitches, but it was later corrected to 43. It still wound up

being a career high for an inning.

It did little to speed the 4-hour-21-minute game along.

―People wonder why we play four-hour games with the Yankees,‘‘ said Lester, who got a no-decision after

going five innings (114 pitches) and allowing one run on seven hits and three walks while striking out six.

―It‘s right there in front of you,‘‘ he said. ―Every at-bat is a grind and there‘s some days where, yeah, you

make it look easier than others, but it‘s a grind every time they step in the box. It goes the same for us.

There‘s a reason why our offenses are so good. They see a lot of pitches and they make the pitchers work.‘‘

The Yankees laid the groundwork for last night‘s victory, which enabled them to pull within a half-game of

the Sox in the American League East, by grinding every at-bat against Lester in the first inning.

After striking out leadoff hitter Derek Jeter on six pitches, Lester gave up back-to-back singles to Curtis

Granderson and Mark Teixeira, before Robinson Cano struck for a double that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Lester did not subscribe to the notion that his command had anything to do with his protracted first inning.

―It wasn‘t like I was throwing balls all over the place,‘‘ he said. ―Gave up a single to Granderson and a

single to Teixeira that barely winds up falling [in center field]. The ball to Cano was location, but for the

most part I thought I threw the ball pretty well.‘‘

But when it comes to having to face the Yankees, Lester said, ―It‘s a lot a foul balls, a lot of long at-bats,

and that‘s what you get with these guys.‘‘

That much was evident when Nick Swisher came to the plate with one out and two men aboard and

proceeded to put the screws to Lester, by making him grind for a 10-pitch strikeout. Swisher fell behind on

the count early at 1 and 2, then fouled off four consecutive pitches before Lester threw two balls that made

the count 3 and 2. Swisher kept alive his at-bat with another foul ball before he struck out swinging at a 92-

mile-per-hour cutter.

Andruw Jones then came up and drew a walk on nine pitches, hitting five foul balls, to load the bases for

rookie Jesus Montero, the Yankees‘ top catching prospect who was called up yesterday from Triple A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Lester got out of the jam, mercifully, when he struck out Montero on six pitches.

In all, Lester threw 26 of the 43 pitches for strikes, including 14 that were fouled off.

By then, it was evident, Lester was not likely to go deep into the game, and that all hands in the Red Sox

bullpen had to be on deck.

―I mean, [43] pitches in one inning isn‘t broken down to one at-bat,‘‘ Lester said. ―Ten pitches to Swisher

and nine pitches to Andruw Jones, I mean, it‘s all the same. Just a lot of foul balls and with a team like that,

it‘s what you get.

―You don‘t have a lot of games where you get a lot of 0-0 contact, 0-and-1 contact, 1-and-0 contact that

goes in your favor,‘‘ he said. ―That‘s what makes them, and that‘s what makes us, so tough. We foul off a

lot of good pitches, and that‘s what they did and made me work.‖

* The Boston Herald

Yankees fulfill their needs

Steve Buckley

If you‘re a Yankees fan who was looking to see your beloved Bombers put some shades-of-‘78, Boston

Massacre-type hurtin‘ on the Red Sox this week at Fenway Park — well, no, you didn‘t get any of that.

If you were hoping one of your Yankees would toss a Red Sox pitcher to the ground like a rag doll — think

Graig Nettles, Bill Lee, 1973 — well, no, you didn‘t get any of that, either.

And if you were hoping the manager of the Red Sox would doze in the dugout as his starting pitcher‘s arm

turned cold and achy — a la Game 7, ALCS, Yankee Stadium, 2003 — well, no, sorry.

But while the Yankees did not beat up the Red Sox this week, what‘s important here is that they beat them.

And though they did not embarrass the Sox, they did outlast them. Stop the presses: The Yankees came into

Fenway this week and took two out of three, including a 4-2 victory last night in a four-hour, 21-minute

affair that surely had some fans thinking that this is Boston, not New York, and the subway doesn‘t run all

night.

Everybody knows that the Yankees, like the Sox, are going to the postseason. But when you lose 10 games

in 12 tries to your chief rivals, as the Yankees had done coming into this series, it‘s hard to puff out your

collective, pinstriped chests and make with the tough talk about taking your act deep into October.

―We didn‘t play very well the first nine games against them, we just didn‘t,‖ said Yankees manager Joe

Girardi. ―We won one game here early in April, but they beat us up pretty good.‖

In last night‘s series finale, the Yankees were trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning when Russell Martin rifled a

two-run double to right-center off Daniel Bard. Eric Chavez followed with an RBI single, after which it

was just an issue of whether the New York bullpen could shut down the thumpy Sox batting order.

The great Mariano Rivera loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, bringing Adrian Gonzalez to the dish,

and it‘s for moments such as these that Gonzo was imported from San Diego, right?

But the Mighty Mo threw a two-strike offering that caught about one-32nd of the outside corner of the plate

— it was a magnificent, unhittable pitch — and the Yankees had their hard-earned victory.

And you don‘t think Girardi didn‘t understand the importance of this series?

―Yeah, you want to win a series against them,‖ he said. ―We had a chance last time we were here. I think it

was important, and our guys got it done.‖

This was supposed to be a mismatch, as lefty Jon Lester [stats] brought a 14-6 record and 3.09 ERA to the

mound for the Red Sox, opposing A.J. Burnett, the Yanks‘ version of John Lackey: Overpaid,

underperforming.

But surprise, surprise: Burnett allowed two runs in 52⁄3 innings.

―I just had a feeling tonight he was going to get it done,‖ said Girardi.

Or, as Burnett put it, ―It was obviously a big start for me, but the bottom line was that we took two out of

three. That‘s what we needed.‖

And how about center fielder Curtis Granderson making a spectacular diving catch off a Jed Lowrie liner

with two out, two on in the sixth?

―That‘s why I talk about him for MVP,‖ said Girardi. ―It‘s not just the numbers at the plate, it‘s the defense

as well.‖

The Yankees didn‘t make much in the way of noise this week. What they did was come into Fenway Park

and play clean, crisp, concise baseball — the kind of baseball that‘s needed to beat a team as deep and

talented as the Red Sox.

And now, finally, Sox fans awake to a new reality: If these teams do happen to meet in the American

League Championship Series, it will be the pick‘em we thought it would be when this season was being

uncorked.

Closing note: Jesus Montero, the Yankees‘ top prospect, made his big-league debut last night, going 0-for-4

as the DH. Asked his thoughts about the game, the kid just smiled and said, ―Thank God I‘m here for this.‖

And thank God the Yankees, as a team, were here for this.

Sox-Yankees: It‘s a battle again.

Red Sox feel a squeeze

Scott Lauber

It‘s difficult enough for the Red Sox to beat the New York Yankees, their age-old rivals and mirror image

atop the AL East.

But it‘s even tougher when they have to beat the umpires, too.

Two ultra-close ball-strike calls in two of the most significant at-bats last night went against the Red Sox.

And while neither was solely responsible for the Yankees‘ 4-2 victory in another 4-hour marathon at

Fenway Park [map], both left the Sox wondering what might have been.

The first came in the seventh inning. His team clinging to a 2-1 lead with two runners on base and one out,

indomitable Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard thought he threw a third strike on a 1-2 fastball to Russell

Martin. Instead, home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez called it a ball and, three pitches later, Martin sliced a

go-ahead, two-run double into right field, sending the Yankees dugout into hysterics.

―I thought that was a pretty good pitch, maybe an inch off,‖ Bard said. ―I guess (Marquez) got it right, but it

was a good pitcher‘s pitch.‖

Adrian Gonzalez was considerably less accepting than Bard.

Batting with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Gonzalez was called out on a third-strike cutter from

iconic Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. He stood at the plate, staring at Marquez in disbelief, and more than

10 minutes after the game ended had the same look as he sat in front of his locker.

―I have one thing to say,‖ Gonzalez said. ―That pitch was down. I should still be hitting. It‘s a 2-2 count.‖

Alas, the Red Sox didn‘t have that luxury. Marquez‘ calls stood and, after losing 10 of the season‘s first 12

games between the teams, the Yankees took 2-of-3 this week and closed to within a half-game of the

division-leading Red Sox.

―It‘s tough,‖ Bard said. ―We handled them pretty well up until this point. Even today, and in the first game

we lost, I think we played well. We‘re similar in a lot of ways. Two of the best offenses in the league. The

rotations are looking kind of similar. We both have really good bullpens. Similar teams, both really good

teams. If we played ourselves 100 times, it would probably come out close to .500. It‘s going to be great

games either way.‖

The Yankees jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, forcing ace lefty Jon Lester [stats] to throw 43

pitches. But Dustin Pedroia [stats] drilled a two-run homer to dead center field in the fourth, the lone blow

against embattled A.J. Burnett, who entered with a 7.79 ERA in his last 10 starts.

Curtis Granderson, an MVP candidate and the Yankees‘ answer to Jacoby Ellsbury [stats], made a run-

saving diving catch in center field to end the fifth inning. But with the Yankees rallying in the sixth, it

appeared Martin had no prayer after falling behind 0-2 against Bard, who hadn‘t allowed an extra-base hit

since Aug. 6.

―When you‘re catching, when it hits you in the chest, it feels like it‘s a strike,‖ catcher Jarrod

Saltalamacchia said. ―You go look on video, and it could be a ball off the plate. It‘s tough to judge.‖

Added Bard: ―Like I said, I thought I could have ended that at-bat with Martin earlier. It‘s frustrating,

obviously. At some point, it‘s going to fail, and you‘re going to give up a couple. I‘m not going to worry

about it.‖

And the Red Sox aren‘t going to fret about two losses to the Yankees either.

―They‘re a good team,‖ manager Terry Francona said. ―Our record is almost identical. We‘ll see the next

five or six weeks what happens. It will be fun.‖

Long story short: Jon Lester battles

Michael Silverman

For anyone still wondering why games between the Red Sox and the Yankees drag on and on, all the proof

could be found at the very start of last night‘s series finale between the teams at Fenway Park.

It took Jon Lester 43 pitches to get three outs in the first inning.

That‘s nearly half as many as are thrown in a full, normal outing for a starter. It‘s a bad beginning for

anyone, and a guaranteed short night for most.

That Lester managed to last five innings and throw 114 pitches while allowing just a single run counts as

something of a minor miracle.

―That was the theme tonight — hanging in there, minimizing damage, I ended up making pitches when I

had to,‖ Lester said after a no-decision in the Red Sox‘ 4-2 loss. ―A lot of foul balls tonight, a lot of long at-

bats — that‘s what you get with these guys.‖

It usually isn‘t this bad, though.

Lester opened the first by striking out Derek Jeter. He then allowed two soft singles, followed by a Wall-

ball RBI double by Robinson Cano. Then, there was a 10-pitch at-bat to Nick Swisher that ended with a

strikeout, followed by a walk to Andruw Jones. The inning finally concluded when the left-hander struck

out Yankees phenom Jesus Montero in his first big league at-bat.

Lester said there was no point in singling out any one particular at-bat as the biggest struggle.

―It‘s all the same — a lot of foul balls,‖ he said. ―With a team like that, that‘s what you get — you don‘t

have a lot of games where you get a lot of 0-0 contact, 0-1 contact, 1-0 contact that goes in your favor.

That‘s what makes them, that‘s what makes us so tough — foul off a lot of pitches. That‘s what they did

and made me work.‖

It‘s no mystery. The Red Sox lineup is really not very different from the Yankees lineup.

The results tend to be two teams that play each other evenly — and for a long time.

―People wonder why we play 4-hour games with the Yankees — it‘s right there in front of you,‖ Lester

said. ―Every at-bat is a grind. There‘s some days where yeah, you make it look easier than others, but it‘s a

grind every time that they step in the box. And it‘s the same for us. There‘s a reason why our offenses are

so good. They see a lot of pitches, pitchers work — I thought A.J. (Burnett, the Yankees starter) threw the

ball really well tonight, and he went one more out than I did. We make guys work. We don‘t have easy

innings. They wonder why we play 4-hour games — it‘s a grind every single out. These games matter, and

like I said, we‘ve got good hitters up there that know how to foul pitches off and make pitchers work.‖

Kevin Youkilis healthy enough for Sox’ stretch run

Steve Buckley

Savvy sports fans have heard the line a million times: Once you get late into the season, nobody is 100

percent healthy.

But Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, due to be activated today following a stint on the 15-day

disabled list with a back injury, has a different take on this 100 percent business.

―I‘m definitely not 100 percent, but I‘m 100 percent for September,‖ he said yesterday at Fenway Park

[map], after taking part in early batting practice prior to the Sox‘ series finale against the New York

Yankees. He also took some grounders at third base.

―To say I‘m 100 percent for September is really the best way to put it,‖ he said. ―In September, we‘re all

really at about 80 percent in terms of health, compared to where we are at the beginning of the season and

in May, and if you can get to that level that means you‘re 100 percent for September.

―Once you‘ve played 100 games in a season, nobody is 100 percent.‖

Youkilis was placed on the DL with what the club termed a ―lower back sprain.‖ But while the news

brought back memories of last August, when Youkilis was lost for the remainder of the season because he

could no longer play with a torn muscle in his right thumb, this injury wasn‘t as severe.

―No, I wasn‘t scared,‖ he said. ―I knew it wasn‘t going to be like last year. This time, you just get it fixed,

come back, and be ready.‖

The toughest part, Youkilis said, was the down time.

―You get bored,‖ he said. ―You want to play. I don‘t like watching. I like playing. But what are going to

do? The good news is that it went quick.‖

Youkilis revealed he was sufficiently healed 10 days into his time on the disabled list.

Still, he had to do a two-game rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket, hitting a home run Wednesday night at

Frontier Field in Rochester, N.Y.

―I was ready to go,‖ he said.

―But I had to finish the 15 days. They had me do a couple of days of baseball activities (with Pawtucket),

and here I am.‖

And not 100 percent.

Conor Jackson over illness, ready for new team

Scott Lauberred

Conor Jackson thought he had the flu.

It was spring 2009, and Jackson, then a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, had all the symptoms. He

felt run down. He was achy. He lacked an appetite. But when he started to lose significant weight and

couldn‘t wake up before mid-afternoon, he knew it was more serious.

Turned out, Jackson had valley fever, a fungal disease that affects the lungs and afflicts residents of

Arizona, New Mexico and other parts of the southwest. The prescription: Nothing but rest for at least four

months. Jackson lost 35 pounds, not to mention most of the 2009 season, a major setback to a player who

batted .300 one year earlier.

―It‘s like the flu every day,‖ said Jackson, who then was hindered last season by a sports hernia that

required surgery. ―It‘s aches and pains. And it‘s rare for mid-20s, white male. Very rare. I probably tried to

come back a little quick. Your mind goes a lot better than your body.‖

So, after being traded to the Red Sox [team stats] late Wednesday night from the Oakland Athletics for

minor league pitcher Jason Rice, Jackson views his new opportunity as a fresh start, a chance to change his

luck.

Jackson, 29, was of interest to the Red Sox because they were seeking another right-handed hitter for the

bench. He also can play multiple positions (first base, left field, right field, third base), although he‘s

known more for his offense.

Manager Terry Francona said he has not yet decided how to divide at-bats between Jackson and righty-

hitting outfielder Darnell McDonald. It‘s possible they may be competing this month for a spot on the

postseason roster.

―Some of it‘s probably going to be determined by how they swing the bat,‖ Francona said. ―There‘s no

getting around it.‖

Drew explains finger

One swing in a minor league game may sideline J.D. Drew [stats] for another week.

Drew, playing for Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday night in what was supposed to be his second-to-last

game on a rehab assignment for a left shoulder injury, fouled off a fastball, lost his grip with his right

(bottom) hand and wedged his middle two fingers against the knob of the bat.

―I honestly didn‘t think it was going to be that bad,‖ Drew said. ―It hurt really bad when I did it, but I didn‘t

think it was going to be that extensive of an injury until you wake up in the middle of the night and the

thing is killing you.‖

Drew underwent an X-ray yesterday and was diagnosed with a sprained right middle finger. Francona said

Drew has been cleared to play ―as tolerated,‖ but it may be several more days before he can tolerate

swinging a bat.

The good news: Drew‘s balky shoulder, which has sidelined him since July 20, has improved. Beset by the

injury, he has endured the worst season of his career, batting .219 with four homers, 21 RBI and a .622

OPS in 77 games in the final year of his five-year, $70 million contract.

―It was just one of them fluke things that this pops up in that situation,‖ Drew said. . . .

Clay Buchholz continued his gradual rehab by making 35 throws from 60 feet, the second time he has

performed that activity.

Doubront recalled

With rosters expanding beyond 25 players, the Sox called up lefty reliever Felix Doubront, who promptly

tossed 11⁄3 scoreless innings.

It has been an injury-filled season for Doubront, limited to 18 games for Pawtucket. He made nine relief

appearances for the Red Sox last season, striking out 13 batters and posting a 4.66 ERA in 92⁄3 innings.

―Four months ago, I started with all the injuries, and I was pretty much frustrated,‖ Doubront said. ―But I

handled it. I never stopped working. I‘m strong in my legs and my core. Now I‘m in great shape to help the

team.‖ . . .

With a second-inning single, David Ortiz [stats] extended his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games. . . .

Dustin Pedroia eclipsed his career-high with his 18th homer, a two-run blast to center in the fourth. . . .

In a rarity, right-hander Alfredo Aceves was credited with the loss. He had won his last 18 relief decisions

dating to June 7, 2009.

Getting his Phil

Three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson took batting practice (as a left-hander), threw out the first pitch

(as a right-hander) and got some tips from hitting coach Dave Magadan.

―I‘ve taken BP in major league parks, but never here at Fenway Park [map] — and it‘s such a great

experience,‖ Mickelson said. ―It‘s one I‘ll look back on and always remember.‖ . . .

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas [stats] hung out with Ortiz before the game.

―You guys have supported us,‖ Thomas said, ―so I wanted to come here and support you guys.‖

Spooky World will take over Fenway Park in late October

Donna Goodison

If you think it‘s scary when the New York Yankees hit Fenway Park, wait until late October.

Spooky World, the haunted Halloween attraction, will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the historic ballpark

with The Fear at Fenway.

The 10-day show, which runs Oct. 28-Nov. 6, will include three all new haunted attractions: 3D Freakout,

Hancock Hill Cemetery and Brigham Manor.

―This year we are taking everything to the next level, and our second attraction at Fenway Park will be no

exception,‖ owner Michael Accomando said in a statement. ―We couldn‘t ask for a better location, and we

are thrilled to bring together New England‘s two favorite places to be in October.‖

Accomando and Wayne Caulfield, partners in Nightmare New England, bought Spooky World in 2008

from original owner David Bertolino. They have since invested $3 million to build out and create what‘s

billed as the largest haunted attraction in the Northeast — a 40-acre property with six attractions and an

entertainment midway in Litchfield, N.H.

Gates to The Fear at Fenway will be open from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and all attractions will close at 11

p.m., with general admission tickets priced at $45.

A lights-on tour for families with children will be held Oct. 29-30 and Nov. 5-6, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.,

with family-friendly characters who will hand out balloons and treat bags. Children are encouraged to come

in costume.

* The Providence Journal

Bullpen battle is won by Yankees

Tim Britton

The Yankees finally took a series from the Red Sox, and they did it in about as unexpected a fashion as

possible.

The bottom of New York‘s order came through off Daniel Bard as part of a three-run seventh, lifting the

Yankees to a 4-2 win over Boston at Fenway Park on Thursday night. New York took two of three in the

series and now sits a half-game out in the division.

The Red Sox appeared to have the Yankees where they wanted them, with a one-run lead and Bard entering

a tight spot in the seventh. Alfredo Aceves had issued a walk and hit a batter with one out, but the Sox had

two things going for them. First, Bard doesn‘t blow leads; he had not allowed an inherited runner to score

since July 2 in Houston, and he had stranded 26 of 29 runners all season. Second, nobody blows leads for

Aceves, who hadn‘t lost a game in relief since May 2009.

But Russell Martin delivered a two-run double into the gap on a 3-2 fastball from Bard to give the Yankees

the lead. Eric Chavez followed with a single to right to bring home Martin.

―Bard comes in in a lot of difficult spots,‖ manager Terry Francona said. ―You‘re going to give up a hit

sooner or later.‖

The Yankee bullpen took care of the rest, preserving the lead and the victory. It was just the fourth time this

season that Boston lost a game it led entering the seventh inning — and the first since May 23 in Cleveland.

A win in the rubber game seemed in Boston‘s cards coming into the night, with Jon Lester facing the

volatile A.J. Burnett, who turned in the worst month of his career in August. Even though he left trailing,

Burnett acquitted himself nicely, a two-run shot by Dustin Pedroia in the fourth the lone blemish on his

scorecard.

Burnett allowed the two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He was able to keep Boston‘s bats relatively

quiet despite struggling with his fastball command all night. He compensated for that with terrific control

of his trademark knuckle-curveball. Burnett, who typically throws his curve for a strike under 60 percent of

the time, threw 24 of his 33 hooks in the zone on Thursday. Three of his four strikeouts came on the pitch.

Lester, meanwhile, worked his way out of big trouble in the first. He surrendered consecutive singles to

Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira ahead of an RBI double by Robinson Cano. After a strikeout and a

walk loaded the bases with two outs, Lester punched out Jesus Montero in the first career at-bat for the

highly touted Yankees prospect.

An inning later, Lester induced a foul popup from Teixeira with two on. He got Montero again with two on

in the fifth.

―It‘s not like I was throwing the ball all over the place,‖ said Lester. ―A lot of foul balls, a lot of long at-

bats. That‘s what you get with these guys.‖

―They worked Lester,‖ Francona said. ―They do a really good job of that. You get to your bullpen early,

and if somebody makes a mistake, that‘s what happens.‖

Overall, Lester allowed just the one run on seven hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked three in

the least-efficient performance of the season.

That‘s what made Lester‘s outing so hard to evaluate. He did record outs; it just took him a long time and a

lot of pitches to get them. His 114 pitches in five innings were the most by a Red Sox starter in five or

fewer innings in more than two years. It‘s the third-most pitches in an outing that short by any pitcher in the

majors this season, behind only Burnett‘s last start in Baltimore and an earlier one by Kansas City‘s Bruce

Chen.

Still, he left in position to win his team-leading 15th game, which would have given him four straight

seasons with at least 15 wins. The high pitch count, though, forced Boston to lean more and earlier on a

bullpen that couldn‘t, for one night, support the weight.

―They‘re a good team,‖ Francona said the rival Yankees. ―We‘ll see these next five, six weeks what

happens. It‘ll be fun.‖

Playoffs all but assured, Sox turn attention to back end of roster

Tim Britton

The Red Sox enter September with a 1½ -game lead in the division and, more important, a nine-game lead

on the Rays for a playoff berth.

In other words, they‘re right where they want to be. What‘s less clear is if the Red Sox, as currently

constituted, are who they want to be.

Boston exercised the chance to expand its roster, albeit barely, on Thursday, calling up left-handed pitcher

Felix Doubront from Triple-A Pawtucket. It also added first baseman/outfielder Conor Jackson in a last-

minute waiver-wire deal with the A‘s.

Doubront is making the transition from minor-league starter to big-league reliever — a shift he started in

the last week with the PawSox. In two relief appearances spanning 3 1/3 innings, he allowed one unearned

run on one hit with two walks and a hit batter.

Before that point, it had been a rocky season for Doubront, including a series of injuries that have sidelined

him along with inconsistent performances on the mound.

―I‘ve got my confidence back,‖ he said on Thursday. ―The last week out of the bullpen worked a lot to get

that confidence back — getting a lefty out with my pitches, working to hit the spot with my changeup and

breaking ball. Now I feel pretty good.‖

Doubront added that his arm feels the best it has all season.

―I was pretty frustrated [by the injuries],‖ he said. ―But I handled it. I kept working, I never stopped

working. I‘m strong in my legs and my core. Now I‘m in great shape to help the team.‖

How much Doubront can help the team is the question. The Red Sox have been relying on Franklin

Morales as their situational lefty since the end of June. But now that they‘ve converted Doubront to a relief

role — one he has filled in the past — and signed veteran lefty Trever Miller, Boston has additional left-

handed options should the Sox want them in October.

September, then, can act as a proving ground for Doubront, just as it can for any number of less-heralded

Red Sox in search of a spot on the postseason roster.

There are pretty much 21 sure things on Boston‘s playoff roster, including the starting nine, Jason Varitek,

Jed Lowrie, the top four starters and the core of the bullpen. That does leave spots open, however, for

position players such as Jackson, Mike Aviles, the recovering J.D. Drew, Darnell McDonald, Ryan

Lavarnway and even recently signed speedster Joey Gathright. After being optioned last week, Lavarnway

can‘t be called up again until Monday, something that manager Terry Francona made sound likely.

Right field is home to many of those candidates. Jackson owns an experienced right-handed bat, albeit one

that‘s struggled this season, even against left-handed pitching. He and McDonald figure to battle for one

spot on the postseason roster, and perhaps a starting role against southpaws.

―How we fit both of them in, some of it is probably going to be determined by how they swing the bat,‖

Francona said. ―There‘s no getting around it. How you figure that out and how you let a guy get hot enough

where they can swing the bat will be our challenge.

―I can‘t sit here today and tell you I know exactly what to do.‖

That idea likely extends to the pitching staff. With less of a need for back-end starters Tim Wakefield and

possibly Andrew Miller in the postseason, the Sox could go with pitchers such as Doubront or Trever

Miller. They‘ll also keep a spot open in case Clay Buchholz is able to work his way back as a reliever in the

season‘s final month. Buchholz threw again on Thursday, reporting no problems after tossing 35 pitches

from 60 feet.

So even as September portends to have less meaning than usual for the Red Sox in the standings, it will

play a significant role in preparing for October. A possible postseason roster

Catcher (3): Saltalamacchia, Varitek, Lavarnway

Infield (5): Gonzalez, Pedroia, Lowrie, Youkilis, Scutaro

Outfield (5): Reddick, Ellsbury, Crawford, Drew, Jackson

DH (1): Ortiz

Starters (4): Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Bedard

Relievers (7): Papelbon, Bard, Albers, Wheeler, Aceves,

Morales, Buchholz

Drew hoping return is imminent after latest injury

Tim Britton

J.D. Drew is hopeful that the latest setback in his recovery from a left-shoulder impingement will not delay

his return for more than a week.

Drew suffered a fluke finger injury during his rehab game at Pawtucket on Tuesday. He described it as

happening when his bottom hand came off his bat during a swing at an awkward angle, causing his finger

to get caught on the knob.

―Somehow or another, when I finished my swing, my bottom hand slipped off the bat and got my finger up

against the knob of the bat. I guess just kind of bent it back and sprained it pretty good,‖ Drew said.

Drew stayed in the game both to finish that at-bat and to take two more, even going 3-for-3 for the PawSox.

But overnight, the finger began causing more discomfort.

―Woke up in the middle of the night; I had it wrapped up, and it was really pounding,‖ Drew said. ―Went in

[Wednesday] and tried to do some treatment, tried to take some dry swings, really painful.... I think it‘s

going to be a little longer than a few days, but hopefully, once it calms down and the swelling comes out of

there, we can make some progress as far as treatments.‖

Drew has been on the disabled list with that shoulder injury since July 26, retroactive to July 20. The good

news is that at least the shoulder feels strong again.

―My shoulder, strength-wise, is really good. We‘ve done a lot of work to get the strength back to where I

wanted it,‖ said Drew. ―I was feeling really good there, having some nice rounds of batting practice,

running well and felt good defensively.‖

It is, however, another frustrating development in what has been a frustrating year for the veteran right

fielder.

―It‘s aggravating. You get yourself in a situation where you‘re ready to play,‖ Drew said. ―I was kind of

getting ready to roll, getting amped up, and when that happens, you realize this is going to jeopardize some

more time. But you‘ve got to deal with it when it comes, kind of regroup and try to get ready to roll again.‖

Youkilis to be activated

The Red Sox plan to activate Kevin Youkilis from the disabled list Friday, the first day the third baseman is

eligible.

Youkilis has been out since Aug. 18 with a low-back strain — the last in a long line of nagging injuries

Youkilis has dealt with all season. In his absence, Mike Aviles and Jed Lowrie have received extra playing

time.

Youkilis went 2-for-8 in two rehab games for Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday and Wednesday. He‘s hitting

.266 on the season with 17 home runs and 78 RBIs.

Wake‘s next attempt

Tim Wakefield will make his next bid for his 200th career victory Wednesday in Toronto, manager Terry

Francona said.

Wakefield‘s turn in the rotation was skipped this week, with Jon Lester moving up to start against the

Yankees on regular rest and Andrew Miller getting a second look at the Rangers in a row. It will be nearly

two weeks between starts for Wakefield, who last took the hill last Friday against the Athletics.

Jackson adds depth

The Red Sox made one last move before Sept. 1, pulling off a waiver-wire deal with the Athletics for

Conor Jackson, a first baseman/outfielder known more for his bat than his glove.

After missing much of the 2009 and 2010 seasons, Jackson has hit .249 with the A‘s this year, down

substantially from the .300 he hit his last full year in 2008. Still, he provides perhaps a higher ceiling

against left-handed pitching than Darnell McDonald, currently getting some platoon starts in right field.

―It‘s exciting,‖ said Jackson. ―I‘m coming from a team that was 15 games out to a team that‘s in the middle

of a pennant race and playing in the A.L. East and probably one of the friendliest fan parks in the game.‖

Miller onboard

When Rich Hill heard that the Red Sox had signed Trever Miller, the left-hander couldn‘t help breaking

into a smile. Miller was the southpaw that mentored Hill during spring training last season in St. Louis, and

he‘s the southpaw Hill thought would be a great fit for Boston back at the trade deadline.

―I was talking at the trade deadline, ‗What if we get someone like Miller?‘‖ recalled Hill on Wednesday, a

day after Boston inked the lefty. ―He‘s just obviously a very good, polished left-handed relief pitcher that‘s

been around for a long time and brings leadership.‖

The Red Sox took a flier on Miller after he was released by the Blue Jays last week, less than a month after

Toronto acquired him from the Cardinals in a deadline deal also involving Colby Rasmus. The 13-year

veteran has struggled for much of 2011 with both St. Louis and Toronto, compiling a 4.19 ERA in 45

games spanning 19 1/3 innings. But he does have some intriguing pedigree and potential. Over his career,

lefties have batted just .226 off him, and from 2007 to 2010, that number was .188.

―He‘s a veteran lefty who‘s been there, done that, and was available,‖ general manager Theo Epstein said.

―Typically at the end of August, we look to add to your Triple-A roster if you can for potential call-ups or

potential alternatives for your postseason roster.‖

* The Hartford Courant

Hand it to Burnett this time as Yankees beat Red Sox

Jeff Jacobs

Although Jesus didn't save A.J. Burnett on this night, Jesus Montero's more experienced Yankee teammates

finally did.

The real question now is, did A.J. Burnett do enough to save himself?

This was supposed to be the night that finished Burnett as a Yankee starter. He's already toast with most

Yankee fans, but this was supposed to be the night he finally walked Joe Girardi's plank, too.

The Red Sox were going to score four runs in the first, four more in the second, and the next time anybody

heard from Burnett was going to be his postcard from Tahiti. You know, the one where he's sipping on a

drink with an umbrella in it and feasting on the remains of an $82.5 million contract the Yankees will long,

long regret.

After all, at least by ERA standards, Burnett had just come off the worst August in the history of Yankee

starting pitching. In five starts, he had an 11.91 ERA and opponents hit .415 — that's right, 44-for-106 —

against him.

After all, entering this night, he had been 0-4 with a 9.15 ERA in eight starts against the Red Sox in his

three years with the Yankees.

After all, Burnett has been so bad for so long that all the excuses on his behalf finally had reached their

expiration date. With the successful return of Freddy Garcia in Baltimore on Monday night, Girardi's fixing

to shave that six-man rotation to five and well …

Oh, yeah, this was going to be the night that A.J. Burnett got so lit up by Red Sox batters that even the

Connecticut power outage was going to end.

Well, a funny thing happened over Burnett's 51/3 innings in a 4-2 Yankees victory that shaved Boston's

first-place lead to a half game. Burnett was the sharpest he had been in weeks, allowing five hits and two

runs.

"I thought he was really good," Girardi said. "A lot of misses were really down. To me, that's big. His curve

was better. His fastball didn't run as much across the middle. That's a big performance. For what he has

been through in August, to be able to do that was great."

Said Burnett, "It obviously was a big start. I was really relaxed out there. I didn't miss over the plate a lot. I

didn't let it get out of hand."

Burnett made only one costly mistake. After Adrian Gonzalez hit a ground-rule double to right to lead off

the fourth, Dustin Pedroia picked on Burnett's 3-and-1 fastball and drove it over the wall in center for his

career-high 18th home run. At that moment, you could feel thousands and thousands of Yankee fans

wishing Pedey's Laser Show could vaporize Burnett.

But the truth is, if the Yankees had given him any sort of support, he wouldn't have come close to dropping

to 9-12 on the season. In his much-anticipated major league debut, Montero struck out on a Jon Lester

cutter with the bases loaded to end the first. With two runners on, Montero ended the fifth by grounding out

to short. He stranded a sixth runner in the third. All told, the Yankees left a whopping 12 runners on base

through six innings, squandering so many chances to get Burnett a much-needed win. They did break

through finally in the three-run seventh, giving reliever Cory Wade the win, a win, at least esoterically, that

A.J. deserved. And while Jesus didn't save Burnett, yes, Mariano did save a Yankee win for the 36th time

this season.

Burnett has been working with pitching coach Larry Rothschild and, yes, he's talking about a new A.J.

"I've only been working on it for three days," Burnett said. "I've been pitching the same way for 11 years.

It's a big change. As the game went on, I felt more comfortable. [The change] is basically from where I start

from both the windup and the stretch, less of a turn. It all comes down to focus and conviction. This is

something I can work with."

This also is a guy who hasn't had a quality start (six innings of three or fewer runs) through 11 starts since

June 29. The world was a much different place back then. Novak Djokovic hadn't won Wimbledon, Darren

Clarke hadn't won his first major title, the Japanese women hadn't won the World Cup and Connecticut

Light & Power wasn't the most unpopular company in the state.

Well, it was the same in one respect: Yankee fans didn't trust A.J. then and they don't trust him now.

Girardi entrusted Burnett, 32-35 over three years pitching in front of baseball's highest payroll, with the ball

last October. And Burnett burned him, allowing five runs and a crushing homer by the Rangers' Bengie

Molina, in the ALCS.

"It is at stake," Burnett, 34, said of his rotation spot.

Or maybe, Yankee fans want to burn him at the stake.

August had brought one A.J. disaster after another. On Aug. 3, he allowed seven runs and 13 hits against

the White Sox in 41/3 innings. Four runs in six innings Aug. 9 against the Angels was his highlight. On

Aug 15, he gave up 10 hits to the Royals. On Aug. 20, he allowed seven earned runs in 12/3 innings against

the Twins. On Aug. 26, he allowed nine runs and nine hits in five innings.

And when he was finished butchering the month, Burnett stands in line to become the first Yankee starter

in history with back-to-back seasons of 5-plus ERA for 150 or more innings. Among his previous eight

starts, he also had innings of three or more runs five times. And in those eight games, opponents had hit

.296 with runners in scoring position. He was dry wood in search of a match.

Well, there was no blowup on this night, no combustion. He hung tough. And with Phil Hughes allowing

six runs in 52/3 innings against Boston on Wednesday night, and with Hughes having previous success in

the bullpen … could Girardi put the younger pitcher, still rounding into form after his return from the

disabled list, in the pen down the stretch? And stick with Burnett? Could he?

"We'll talk about it," Girardi said. "I don't have to make a decision yet. We'll see what we decide as a

group. Let's enjoy this one tonight."

Me? I wouldn't trust Burnett with anything sharper than a butter knife.

But give A.J. this night. Facing tough circumstances, he did a big-time job.

* The Springfield Republican

On an endless summer night, Yankees outlast the Red Sox

Ron Chimelis

Hollywood marriages have begun and ended in less time than it took Jon Lester to get through a 43-pitch

first inning on Thursday night.

That set the tone for another long, long night at Fenway Park. A marathon of 4 hours and 21 minutes turned

out poorly for the Red Sox when Russell Martin's two-run double in the seventh keyed New York's 4-2

victory.

Mariano Rivera struck out Adian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in an ultra-dramatic ending.

Gonzalez held up his swing on a 1-2 pitch, but was called out.

"That pitch was down,'' Gonzalez grumbled afterward.

"It should be 2-2. I should still be hitting.''

Martin's go-ahead drive to right came off Alfredo Aceves, whose winning streak in relief ended at 18.

Aceves had not lost in relief since June 7, 2009, when he was with the Yankees. He faced nine batters, and

six reached base.

Aceves inherited a 2-1 lead in the sixth. He handed that score and a two-on, one-out jam to Daniel Bard in

the seventh.

Martin fell behind Bard 0-2, fought back to 3-2, and doubled to make it 3-2.

"The 1-2 pitch, I thought was pretty good, maybe an inch off the plate,'' Bard said.

"At 3-2, I gave him a good slider and he fouled it off. The next one got too much of the plate.

"I made two good two-strike pitches, but I wasn't able to put him away.''

Good as he is, Bard is not a mystery to the Yankees. He has a 4.34 career ERA against them in 23 innings.

A crucial at-bat was supplied by Andruw Jones, who worked Aceves for a 14-pitch walk. Jones walked

three times and saw 36 pitches in four at-bats.

The Yankees trail Boston by a half-game deficit in the AL East. MVP candidate Granderson robbed Jed

Lowrie of a two-out RBI hit in the sixth, possibly saving the game.

Aceves' career record fell to a still-amazing 23-3.

Mark Teixeira took an Aceves pitch off the right knee and later left the game. He is day-to-day.

Red Sox pitchers threw 203 pitches, the Yankees 178. The average game length for this three-game series

was 3:52.

New York came into this series with a 2-10 record against Boston, but took two of threee.

"Two similar teams. I think if we played each other 100 times, it would be very close to 50-50,'' Bard said.

"We swept them in New York early in the season, and that gave us confidence that we needed.

"That might carry over for a series or two, but it wears off.

"Even the games we lost, we played well. We didn't get the clutch hit in the first game (when Boston left 16

runners on), and this time, I came in and gave up a couple of hits.''

Lester needed 114 pitches just to get through five innings. Other than an abbreviated four-inning start on

July 5, which was followed by a trip to the disabled list, it was his shortest outing of the year.

He still left with a 2-1 lead thanks to Dustin Pedroia's two-run homer in the fourth, his career-high 18th.

Lester's 25-minute first inning ended when Montero's first big league at-bat ended in a bases-

loaded.strikeout.

Montero, 21, is a prized catching prospect. He made his debut as a designated hitter.

Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Opponents had hit .415

off Burnett in August, the highest against any pitcher in baseball.

This might have saved Burnett's spot when Yankees manager Joe Girardi cuts his six-man rotation to five.

Phil Hughes lost Wednesday's game and could be odd man out.

Conor Jackson joins a long line of August Red Sox pickups

Ron Chimelis

Hours before the month of August was to end, bringing with it the deadline to acquire players with

postseason eligibility, Theo Epstein told media on Wednesday night that his dealing was probably done.

Then the Red Sox general manager went upstairs and made another trade, again proving that August is a

very underrated month for baseball transactions.

The Wednesday night trade for Conor Jackson, a first baseman and outfielder from Oakland, typified of the

type of deal Epstein has often swung once the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline has passed.

Jackson, 29, is not a high-profile player. Neither are the two other acquisitions Epstein made in the last two

days of August.

Trever Miller, 38, is a journeyman left-handed reliever. Joey Gathright, 30, had been playing outfield for

the Yuma Scorpions, an independent minor-league team.

All three, however, offer skills that might come in handy.

Jackson, who was immediately added to the 40-man roster and could be a factor in the playoffs, offers an

alternative in right field.

The other options are slumping Josh Reddick, light-hitting Darnell McDonald and J.D. Drew, whose return

from a shoulder injury has been slowed by a finger injury.

Miller could offer some left-handed relief help in September. That has been a sticking point at times.

Gathright could offer late-season speed off the bench. He has stolen at least 20 bases three times, and he hit

.313 in 17 games for Boston in 2009.

The three separate, obscure deals are typical of Epstein's focus after Aug. 1, when, unlike July and earlier,

major leaguers must pass through waivers to be traded.

"You're dealing with a universe of players now who've gotten through (waivers)," Epstein told media

Wednesday.

"You have to match up a player who has some appeal, would have had to slip through waivers and they've

had to be the right fit for what we're looking for.

"Then you'd have to have the right player and financial acquisition cost as well.''

As the team with the best record in the American League, Boston was at the end of the line as lesser teams

had first crack at waiver wire players.

Despite the restrictions, August is when Epstein obtained Mike Myers in 2004, Mark Kotsay in 2008 and

Billy Wagner in 2009.

Myers gave the Red Sox a left-handed relief specialist. Kotsay added a left-handed bat.

Wagner struck out 22 batters in 13 2/3 innings. Boston reached the playoffs in all three seasons, and won

the World Series in 2004.

The Red Sox tradition of August deals predates Epstein. On Aug. 19, 1986, Dave Henderson and Spike

Owen were traded from Seattle to Boston.

Henderson's ninth-inning home run in Game 5 of the ALCS kept Boston's World Series-bound season

alive.

Reliever Rod Beck was traded from the Cubs on Aug. 31, 1999, a playoff year. He stayed with the Red Sox

through 2001.

Then there was Tony Armas, Jr., who was acquired on waivers from the Yankees in an Aug. 13, 1997 trade

that sent Mike Stanley to New York.

In December of '97, Armas and Carl Pavano were traded to Montreal for Pedro Martinez, a deal that

reshaped Red Sox history.

"Sometimes it all comes together, but more often, at this time of year, it doesn't,'' Epstein said.

That does not stop him from working the waiver wire and the phones, as he did again this year.

Conor Jackson joins Red Sox, making four a crowd in right

Ron Chimelis

Conor Jackson has arrived in Boston, a right-handed hitter with modest defensive skills.

Now the question is what to do with him.

"I can't sit here today and tell you what I'm going to do. That's the challenge,'' Red Sox manager Terry

Francona said Thursday.

About 15 minutes before the midnight deadline for waiver deals Wednesday night, the Red Sox acquired

Jackson from Oakland for Pawtucket reliever Jason Rice.

They also summoned left-handed pitcher Felix Doubront from Pawtucket on Thursday, the day major

league rosters could be expanded beyond 25 players.

Kevin Youkilis will be activated from the 15-day disabled list for back problems on Friday, the first day he

is eligible. Francona thinks Youkilis is healthy enough to resume full-time duty at third base.

Jackson, 29, hit 15 home runs for Arizona in 2006 and again in 2007. He began as a first baseman but has

played left and right field.

It's in right field that Jackson will get a look. J.D.Drew was not activated as planned Thursday, after a

sprained finger during a rehab game Tuesday kept him on the disabled list.

He's been there for shoulder problems since mid-July.

"A day, two days, a week, we don't know,'' Francona said of the delay.

The Red Sox also have Josh Reddick, Darnell McDonald and Jackson to play right. Reddick hits left-

handed but has a .303 average against southpaws.

McDonald is hitting .195, but is better defensively than Jackson, a career .272 hitter who also hits righty.

Jackson averaged 14 homers, 71 RBIs and a .292 average for Arizona from 2006 through '08, before

injuries plagued him.

He hit .249 with four homers and 38 RBIs in 333 at-bats for Oakland this year.

"There was sporadic playing time there, but that's something I'll have to get accustomed to,'' Jackson said.

"That will be my role here.''

The Red Sox added Jackson to their 40-man roster. That makes him eligible for the postseason.

They did not do so with outfielder Joey Gathright or left-handed reliever Trever Miller. Both were signed

this week for possible September help.

Neither is playoff-eligible, and they are not with the major league club.

Jackson is excited to be in Boston, and in a playoff race.

"Any time you come to Boston as an opponent, the fans here can get in your head,'' he said.

"I'm happy to be on the other side of that now.''

His view of the Red Sox?

"Best team in baseball, hands-down. Whatever my role is here, I'll be ready for it,'' he said.

Doubront, 23, was 2-5 with a 4.22 ERA in 70 innings and 16 starts for Pawtucket. His season has been

interrupted by a series of minor physical issues.

Doubront will be used out of the bullpen. Francona said he won't hesitate to use him in important spots.

"Mentally, I'm good. I have my confidence back,'' said Doubront, who has pitched 15 games for Boston

since 2010.

"I'm in great shape, and I've got a couple of pitches working. Things happen that you can't control; I can

just control working hard.''

Red Sox-Yankees tiff puts the spotlight on where flair ends and hot-dogging begins

Ron Chimelis

Asked about hand-clapping, fist-pumping Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, Jarrod Saltalamacchia

momentarily lapsed into political incorrectness Tuesday.

The Red Sox catcher said Latin players tend to show emotion. He said he had no problem with that.

But we live in a "gotcha'' society, where a slip of the tongue can be treated as a felony, so Salty

backtracked.

"I basically wanted to clarify and say I wasn't trying to say `Latin' players or any of that stuff, I was just

saying he was an emotional guy and a lot of the younger guys coming up were emotional players,'' he said.

No apology needed, even though 'Latin' was exactly what he said. I interpreted Salty's comment like this:

"Some of these guys are from different backgrounds than me. Maybe I wouldn't do it, but if they do, that's

OK, too.''

Predictably, a few PC-addicted bloggers pounced. Thank goodness David Ortiz lent some sanity.

Calling Salty, "a great kid,'' Ortiz even said, "I mean, we are like that for real.

"Sometimes we kind of forget where we're playing and we do things we brought from my country ... he was

just telling the truth.''

For the record, Ortiz is from the Dominican Republic, Cervelli from Venezuela.

Hey, a little tolerance, people - not just for Salty, but for guys who play with flair. It's here to stay.

Anyone who remembers Dennis Eckersley reacting demonstratively after a key strikeout knows that

flamboyance (or to some, showboating) is not new. The bigger question Tuesday involved what is

acceptable in baseball nowadays.

Correct answer: Almost everything.

Saltalamacchia noted that stars like Barry Bonds and Ortiz have taken their time rounding the bases after

home runs. It was the first time in history the names "Bonds, Ortiz, Cervelli'' were listed in the same

reference.

As long as Ortiz is one of baseball's premier preeners, the Red Sox can't point fingers at anybody. And they

don't.

The rule of thumb is that as long as an opponent is not directly targeted, showboating is tolerable.

Baseball is a game of different personalities. I can remember when such diversity in America was

considered a good thing.

I still struggle to relate to this stuff. In Ron-Ball, every home run would be run out with head down and feet

moving.

But Salty is right. In a game of diverse personalities, hot-dogging to some is simply enthusiasm to others.

In 2002, an icon of old-fashioned values was asked about home-run trots by kids in the youth league that

bears his name.

"Let kids be kids,'' Cal Ripken said. He's fine with it.

So is Salty. If baseball fans plan to live in today's world, they might as well get used to it, too.

* The MetroWest Daily News

Yanks outlast Sox

Lenny Megliola

After New York's 4-2 win last night at Fenway Park, the Red Sox and Yankees won't see each other - that's

probably a good thing - until the end of the month. And after that, they can eyeball each other in a best-of-

seven in October, if the script plays to expectation.

Boston had a one-run lead until Russell Martin's two-run double off Daniel Bard in the seventh inning.

Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez followed with a single to make it 4-2. The Yankees' bullpen took it from there,

with Mariano Rivera finishing up for his 36th save. The Red Sox loaded the bases but Rivera struck out

Adrian Gonzalez to end it.

Gonzalez didn't agree with the strike three call of ump Alfonzo Marquez. "That pitch was down. I should

still be hitting," said a ticked off Gonzalez.

The Red Sox were happy to have their leading hitter in that spot. "We got the right guy up," said Dustin

Pedroia. "Mariano's tough."

"We gave ourselves a chance," said manager Terry Francona.

Bard might have been due for a bad outing.

"He comes in in a lot of difficult spots," said Francona. "He's bound to give up a hit sooner or later."

Bard tended to agree. "I'd been doing pretty well to this point. At some point it's going to fall." Previously,

out of 32 base-runners inherited, only three scored against Bard.

As for these two rivals, Bard said, "If we played a 100 games, it'd probably come out close to .500."

Time of game - 4:21. Tired (really tired) of long Red Sox-Yankees games? Funny (well, not actually) how

these games go. Take Jon Lester's first inning last night. He threw 43 pitches, which occasioned two visits

from catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and one from pitching coach Curt Young. Time stood still. Lester gave

up three hits and a walk.

Though all that mess, the Yankees scored just one run. It took 25 minutes. Gee, and only 8 1/2 innings left

to play.

Lester only lasted five innings, the 114 pitches taking their toll even on a cool night. He departed with a 2-1

lead. "(The Yankees) worked him," said Francona. "They do a good job of doing that."

"Kind of ridiculous," is how Pedroia characterized the marathons these teams play.

An RBI double by Robinson Cano put the Yankees up in that elongated top of the first. In the fourth, after a

leadoff double by Gonzalez, Pedroia's 18th homer (a career high) off A.J. Burnett put the home team ahead,

2-1. Burnett left with that score in the sixth after Pedroia singled and David Ortiz walked.

Boone Logan came on to face Carl Crawford and struck him out. Corey Wade was summoned to face Jed

Lowrie. Curtis Granderson made a spectacular diving catch in center to end the inning, costing the Red Sox

at least one run.

So, here's the only thing we know for certain about these teams. They have three games left, Sept. 23-25 in

the Bronx. The possibility (some would say probability) is that they'll be mandated to play each other four,

five, six or seven more times in October.

Make what you want about Boston having the upper hand against the Yankees this season, but it won't

mean squat in October. Doesn't mean the Yankees will exact revenge if they meet up in the America

League Championship Series. Not at all. What happens April through September and over 162 games has

no bearing on a high-pressure, four-out-of-seven series in October.

Besides, the Yankees and Red Sox, rancor aside, have too much respect (or fear) for each other to say

anything else except they'd welcome an ALCS showdown.

Until then, let's have some fun with September.

It's going to be a very interesting month.

NOTES: Big outing for Andrew Miller tonight, against the Rangers. Miller's solid outing in Texas on the

last road trip gets him the nod over the Tim Wakefield. Erik Bedard goes tomorrow and John Lackey

Sunday. ... Burnett is winless in his last 10 starts against Boston. ... Lester remains 8-2 vs. New York.

* The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune

Yankees chases Lester early

Steve Palladino and Christopher Smith

Red Sox starter Jon Lester threw 43 pitches in the first inning alone as the Yankees were able to grind out

at-bats, driving him out of the game after five innings.

The Yankees were able to take a lead against the Red Sox relievers and win 4-2 at Fenway Park.

"Ten pitches to (Nick) Swisher, nine pitches to (Andruw) Jones," Lester said. "Just a lot of foul balls and

with a team like that, that's what you get. You don't have a lot of games where you get a lot of 0-0 contact,

0-1 contact, 1-0 contact that goes in your favor (when playing the Yankees). That's what makes them, that's

what makes us, so tough. We foul off a lot of good pitches and that's what they did — and made me work."

Lester gave up just one run on seven hits and three walks while striking out six batters over his five innings

of work.

Those 43 pitches were the most pitches he has ever thrown in a single frame.

"It's hard against a team like that, that fouls off a lot of pitches," Lester said. "It was more than normal. So

it's tough. But for the most part I stay within that mindset of one pitch, and one at-bat and one inning at a

time — and just tried to go as deep as I could."

Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves gave up two runs, both earned, on two hits and two walks. He took the

loss.

"We have a lot of confidence in him," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Aceves. That's why he's

pitching there."

Francona did not want to give a lengthy overview of the three-games series, which the Yankees won 2

games to 1.

"They beat us 2 out of 3," Francona said. "How's that?"

Tiant wants shorter games

Red Sox legend Luis Tiant has a simple answer why games are so long these days.

"There are too many pitching changes and managers visiting the mound. It drives me crazy," said Tiant, the

owner of two complete-game victories in the 1975 World Series.

"When we played, we played quick. I like pitching quick. Now, there is too much time in between," said

Tiant, who pitched 112 complete games in his seven years in Boston.

One of Tiant's best performances was his 163-pitch, complete-game win in Game 4 of the 1975 World

Series at Riverfront Stadium.

Tiant never had a notion to come out of the game, even when the Reds put the tying and winning runs on in

the bottom of the ninth as the Red Sox ace protected a 5-4 lead.

Then-Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson asked Tiant and the Red Sox righty said he was fine and insisted

staying in.

"You would have had to kill me to get me out of that game," said Tiant.

Tiant said that he played professional baseball for 25 years and, in 22 of those years, he also played winter

ball.

"I was throwing 400 innings per year," said Tiant.

Reggie favors additional wild card

Reggie Jackson said that even though there was a higher sense of urgency during his playing days, he is in

favor of an additional Wild Card team from each league.

"It was a winner take all (back then)," said Jackson of the fact that the only playoff qualifiers were the

division winners.

"I like the Wild Card but the wild card isn't so hot this year because it is already decided," said Jackson. "I

do like the extra team and I would like to see an extra team or two get in the playoffs.

"Tampa Bay is a good baseball team and they are probably not going to make it. I would be in favor of an

expanded wild card and see the guys get in there and have a better chance."

Moves made

The expanded September roster allowed the Red Sox to recall left-handed pitcher Felix Doubront from

Triple-A Pawtucket and activate newly acquired Conor Jackson.

Francona said Jackson, a right-handed hitter, can play right and left field and probably the corner infield

positions if needed.

"How he's going to be used, I really don't know," Francona said. "And how extensively, we don't know."

Doubront pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 yesterday, striking out two and walking one batter.

Francona said about Doubront's season so far: "He has had a lot of interruptions, nothing serious, but he's

throwing the ball very well. We gave him starter's innings just to accelerate his maturity as a pitcher. Now

he'll throw out of the bullpen for us in September, and he's done it for us before. He's kind of a unique,

young guy — another one of our young guys that we've kind of learned to rely on, and we won't hesitate to

use him."

Really, J.D.?

Another day, another head-scratching "setback" for softy outfielder J.D. Drew.

"J.D. took a swing and jammed that knuckle on his finger there and the diagnosis is that he can play as

tolerated," Francona said. "Now, he's really sore. So we'll have to see where it goes. Whether it's a day, two

days, a week. We don't know. So that's kind of where we are at."

Kevin Youkilis worked out with the Red Sox yesterday and will be activated off the disabled list today,

Francona said.

Buchholz Throws Again

Clay Buchholz threw 35 throws at 60 feet yesterday and had a good day.

Saltalamacchia, Varitek have made a major weakness a major strength

Christopher Smith

Combine Jarrod Saltalamacchia's and Jason Varitek's offensive stats this year and what do you get?

You get one mighty impressive year: 23 homers, 78 RBIs, 73 runs.

Many thought the catching position was going to be one of the Red Sox' weaknesses this season with the

aging Varitek (39) and the inexperienced Jarrod Saltalamacchia (191 catching appearances before this year)

behind the plate.

But this catching combo has been nothing but a pleasant surprise.

"Salty" and "Tek" are a team. There is no competition between them, they say. They both like each other

and root for each other. They work together every day and are all about team first.

"The better he does, the better we do," Varitek said. "He's done extremely well. He's better now than he

was in spring training. He's better now than he was a year ago and that's what you want to continue to do as

a player. ... And he's my friend along with being my teammate."

Varitek deserves a great deal of credit. The Red Sox captain has done whatever has been asked of him since

losing his full-time job during the 2009 season.

Varitek is playing the best he has in years.

When he bashed his 10th home run of this season in the eighth inning of the win over the Yankees on

Wednesday night, he joined Carlton Fisk as the only two catchers in Major League Baseball history to hit

double-digits in home runs in a single season at 39 years or older.

He is 4 for his last 8 with two homers and six RBIs and has a six-game hit streak going during which time

he is 8 for 22 (.364 batting average) with three homers and nine RBIs.

All in all, he is one heck of a backup catcher.

Is he surprising himself?

"It isn't the first time I hit 10 home runs," Varitek said. "It's for you guys to judge. I just try to go out and do

my job."

Varitek has an admirer in the Yankees' Jorge Posada, who this year has been thrust into a new role himself.

"There's no question about it — I respect everything he's done," Posada said. "He's a student of the game.

He's a guy who cares. He wants to go out there and win. You can tell just by the way he approaches the

game."

Posada could learn a thing or two from Varitek actually.

Both Posada and Varitek were All-Stars. Both are nearing the end of their careers. Both have been placed

in new roles as backups. But Varitek is flourishing while Posada has struggled to adjust.

Posada, 40, no longer catches. He is DHing part-time. He was not in the starting lineup yesterday or

Wednesday and has feuded with manager Joe Girardi. He refused to play one game in May when he was

dropped to ninth in the lineup.

"It's been tough," Posada said. "But I can't do nothing about it. It is what it is."

Varitek has been the backup for a couple of years now. After some early problems with being demoted, he

has adjusted.

"It's different," Varitek said. "You have to battle timing catching and timing offensively. So it's an

adjustment definitely."

Varitek seems to be having fun out there these days, but he admitted that it's physically not easy.

"I think over time I've learned to enjoy more whether it be in this role or not," he said. "As a human being

I've changed. And I've tried to enjoy it more. But there's times when it's not very enjoyable."

Varitek has caught 1,479 games, including 1,363 starts.

"It's always been physically challenging," Varitek said. "We play a lot of games and positionally, it's very

physically demanding."

Varitek doesn't know how many years of baseball he has left in him, but he wants to play as long as he is

productive.

"As long as I'm being productive and playing this game healthy, I want to play," Varitek said.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have got to love what they have gotten out of Saltalamacchia who batted just

.216 in April but increased his average to .251 since then entering yesterday's game. He has 13 home runs,

46 RBIs and has scored 44 runs.

Saltalamacchia is listed at 6-4, 235 pounds, but he is athletic for his stature. The ability so many scouts saw

in him has been apparent over the past few months. Saltalamachhia, who was struggling with throwing the

ball back to the pitcher last season with Texas, has talent and the ability to be a very good catcher.

Soon there likely will be a new catching tandem ... Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway, who shows great

potential offensively but still needs to work on his defense.

But for the time being, Varitek is the backup and he and Saltalamacchia are a formidable combo.

Varitek is working like someone more than a dozen years younger than himself.

"I see him working like a 20-year-old guy," Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves said. "He can work more than

a young guy who is 18 years old."

Super Season

Games Runs RBIs HRs Avg.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia 85 44 46 13 .248

Jason Varitek 59 29 32 10 .240

* The Quincy Patriot Ledger

Red Sox-Yankees games are plodding marathons

Mike Fine

Daniel Bard has been immersed in this Red Sox-Yankees thing for a couple of years now, so what

happened Thursday night came as no surprise.

―We‘re similar in a lot of ways,‖ said the Red Sox reliever. ―Two of the best offenses in the league … the

rotations are looking kind of similar and the bullpens, as well. Both really good teams. You can put us up

100 times and we‘ll probably come close to .500, I guess.‖

Yet, put them up against each other 100 times and the one thing that‘ll stand out is that they‘ll have played

about 400 hours of baseball.

Off Tuesday‘s 5-2 loss to the Yankees that took three hours and 59 minutes and Thursday‘s 4-2 loss that

took four hours and 21 minutes, the plodding nature of this series is killing the fun of it all. The Yankees

worked Jon Lester for a career-high 43 first-inning pitches and the two teams, especially the Yankees, were

off and crawling, scratching for every last edge.

―I think you know getting into it these games are going to be five hours long or whatever they are,‖ said

Dustin Pedroia, who stroked a two-run fourth-inning home run off Yankees starter A.J. Burnett. ―It‘s kind

of ridiculous, but there‘s two good offenses. We take a lot of pitches. Both teams do and that‘s the nature of

everything.‖

It bit Lester early on and it got to Alfredo Aceves and Bard later. After Aceves gave up two runs in 11/3

innings of relief, it was up to Bard to quell an uprising, but the Yankees ground him down, as well. Russell

Martin worked him for a two-run double and Eric Chavez for an RBI single. Bard, normally so solid in

these appearances, had been worn down himself, blowing a save and handing Aceves his first relief loss

after 18 straight wins. Not that he didn‘t have it. At one point, Andruw Jones worked him for a walk on the

14th Aceves pitch. That‘s the act that Bard had to follow.

―Bard comes in in a lot of difficult spots,‖ said manager Terry Francona. ―That‘s why we have him in there.

You‘re going to give up a hit sooner or later.‖

―It‘s tough,‖ said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. ―Hitters get better as the at-bats go. You see more pitches,

you start to get a little more comfortable. But they battled. It‘s as simple as that. They went up there tonight

and fouled some pitches off. Kept their bats alive and made us kind of earn those outs. We pretty much

earned every out we had to get.‖

Told that Red Sox pitches were forced to throw 203 pitches, Bard asked, ―How many did I throw (it was

15)? They grind out at-bats. Against Lester from the very beginning I thought that first inning was never

gonna end (Lester gave up only one run). It really wasn‘t Lester‘s fault. You‘re dealing with a pretty tight

zone. The guy (plate ump Alfonso Marquez) was doing a good job but it was tight. I mean, he‘s throwing it

all around, they‘re fouling balls off. It kind of set the tone for the game. They were gonna foul off pitches

and see a lot of pitches.‖

Bard, who had a 261/3-innings scoreless streak from May through July, experienced it with the Martin and

Chavez at-bats. ―I made some good pitches. The pitches they hit, the two hits, were not good pitches. I

thought I could have ended the at-bat to Martin earlier. I thought I made pitches that could have ended the

at-bat but he did a good job. He battled me.

―It‘s frustrating. You want to come in and shut them down, but it‘s never easy coming in with two guys on.

I‘m not making excuses, but I think I‘ve done pretty well with inherited runners up to this point (he leads

the league with 31 holds) and at some point it‘s gonna fall and you‘re gonna give up a couple. I‘m not

gonna worry about it. I‘ll move on and come back tomorrow.‖ Presumably after a good night‘s sleep.

It wasn‘t even as if the Red Sox were outplayed, although they were outhit, 11-6, and stymied by six

Yankees pitchers. Yet right up until the end they were in it, loading the bases when Mariano Rivera gave up

two walks and a Marco Scutaro single in the ninth. It ended when Adrian Gonzalez, of all people, took a

called third strike, incredulously.

―We had the right guy up,‖ Pedroia said. ―That‘s the guy you want up there. Mariano‘s tough. I‘ll take

those at-bats any time.‖

―That pitch was down,‖ Gonzalez said. ―I should still be hitting. It‘s a 2-2 count.‖

A long, long night had ended. ―Both teams are gonna grind it out to the end,‖ Bard said. ―No one‘s gonna

roll over for the other.‖

War has broken out in right field for Red Sox

Mike Fine

Now that the Boston Red Sox have acquired outfielder Conor Jackson, a right-handed hitter who‘ll give the

Sox some depth down the stretch, war has broken out in right field.

It‘s left the Sox looking at left-handers J.D. Drew and Josh Reddick and righties Jackson and Darnell

McDonald. Manager Terry Francona said the deal with Oakland gives the Sox ―the chance to get a bat that

can impact especially against left-handed pitching. If something were to happen in September, say to Mac,

and we don‘t have somebody, that‘s not good.

―How we fit both of them in, some of its probably going to be determined how they swing the bat, there‘s

no getting around it. How you figure that out and how you let a guy get hot enough where they can swing

the bat will be our challenge and we‘ll work on that.‖

There‘s just one fly in the ointment: Drew. On the eve of returning from a month-long bout with a shoulder

injury, he injured his middle right finger while swinging during a third-inning at-bat while rehabbing for

Pawtucket Wednesday night, forcing his activation to be put on hold.

―Realistically, it‘s a matter of when I start swinging and I don‘t really feel it and when I don‘t tax it in that

area,‖ Drew said before his team‘s 4-2 loss to the Yankees. ―Hopefully, four to five days from now we‘ll

have a better idea of where we‘re at. It‘s aggravating because I was getting ready to roll and getting amped

up.‖

That leaves Reddick as the left-handed option in right field. He was in the lineup Thursday to face A.J.

Burnett and the Yankees. As for how manager Terry Francona solves the McDonald/Jackson riddle, stay

tuned. ―That‘s gonna be the challenge,‖ he said. ―OK, do you play them enough where they can get hot? I

can‘t sit here today and tell you I know exactly what to do. The good news is we know Mac, we know what

to expect, so that‘s good. He‘s been around for almost two years now so we kind of know what to expect

from him. We would like to get a look at Conor and see what‘s there.

―Redd is pretty athletic, throws probably the best out of the group. Mac handles himself fine out there.

Conor‘s probably more of an offensive player but I don‘t think he‘ll hurt us out there.‖

Jackson got the news of his trade (for Pawtucket pitcher Jason Rice) in the 14th inning of the A‘s 16-

inning, 4-3 loss to Cleveland (he didn‘t play) Wednesday night and was more than happy to accept the

assignment. ―It‘s exciting. I‘m coming from a team that‘s 15 games out to a team that‘s in the middle of a

pennant race, and playing in the AL East and probably one of the most friendliest fan parks in the game.‖

He batted .249 for the A‘s, playing 50 games at first base, 28 in right field and 20 in left. His career has had

some stops and starts, too. In 2009 he came down with a case of Valley Fever, losing about 35 pounds and

leaving him feel continually exhausted.

―When you miss so much time and you‘re getting better every single year like I felt like I was, and then

2009 hit … and last year I missed quite a few games with injuries. When you miss that many AB‘s you put

yourself behind the 8-ball pretty much. It‘s just pretty much getting your feet back under you and getting in

touch with your swing again. But I feel like healthwise I‘m fine. There‘s no ill effect of what it was.‖

Around the bases

Kevin Youkilis is good to come off the DL today when the Rangers come to town … The Sox also recalled

left-hander Felix Doubront to work out of the pen. Doubront had been plagued with hamstring, groin and

elbow problems this season but says he‘s completely healthy. ―It‘s been a little bit disjointed. He‘s had a lot

of interruptions,‖

Francona said of the youngster‘s season at Pawtucket. ―Nothing serious but he throws the ball very well.

We gave him starter‘s innings just to accelerate his maturity as a pitcher. Now he‘ll throw out of the

bullpen for us in September. He‘s done it for us before. He‘s kind of a unique young guy, another one of

our young guys that we‘ve come to rely on and we won‘t hesitate to use him.‖

―I feel a lot better and stronger,‖ Doubront said. ―My arm is great. Everything‘s fine.‖ He looked that way

when he was summoned in the eighth to throw 11/3 innings, giving up a walk and striking out two.

Bobby Jenks was transferred to the 60-day DL to accommodate Jackson. Jenks could conceivably return,

but he hasn‘t thrown and the Sox don‘t even know what to do with him at this point thanks to back and

intestinal issues … Clay Buchholz made 35 throws from 60 feet … Catcher/DH Ryan Lavarnway will

return from Pawtucket Monday. The club is trying to avoid making too many recalls and sticking to as-

needed transactions … Tim Wakefield has been penciled in to start Wednesday in Toronto ... Phil

Mickelson took BP and threw out the ceremonial first pitch … The sellout was the 699th straight at

Fenway.

* The Nashua Telegraph

Yanks subdue Sox

Alan Greenwood

The good A.J. Burnett showed up Thursday night for the New York Yankees and faced a surprisingly

vulnerable Jon Lester for the Red Sox.

Ultimately, both men proved fairly irrelevant in a 4-2 New York victory, giving the Yankees two of three

in their final Fenway Park appearance of the regular season. It also cut the Red Sox' lead to a half game in

the race to decide who will win the American League East and who will be the AL wild-card entry in the

playoffs.

Burnett had been winless in his previous nine starts against the Red Sox. He settled for a no-decision

Thursday despite leaving with one out in the fifth behind 2-1 thanks to Dustin Pedroia's two-run homer into

the center-field bleachers in the fourth.

Lester, who labored through a 43-pitch first inning but held the Yankees to one run in an abbeviated, five-

inning shift, was denied his 13th win of the season when New York pushed across three runs in the seventh.

Alfredo Aceves set up the Yankees' decisive rally by walking Andruw Jones and clipping Jesus Montero

with a pitch.

Daniel Bard served up a two-run double to Russell Martin on a 3-2 fastball and an RBI single to Eduardo

Nunez to put the Red Sox in a two-run hole.

They stayed there thanks to Rafael Soriano, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, though both Robertson

and Rivera encountered some resistance.

Robertson walked Adrian Gonzalez to open the eighth but induced a fielder's choice ground ball from

Pedroia, fanned David Ortiz and got Carl Crawford (3 for 19 on the homestand) on a pop fly to left.

Rivera earned his 36th save in the ninth by surviving a leadoff walk to Jed Lowrie, a two-out walk to

Jacoby Ellsbury and Marco Scutaro's line drive single to right, loading rhe bases.

Adrian Gonzalez was called on strikes to end the game after 4 hours, 21 minutes of the classic tug of war

between pitchers and batters stretching their pitch counts to the breaking point.

―Who asked me earlier today if I ever felt like (these games) were too long,‖ Terry Francona said. ―They

worked Lester for 43 pitches, almost to the point that we had to get somebody up, not because of

ineffectiveness but start getting to the point that it's a lot of pitches. But he only gave up the one and that's

all he ended up giving.''

Robinson Cano's RBI double was all New York could muster on Lester before leaving the bases loaded.

―I thought that first inning was never going to end.,'' Bard said. ―It wasn't really Lester's fault, he was

dealing with a tight zone. (Home plate umpire Alfonso Maruez) did a god job, it was just tight.

In all five Red Sox pitchers combined to throw 203 pitches.

―How many did I throw? It felt like a lot,'' Bard said.

The two he wanted back were a 3-2 fastball that Martin sent into the right-center field gap for his two-run

double and the fastball Nunez hit for an RBI single. Martin's at bat left him somewhat exasperated.

―The 1-2 pitch I thought was a pretty good pitch, maybe an inch off.,'' Bard said. ―I guess he got it right but

it was a good pitcher's pitch.

―On 3-2 I threw (Martin) a really good slider and he was able to stay back and foul it off. Then the fastball

caught too much of the plate.''

Still, the Red Sox managed to throw a little scare into the Yankees against Rivera.

―We gave ourselves a chance,'' Francona said. ―You don't too often see teams leave Mariano out there.''

―It's going to physically and mentally drain you to go out there for nine innings and battle those guys,''

Jarrod Saltalamacchia said.

―AJ looked good tonight, he mixed his pitches up, he didn't really stay with the fastball. He pitched a good

game and they got some key hits in big situations.''

Delayed return

Originally the plan called for J.D. Drew to be activated Thursday and for Kevin Youkilis to be activated

today as the Red Sox try to reach full strength for the September stretch run.

Half of the plan should go forward. Youkilis is eligible to come off the disabled list today and will,

Francona said. As for Drew, it's a little more complicated.

Drew injured the two middle fingers of his right hand in an at bat during his rehab stint with Pawtucket at

Rochester, jamming them on the knob of the bat Tuesday night. Staying in the game and going 3 for 3,

Drew tried to swing a bat Wednesday night and was scratched from his second game with the PawSox.

The injury could keep him on the shelf for a few more days. In lieu of activating Drew, the Red Sox made a

deal with Oakland on Wednesday night for Conor Jackson, who can play both corner positions in the

outfield. Jackson can also serve at third or first base if needed.

(Drew's) diagnosis is he can play as tolerated,'' Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ―He's really sore.

We'll have to see how it goes.

―When he swings, it's his right hand and that knuckle hits the knob of the bat and it's kind of grabbing on

him.‖

Jackson living a dream

Alan Greenwood

When little kids dream of big-league glory they do not lie awake in bed conjuring visions of the dreary

cement slab known as the Oakland Coliseum, with the Athletics an afterthought in the playoff race well

before Labor Day.

This isn‘t to suggest that Conor Jackson dreamed of Fenway Park and the Red Sox when his head hit the

pillow. He may not have ever thought about playing in Boston until someone nudged him in the A‘s dugout

late Wednesday night and told him he‘d been freed from Oakland‘s big gray jail and was headed to

Fenway.

―It was inning 14,‖ Jackson said Thursday. After digesting the news of his trade as Oakland endured a 16-

inning, 4-3 loss at Cleveland, Jackson quickly understood the opportunity that had been presented to him.

―It‘s exciting. I‘m coming from a team that was 15 games out to a team that‘s in a pennant race in the AL

East and in probably one of friendliest fan parks in the game,‖ Jackson said.

―Any time you come here and play as an opposing player it‘s intimidating. They are definitely fans that can

get in your head. I‘m just happy to be on the other side of it.‖

Being on the side of the baseball gods in Boston is something to be savored. One stolen base, albeit a

perfectly timed stolen base, guarantees Dave Roberts will be able to walk down any street here and be

hugged by a stranger at least once.

As for the Red Sox organization, Jackson scored points with those fans by immediately proclaiming them

the ―best team in baseball, hands down.‖

For at least the next month, Jackson will have at least a small opportunity to showcase his talents on a

large, well lighted stage. Considering the last few seasons, he needs it.

From 2006-2008 Jackson hit .291, .284 and .300 for the Diamondbacks, who drafted him in 2003. After

2008 he went from a salary of $419,500 to $3 million.

By May of 2009 he had contracted a case of Valley Fever, a fungal disease, losing 35 pounds and, as it

turned out, most of that season. He was traded to the A‘s in June, 2010 and, after enjoying consideration as

one of baseball‘s up-and-comers, has floundered in relative anonymity since.

He played a lot of first base for Oakland but with the Red Sox he is most likely to play right field,

completing a triumvirate of right fielders along with Josh Reddick and Darnell McDonald, the man he‘ll

duel to become the go-to right-handed hitting right fielder.

―How we fit both of them, probably some of that is going to be determined by how they‘re swinging the

bat,‖ Terry Francona said. ―How you figure that out and how you let a guy get hot enough that they can

swing the bat will be our challenge and we‘ll work on that.‖

―Whatever my role is going to be I‘m going to be ready for it,‖ Jackson said.

Beyond getting enough at bats to impress potential employers Jackson is working to earn a playoff roster

spot. If J.D. Drew gets past his current injury – two sprained fingers suffered during a rehab at bat with

Pawtucket – that would create a logjam of right fielders. The fact that Jackson can perform reasonably at

three other positions could help him reach the postseason.

―Playing in the playoffs is a feeling that‘s unparalleled to any as a player,‖ Jackson said. ―All those aches

and pains go away, it‘s what you play the game for.‖

Well, there is all that money to be made, too. But, setting aside the considerable financial considerations,

all ballplayers want a shot at winning a World Series.

Little kids‘ dreams do not include playing golf in October.

Youkilis returns today

Alan Greenwood

Originally the plan called for J.D. Drew to be activated Thursday and for Kevin Youkilis to be activated

today as the Red Sox try to reach full strength for the September stretch run.

Half of the plan should go forward. Youkilis is eligible to come off the disabled list today and will, Terry

Francona said. As for Drew, it‘s a little more complicated.

Drew injured the two middle fingers of his right hand in an at bat during his rehab stint with Pawtucket at

Rochester, jamming them on the knob of the bat Tuesday night. Staying in the game and going 3 for 3,

Drew tried to swing a bat Wednesday night and was scratched from his second game with the PawSox.

The injury could keep him on the shelf for a few more days. In lieu of activating Drew, the Red Sox made a

deal with Oakland on Wednesday night for Conor Jackson, who can play both corner positions in the

outfield. Jackson can also serve at third or first base if needed.

(Drew‘s) diagnosis is he can play as tolerated,‖ Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. ―He‘s really sore.

We‘ll have to see how it goes.

―When he swings, it‘s his right hand and that knuckle hits the knob of the bat and it‘s kind of grabbing on

him.‖

Drew has successfully healed the left shoulder impingement that put him on the disabled list July 26,

retroactive to his last appearance on July 20.

Darnell McDonald and Josh Reddick have shared the right-field duties with varying degrees of offensive

success. Jackson now stands as a third option. He batted .249 this season for the Athletics with 17 doubles,

one triple, four home runs and 38 RBIs in 102 games.

The Red Sox gave up minor league pitcher Jason Rice and cash considerations to help defray the cost of

Jackson‘s $500,000 contract. Jackson, 29, broke in with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005 and went to

Oakland in 2010.

Youkilis, on the DL since Aug. 18 with a lower back strain, made his second rehab start with the PawSox

on Wednesday night. He played third base and went 1 for 4, the one hit coming on a ninth-inning solo

homer in Pawtucket‘s 4-2 loss to Rochester.

Youkilis worked out with the Red Sox before Thursday night‘s game against the New York Yankees but

had to wait until today to be activated.

Doubront gets call to bullpen

Alan Greenwood

It‘s been a long summer for Felix Doubront, who has had to shake off multiple injuries and work to regain

the form that made him the Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2010.

Having come through left forearm inflammation, a groin pull and hamstring pull, Doubront made his

second trip to Boston on Thursday as the lone September call-up from the Red Sox minor league system.

He worked out of the bullpen for the Red Sox from April 9-17 before heading back to Pawtucket, where the

23-year-old tried to make sure this wouldn‘t be a completely lost season in his development.

He‘ll be in the bullpen now for the duration of the season.

―I had a couple of injuries that shut me down for four months,‖ Doubront said. ―Now I feel great. I‘m in

great shape, my legs are stronger. I‘m ready to help the team.‖

―It‘s been a little bit disjointed, he‘s had a lot of interruptions,‖ Terry Francona said of Doubront‘s year

thus far.

―He‘s throwing the ball very well. We gave him starter‘s innings (at Pawtucket) just to accelerate his

maturity as a pitcher. Now he‘ll throw out of the bullpen for us in September.‖

Dubrount made three appearances during his April stay with the Red Sox. He was 3-5 with a 3.96 earned

run average with the PawSox, mostly as a starter.

―The last week out of the bullpen I worked a lot to get that confidence back,‘‘ Doubront said.

―He‘s kind of a unique young guy, another one of our young guys that we have learned to rely on,‘‘

Francona said. ―We won‘t hesitate to use him.‖

Notes

n Clay Buchholz worked out again Thursday afternoon at Fenway, making 35 throws from 60 feet after

making 25 throws from 60 feet Tuesday.

That‘s the routine Buchholz will maintain for awhile

Bobby Jenks‘ season ended with a thud Thursday as he was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Jenks

has been dogged by injuries for most of his first year with the Red Sox.

Tim Wakefield will start next Wednesday against the Blue Jays after being skipped over on this run

through the rotation. Andrew Miller is down to start tonight against Texas.

During his pregame media briefing Francona momentarily forgot which day Wakefield would start.

―He‘s penciled in … Pam is it Wednesday in Toronto,‖ he said, asking Red Sox media relations director am

Ganley for some help.‖

―You got to tell me before I know,‖ Ganley said, drawing laughter from the assembled scribes.

―What day is the eighth. It might be the seventh. It‘s the seventh or eighth,‖ Francona concluded.

Golfer Phil Mickelson tossed out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday night with Wakefield, the Red Sox‘

most rabid golfer, doing the catching.

* The Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Adrian Gonzalez strikeout dooms Red Sox

Bill Ballou

This series was like a presidential debate for American League MVP candidates.

There were the obvious front-runners like the Red Sox‘ Adrian Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury and Curtis

Granderson of the Yankees, and there were also some third-party candidates like Dustin Pedroia and

Robinson Cano.

Last night, Granderson came away with a boost in the polls, helping New York to a 4-2 victory over

Boston. He was 2 for 4 with a sensational run-saving catch on Jed Lowrie to end the sixth inning, and while

Ellsbury and Gonzalez were both 1 for 3, Gonzalez came up with the bases loaded and two outs in the

bottom of the ninth and took a called third strike from Mariano Rivera.

Thus, the Yankees took the series, 2 games to 1. Boston, however, retains its first-place lead in the AL East

by a half-game and, despite losing, picked up a magic number point in the playoff race since the Rays lost.

The Red Sox‘ magic number to clinch a postseason berth is 18.

The game lasted an eternal 4:21 and was the longest nine-inning game for the Sox this season, and the

longest since playing another 4:21 marathon versus the Yankees on April 25, 2009. That also went 4:21,

but there was a reason: It was a 16-11 Boston victory.

It was pretty obvious very early that it was going to be a long night as the Yankees worked Red Sox starter

Jon Lester for 43 pitches in just the first inning. Lester wound up pitching five innings and leaving with a 2-

1 lead, the runs coming on Pedroia‘s two-run homer in the fourth.

Since it was obvious early it would be a long night because of Lester‘s pitch count, it was also obvious that

it would turn into a bullpen game. That was not necessarily a bad thing for the Red Sox, since their bullpen

has been excellent most of the season.

Alfredo Aceves, for one thing, was 8-0 as a reliever, and Daniel Bard had come into games with 29 runners

on base and allowed only three of them to score.

This time, they combined to blow the save. Aceves got out of a jam in the sixth, but with one out in the

seventh, he walked Andruw Jones and grazed DH Jesus Montero‘s uniform with a pitch. Manager Terry

Francona called on Bard, who wound up allowing a two-run double to Russell Martin on a 3-2 pitch.

Eduardo Nunez then singled home Martin.

―You get to the bullpen early,‖ Francona said, ―and they‘ve done so well, but if somebody makes a

mistake, that‘s what happens.‖

Before last night, Aceves had been 21-1 as a reliever for his career, so he was due to lose.

Bard got a blown save, and is just 5 for 18 in his career save chances. That‘s a tough stat for him, though,

since he‘s usually called on to pitch in situations with little margin for error.

―Bard comes into a lot of difficult spots,‖ Francona said, ―and once in a while, you‘re gonna give up a hit.‖

As they have done more than any other team, the Red Sox almost rallied to beat Rivera at the end, all the

while with Kevin Millar watching from a seat next to the Boston dugout. Rivera walked Lowrie and

Ellsbury, then gave up a single to right to Marco Scutaro, bringing up Gonzalez with two out.

He didn‘t like plate umpire Alfonso Marquez‘s call on strike three, but in that situation, he should either

have not been down in the count, or should have been swinging at a close pitch.

That‘s what makes players valuable.

Red Sox welcome Felix Doubront, Conor Jackson

Bill Ballou

The Red Sox have begun their late-season fine-tuning, calling up lefty Felix Doubront from Pawtucket and

adding utility player Conor Jackson via a trade with Oakland. The Jackson deal was made late Wednesday

night, so he's eligible for postseason play with Boston.

The Sox sent minor league righty Jason Rice, who had been at Pawtucket, to the Athletics for Jackson, who

is 29 and a right-handed hitter. He has played right field and left field as well as third base and first base,

but arrives in town in an 0-for-21 slump.

With Oakland this year, he hit .249 with four home runs and 39 RBIs. He is a career .272 hitter. Jackson is

not considered to be an especially good defensive player, so he'll have to hit better than he did with the A's

to get much playing time.

Doubront was with Boston in April and didn't have a decision in three appearances. He spent most of the

season in Pawtucket and did not have a good year, going 2-5 with a 4.22 ERA in 18 appearances. He was

mostly a starter in the minors, but will be used out of the bullpen this month.

Youkilis to return

J.D. Drew is not in the mix in right field, at least not for a while. The bruised middle finger on his right

hand is very sore and the Sox have no idea when he'll be ready to play. It could be a week, but with Drew,

things tend to take longer.

Kevin Youkilis is scheduled to be activated today when he's eligible to come off the disabled list. With

rosters being at 40, the Sox will not have to send anyone down to make room for him.

Rangers in for three

The Rangers will be on the premises for the weekend, playing a three-game series that starts at 7:10

tonight. The teams have played seven times so far this season, all in Texas. The Rangers won the first four,

the Red Sox the next three. Texas has played well at Fenway Park the last couple of years, going 4-6 here

since the start of the 2009 season.

The pitching matchups: tonight, Andrew Miller (6-1, 4.42) vs. Derek Holland (12-5, 4.30); tomorrow, 4:10

p.m., Erik Bedard (4-9, 3.45) vs. Colby Lewis (11-9, 4.19), and Sunday, 1:35 p.m., John Lackey (12-10,

5.94) vs. Matt Harrison (10-9, 3.59).

A good catch

The 23 home runs that Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek have combined to hit as catchers are tied

with Toronto for most in the American League. They are, however, a long way from the Red Sox record.

It is 33, which Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk and Bob Montgomery combined to hit in 1973. Fisk had 26 of

them. Saltalamacchia and Varitek's 23 homers are the 10th-best total ever for Sox catchers, and they are

liable to finish the season with 25 or more.

Aceves plunks Teixeira

Alfredo Aceves hit two more Yankees batters last night, and Boston leads the league in hit batsmen with

72. Sox pitchers have hit 18 Yankees in 15 games, while New York pitchers have plunked just seven

Boston hitters. One of the Yankees hit by Aceves was Mark Teixeira, who had to leave the game with a

bruised right knee.

Streaks alive

David Ortiz had a single in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, and Dustin Pedroia

had two hits to make it six games in a row. The Sox have homered in nine straight, and the last five have

been two-run homers.

Diamond Dust

Curtis Granderson made the game's best defensive play, robbing Jed Lowrie of an RBI single with a diving

catch in center field to end the sixth. … Phil Mickelson was in the ballpark and took batting practice, as

well as throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to accomplished golfer Tim Wakefield. … Boston placed

Bobby Jenks on the 60-day disabled list. … With right-hander A.J. Burnett on the mound for New York,

the Sox went back to having Pedroia bat cleanup. His steal in the sixth was his 25th of the season and the

81st of his career. Pedroia is 20th on the Sox all-time list, and 11th among those who played after World

War II.

* The Portland Press Herald

Matchup favored Red Sox, scoreboard favored Yankees

Kevin Thomas

Observations following the final Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park this year (maybe):

Thursday's game showed how close this rivalry is this year. The pitching matchup of Jon Lester vs. A.J.

Burnett made the Red Sox an overwhelming favorite, but Burnett stymied the Sox except for Dustin

Pedroia's two-run homer.

Other than that, Burnett was surprisingly strong -- surprising because he's coming off an 11.91 ERA in

August.

The Yankees' starting pitching may have its flaws but it's good enough, given their lineup, defense and

bullpen. And maybe the Yankees would have swept this series if Ivan Nova (14-4, 3.96) pitched

Wednesday instead of Phil Hughes.

While the Red Sox are in the last month of a sensational season (83-53), the Yankees aren't going

anywhere, a half-game out and tied in the loss column (82-53).

SOME TRIVIA to consider: Boston entered September with 83 wins, the most since it won 84 before

September of 1978. You remember 1978? If not, ask your parents about Bucky Dent.

JON LESTER was supposed to give Boston the edge as a solid No. 2 pitcher, which the Yankees don't

have. But Lester showed he's no sure thing, especially when his command is off (43 first-inning pitches).

The encouraging part is Lester pitched out of jams. But five innings had Boston going to its bullpen too

soon.

HOME RUNS are being spread out by Boston. If you count the catching tandem as one player, the Red Sox

have six "players" with at least 17. David Ortiz had 28, followed by Jacoby Ellsbury (24), Adrian Gonzalez

(23), the Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Jason Varitek duo (23), Pedroia (18) and Kevin Youkilis (17).

Both the 2004 World Series champs and 2008 ALCS team had six players with at least 17.

Pedroia's 18th came Thursday for a personal best. Youkilis will have all month to chase Pedroia after

getting activated from the disabled list today.

Pedroia also continues to increase his career best in stolen bases, recording his 25th Thursday (second to

Ellsbury's 36 and ahead of Carl Crawford's 17).

JESUS MONTERO, the Yankees' prized catching prospect, made his major league debut as the designated

hitter, two years after Hadlock Field fans saw him briefly.

Montero, 20, played because the Yankees have few right-handed batting options (Jorge Posada hits .100

against lefties).

Montero's first at-bat came with the bases loaded and two outs in the first. Lester struck him out with a cut

fastball.

In the fifth, with runners on first and third with two outs and the Yankees down 2-1, Montero grounded out

to short.

Montero went 0 for 4 and was hit (grazed) by an Alfredo Aceves pitch.

As for Montero's Hadlock experience, he would like to forget it. Catching for Trenton, Montero was run

over by a charging Bubba Bell at home plate, knocking Montero out of the game with a concussion.

FELIX DOUBRONT didn't pitch in that game against Montero but was with the Sea Dogs in 2009. And

now he's back in Boston, the first pitcher called up from Pawtucket as rosters expand in September.

Doubront gives Boston depth, and maybe he's auditioning for a spot on the postseason roster.

Injuries and inconsistency dogged Doubront in Pawtucket (2-5, 4.22 ERA).

"Pretty frustrating," Doubront said, "but now I'm in great shape to help the team."

Manager Terry Francona said Doubront "is throwing the ball very well ... we won't hesitate to use him."

Doubront pitched 1 1/3 innings Thursday. In the eighth, he yielded an eight-pitch walk to Brett Gardner and

then picked him off before striking out Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher. He got Chris Dickerson on a

pop-up in the ninth before leaving. Hmmm.

* The Lynn Daily Item

Sox get new bat as Jackson arrives from Oakland

Maureen Mullen

Just minutes before the midnight deadline on Wednesday to add players who can be eligible for the

postseason roster, the Red Sox acquired first baseman/outfielder Conor Jackson from the A's. A right-

handed hitter, Jackson gives manager Terry Francona another option in the corner outfield spots.

Jackson will be in the mix with fellow right-handed bat Darnell McDonald and lefties Josh Reddick and

J.D. Drew, who was to be activated from the disabled list (where he has been since July 20 with a left

shoulder impingement) yesterday. But a sprained right middle finger suffered in his rehab game Tuesday

night with Triple-A Pawtucket has set Drew back for about a week.

Francona's challenge will be finding time for all of them, especially Jackson and McDonald. In 61 games,

McDonald is batting .195 with five home runs, 18 RBI, 30 strikeouts and 11 walks. He is hitting .146 with

no home runs and five RBI against right-handed pitchers, .220 (five, 13) against lefties. In 102 games with

the A's, Jackson hit .249 with four home runs and 38 RBI. Against right-handers he is hitting .246 with four

home runs and 28 RBI in 89 games. Against lefties Jackson is batting .254 (0, 10) in 55 games.

"If something were to happen in September, say to Mac and we don't have somebody, that's not good,"

Francona said. "How we fit both of them in, some of it's probably going to be determined how they swing

the bat. There's no getting around it. How you figure that out and how you let a guy get hot enough where

they can swing the bat will be our challenge and we'll work on that."

Jackson has played first base, third base, left field and right field.

"Whatever they need," he said. "It's probably going to be a bat off the bench and here and there playing

against left-handers. Whatever my goal's going to be or whatever my role is going to be I'm going to be

ready for it and be prepared.

Jackson, who turned 29 in May, was a first-round pick (19th overall) by the Diamondbacks in the 2003

draft out of the University of California. He has appeared at first base more than any other position, 384

games, but has played primarily left in the outfield. This season, though, he has appeared in 28 games in

right field and 20 games in left for the A's.

"I'm comfortable [in right field]," he said. "I've played quite a bit this year and I think it's getting to be as

comfortable as left."

Jackson has struggled over the last few seasons. In 2006, his first full big-league season, he hit .291 with 15

home runs and 79 RBI in 140 games, with an .809 OPS. Overall, in his first three seasons, he hit .292 with

a .451 slugging percentage and .371 on-base percentage, averaging 138 games.

After his rookie season, he hit 15 and 12 home runs, respectively, in each of his next two seasons. But in

the next three seasons, Jackson, who was traded by Arizona to Oakland on June 15, 2010, has hit just seven

homers in 192 games, while batting .234, with a .314 OBP and .323 slugging percentage.

He contracted Valley Fever in May 2009 and lost about 35 pounds from his 6-foot-2 frame. His last game

for the Diamondbacks that season was May 11. In 2010 he appeared in 60 big league games, 42 with

Arizona and 18 with Oakland, spending time in the minors in both 2009 and 2010.

"I think for me it was when you miss so much time and you're getting better every single year, like I felt

like I was, and then 2009 hit and I got sick and last year I missed quite a few games with injuries," he said.

"When you miss that many ABs you put yourself behind the eight ball pretty much. It's just pretty much

getting your feet back under you and getting in touch with your swing again.

"Obviously, I got about 300 ABs [368 this season] but I feel I probably need some more, whether it's going

to play winter ball or whatever. But I feel like I'm, healthwise I'm fine. There' s no ill effect of what it was."

He's looking forward to being part of a pennant race.

"I think playing in the playoffs is a feeling that's unparalleled to any as a player," he said. "All those aches

and pains go away. It's what you play the game for. You play 162 games and it's all these guys and one

common goal. So to get to that point and try to win a World Series, it's definitely a common goal."

The trade caught Jackson by surprise. He found out while in the dugout during the 14th inning of the A's

16-inning loss in Cleveland. He knows he will have to adjust to coming off the bench, with possibly limited

playing time.

"It's something I have to be accustomed to if I want to have some longevity in this game," he said. "I think

that's going to be my role here and I'm going to be prepared. Preparation is pretty much the only thing I can

do right now."

* RedSox.com

Reliable bullpen springs leak vs. Yankees

Ian Browne

It took until the first day of September, but the Red Sox at last lost a series to their rivals.

The Yankees were downright relentless with their offensive approach on Thursday night at Fenway, and

they were rewarded by grinding their way to a 4-2 victory over the Red Sox in the rubber match of this

three-game series.

"They played better than us," said second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "Long games -- we're all tired. Tonight,

we just didn't swing the bats that well. We move on and try to win tomorrow."

With Boston clinging to a half-game lead in the American League East, it sure seems possible -- if not

probable -- that a three-game set at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 23-25 could decide the division.

Both teams are highly likely to make the postseason, as the Yankees lead the Rays by 8 1/2 games in the

AL Wild Card standings.

"I try to concern ourselves about us," said manager Terry Francona. "I don't even know where they go play

[next]. They're a good team. Our record is almost identical. We'll see the next five or six weeks what

happens. It will be fun."

Even on a night when the Yankees worked five Boston pitchers for 203 pitches over a game that lasted four

hours and 21 minutes, the Sox gave themselves a big chance in the bottom of the ninth.

Jed Lowrie opened the frame against future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera with a walk. With two

outs, Jacoby Ellsbury drew a free pass. Marco Scutaro, who has had some big hits against Rivera in his

career, came through with an opposite-field single to right to load them up with two outs.

Up stepped Adrian Gonzalez, who has 103 RBIs, but Rivera finished the game with a 1-2 cutter that looked

unhittable. Gonzalez, thinking it was low, passed. Home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez called strike three,

and that was that.

"That pitch was down," said Gonzalez. "I should still be hitting. It's a 2-2 count."

Catcher Russell Martin, who delivered the game-winning hit, couldn't have asked from a better pitch from

his closer.

"You couldn't place the ball better," said Martin. "It was down and away, hit the corner, and there's not

really much you can do with that pitch. You can't drive that pitch. It's just one of those pitches where, as a

hitter, you've got to tip your cap to that guy."

It was a situation the Red Sox will take their chances with again.

"Yeah, we had the right guy up," Pedroia said. "That's the guy we want up there. Mariano is tough. We'll

take those at-bats with Adrian any time."

Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard, two of Boston's most dependable relievers this season, couldn't hold the

2-1 lead that Jon Lester departed with after five innings.

For the Sox, the game unraveled in the top of the seventh. With one out, Aceves issued a 14-pitch walk to

Andruw Jones. The righty then hit Jesus Montero -- just barely. As Francona typically does when his team

is in a bind, he went to ace setup man Bard.

For one of the few times this season, the righty did not come through. Martin hit Bard's 97-mph fastball for

a two-run double to right-center, putting the Yankees back in the lead at 3-2. Entering the game, Bard had

allowed only three of 29 inherited runners to score.

"The 1-2 pitch I thought was a pretty good pitch, maybe an inch off," said Bard. "I guess he got it right, but

it was a good pitcher's pitch. On 3-2, threw him a really good slider that he was able stay back on and foul

off. Then, obviously the next fastball just caught too much of the plate. So I thought I made two really good

two-strike pitches, just didn't put him away.

Eric Chavez followed with a pinch-hit RBI single to right to make it a two-run lead.

The Red Sox never recovered.

Lester had one of the most trying innings of his career in the top of the first, throwing 44 pitches, but

allowing just one run. In the inning, Lester gave up three hits and a walk while facing seven batters.

Robinson Cano's RBI double to left accounted for the run.

"A lot of foul balls, a lot of long at-bats, and that's what you get with these guys," said Lester.

Despite throwing all those pitches early, Lester was able to grind out five innings and was in position to

earn the win. He gave up seven hits and a run, walking three and striking out six. Lester threw 114 pitches,

73 for strikes.

"That was the theme tonight -- just hanging in there, minimizing damage. I ended up making pitches when I

had to," Lester said. "Really, two hard-hit balls and 114 pitches later, I could only get through five."

A.J. Burnett held the Sox down early, but Pedroia came up with a big hit in the bottom of the fourth, belting

a two-run shot to center to put Boston in front at 2-1.

Aside from that, Burnett came up big for the Yankees, holding the Sox to five hits over 5 1/3 innings.

In 22 days, the teams meet again. Chances are, they will still be neck and neck in the AL East.

"We're similar in a lot of ways," Bard said. "Two of the best offenses in the league. The rotations are

looking kind of similar. We both have really good bullpens. Similar teams, both really good teams."

Jackson excited to jump into pennant race

Ian Browne

Conor Jackson went from playing out the string to entering a pennant race in an instant. Now, the question

is how much playing time he will get with his new team, the Boston Red Sox.

"Whatever they need," Jackson said. "It's probably going to be a bat off the bench against left-handers.

Whatever my role is going to be, I'm going to be ready for it and prepared."

Jackson was acquired from the Oakland Athletics late Wednesday night -- just as his former team was

wrapping up a 16-inning loss in Cleveland -- for Minor League pitcher Jason Rice.

"Right-handed-hitting bat," said manager Terry Francona. "[He] can play right field, left field, probably the

corner positions in the infield if needed. How he's going to be used, I really don't know, or how extensively,

we don't know.

"I just think talking to [general manager] Theo [Epstein], the chance to get a bat that can maybe impact,

especially against left-handed pitching, if something were to happen in September, say, to [Darnell

McDonald], and we don't have somebody, that's not good. How we fit both of them in, some of it is

probably going to be determined by how they swing the bat. There's no getting around it. How you figure

that out and how you let a guy get hot enough where they can swing the bat will be our challenge, and we'll

work on that."

As he joined his new teammates, Jackson didn't seem to be worried about any of that. Instead, he arrived

just in time for the finale of a three-game series against the Yankees.

His thoughts?

"A lot of them," Jackson said. "A lot of them are streaming through my head. It's exciting. I'm coming from

a team that was 15 games out to a team that's in the middle of a pennant race and playing in the AL East

and probably one of the friendliest fan parks in the game."

Jackson was not shy about expressing his optimism about the Red Sox.

"Best team in baseball, hands down," Jackson said.

However, Jackson was also the first to admit he is hardly having his best season. In 102 games, he is hitting

.249 with four homers and 38 RBIs.

"You know, a little sporadic playing time here and there, but it's something I have to be accustomed to if I

want to have some longevity in this game," said Jackson. "I think that's going to be my role here. I'm going

to be prepared. Preparation is pretty much the only thing I can do right now."

Jackson wasn't in the lineup on Thursday against righty A.J. Burnett. He could get a chance this weekend,

as the Sox face two lefties -- Derek Holland on Friday and Matt Harrison on Sunday.

Drew setback could keep him out another week

All right fielder J.D. Drew needed was to have a smooth Minor League rehab assignment and he could

have been in the Red Sox's lineup for Thursday night's finale of a three-game series against the Yankees.

But in yet another example of the type of frustration Drew has experienced, the jammed right middle finger

he experienced during Tuesday's contest at Rochester could keep him out another week.

"I'm hoping that's all it is," said Drew, who had two fingers taped together on Thursday. "Realistically, it's

just a matter of when I start swinging, and I don't really feel it and it's not really taxing that area. I think

that's when we go back to start taking full hacks and getting ready to play again."

The night Drew got hurt, he had three hits for Triple-A Pawtucket.

"Well, in my second at-bat, I swung at a fastball middle-in and I just fouled it off, and somehow or another,

when I finished my swing, my bottom hand slipped off the bat and got my finger up against the knob of the

bat and I guess just kind of bent it back and sprained it pretty good," Drew said.

"There's a small sliver of bone [that] kind of pulled off of the ligament. I don't know what they call it, but

you can see there's a bone, and I guess when I torqued it, it kind of pulled that off. But one of the doctors

said that's kind of a good thing, kind of promotes healing in that area versus just having ligament damage.

It's real sore the last couple days. I think the soreness probably will start calming down, and starting

tomorrow, treatment will start picking up, try to get range of motion and make a determination when we

start going back hitting again."

Doubront aims to help out down stretch

When the season started, the Red Sox felt Felix Doubront could develop into a key part of their pitching

staff. But the lefty developed elbow problems in Spring Training, and it limited his progress.

Now, however, Doubront will get another chance. On the day rosters were expanded, Doubront was

promoted from Triple-A Pawtucket.

"A couple injuries [are] in the past," Doubront said. "Now I feel a lot better and stronger. My arm is great.

Everything's fine now."

Doubront pitched 18 times for Pawtucket this season, 16 of them starts. He went 2-5 with a 4.22 ERA.

He will give the Red Sox another arm out of the bullpen down the stretch.

"Four months ago, I started with all the injuries, and I was pretty much frustrated," Doubront said. "But I

handled it. I kept working, I never stopped working. I'm strong in my legs and my core. Now I'm in great

shape to help the team."

Manager Terry Francona appreciated the job Doubront did last time, whether it was in spot starts or the

bullpen.

"He's kind of a unique young guy -- another one of our young guys we kind of have learned to rely on and

we won't hesitate to use him," Francona said.

Mickelson takes BP, throws out first pitch

Phil Mickelson was swinging lefty, as he always does on the golf course, but this time, the professional

golfer had a baseball bat in his hand.

The winner of four major PGA championships, Mickelson had the thrill of taking batting practice at

Fenway Park before Thursday night's Red Sox-Yankees game.

"To be at Fenway Park and take BP is a really cool experience," Mickelson said. "I'm very appreciative that

the organization let me do this. This is a lot of fun."

Duncan Webb, the player development programs coordinator for the Red Sox, threw to Mickelson, who hit

one ball to the warning track in center field.

Mickelson threw the ceremonial first pitch to Tim Wakefield, who is probably the best golfer of all the Red

Sox players.

"I grew up playing [baseball] like most people did," Mickelson said. "It's fun for us when the [PGA] Tour

is in town here and the Sox are in the pennant race to come to a ballgame here at Fenway. There's nothing

more exciting than when the Sox are having a great year and getting ready for the playoffs."

Mickelson is in town for the Deutsche Bank Classic, which is being played in Norton, Mass.

"These guys are very impressive," Mickelson said of the Red Sox. "I love what I do, but it's fun to be able

to get a taste of another sport like this, it's really exciting."

Remy, Castiglione on Frick Award ballot

Two frequently heard voices of Red Sox baseball are among the 75 eligible broadcasters for this year's Ford

C. Frick Award.

Jerry Remy has been calling Sox games for NESN since 1988, and is affectionately known as the Rem Dog

throughout Red Sox Nation. The Massachusetts native lived a dream when he played for Boston from

1978-84, and he has become even more popular in his current role.

The other Sox nominee is Joe Castiglione, who has been a radio broadcaster for the club since 1983.

Castiglione called the final out of both the 2004 and '07 World Series.

Online voting concludes Sept. 30 at 5 p.m. ET. The top three fan selections will appear on the final 10-

name ballot for the award, from which the winner is selected by a 20-member electorate. The winner will

be announced at baseball's Winter Meetings in Dallas in December.

The Ford C. Frick Award has been presented annually since 1978 for excellence in baseball broadcasting,

and is given to an active or retired broadcaster with a minimum of 10 years of continuous Major League

broadcast service with a ballclub, network or a combination of the two.

In 2011, Tom Cheek (who led with 11,661 votes), Bill King and Jacques Doucet earned spots on the final

Frick Award ballot via fan voting, now in its ninth year.

* ESPNBoston.com

Red Sox know Yankees won't go easily

Gordon Edes

You have to go back to George Steinbrenner's first year as owner of the New York Yankees -- 1973 -- for

the last time the Boston Red Sox held such a one-sided advantage over the Bombers in their head-to-head

meetings.

Even after Thursday night's 4-2 loss, which ended with Adrian Gonzalez shaking his head in disbelief after

being rung up by plate umpire Alfonso Marquez with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth against

Yankees icon Mariano Rivera, the Sox still lead the season series, 11 games to 4, with a chance to match

the 14-4 record that was Steinbrenner's introduction to the rivalry.

You know what that means, of course.

Nothing.

Adrian Gonzalez is convinced the pitch he was called out on to end the game shouldn't have been a strike.

It was nice while it lasted -- the Sox swept the Yankees twice in the Bronx and beat the Yankees two out of

three in their first two series here before dropping the rubber match of this three-game set. But with the

calendar now turned to September and a possible ALCS rematch looming on the horizon, these teams look

across the diamond and see mirror images of themselves.

A half-game separates them in the American League East. The Sox have 26 games left, the Yankees 25,

and they have a date in the Bronx for three more games in the next-to-last series of the season. The makings

of a classic race, if both teams weren't already assured of their spots at the postseason table, one as the wild

card.

"We went into New York and swept them early on," said Sox setup man Daniel Bard, who gave up a two-

run double to Russell Martin and an RBI single to Eric Chavez in the three-run seventh that turned this

game in New York's favor. "That gave us a lot of confidence. We needed that as a team at the time."

Before that sweep, the Sox were three games under .500. Then Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester

all won in New York, and the Sox never looked back.

"Then you go and play the next series -- we know what just happened, they know what just happened -- it

carries over for a couple of series," Bard said. "I think that's kind of worn off at this point. Now we're both

pretty good teams. We know we're pretty evenly matched. Both teams are going to grind it out to the end.

Nobody's going to roll over for the other."

Rolling over is left for their fans, many of whom were reaching for their night lights before the end of a

protracted siege that lasted 4 hours, 21 minutes. It was the longest nine-inning game the Sox have played in

more than two years, since going 4:21 on April 25, 2009 -- also against the Yankees.

"You know these games are going to be five hours long, whatever," said Dustin Pedroia, whose two-run

home run off A.J. Burnett in the fourth accounted for Boston's only runs. "They are kind of ridiculous. But

it's two good offenses who take lot of pitches. Both teams do. It's the nature of the thing."

The Sox imported Gonzalez for moments like the one he faced in the ninth inning, coming to the plate after

two walks and Marco Scutaro's two-out single had Rivera in a bind. Gonzalez had come through earlier this

season against Yankees ace CC Sabathia, cracking a three-run home run while doing what he called an

impression of Ichiro.

No Ichiro on this night, only sayonara, as Marquez decided that Rivera's final cutter had carved through the

low end of the strike zone. Gonzalez, sitting in front of his locker after the game, still hadn't embraced that

judgment.

"I have only one thing to say," Gonzalez said. "That pitch was down. I should still be hitting."

A big reason the Sox have taken the measure of the Yankees as often as they have this season is that their

hitting stars have produced while their Yankee counterparts have not.

David Ortiz has five home runs against the Bombers this season and a dozen RBIs. Pedroia, who had five

hits in this series, is batting .418 against the Yanks and knocked in 13 runs. Jacoby Ellsbury, who was on

base eight times in this series, including his game-turning home run Wednesday, also has 15 RBIs. Even

Gonzalez, who has been mostly held in check by the Yanks -- a .186 average (11-for-59) -- has two home

runs and 11 RBIs.

And Carl Crawford, who hasn't hit anyone this season, had nine hits in three games last month against the

Bombers, and added a home run and double this week before vanishing again in a seven-AB stretch of

three strikeouts and a double play.

The Yankees? Mark Teixeira, before he was knocked out of Thursday's game with a bruised right knee

after being hit by Alfredo Aceves, had a soft single in three games this week and is batting .129 against the

Sox this season, with a homer and four RBIs. Last season, Teixeira shredded the Sox for eight home runs

and 16 RBIs.

Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson needed a couple of singles apiece Thursday to raise their averages over

.200 against the Sox, though MVP candidate Granderson has three home runs against Boston and took a

run away from the Sox on Thursday with a splendid diving catch of Jed Lowrie's sinking liner. Alex

Rodriguez is hurt and did not play, but he is sub-.200 (.194) versus the Sox this season.

Good scouting? Great execution by Sox pitchers? Both, no doubt. But again, it may mean little if these

teams rumble again in October -- for the first time since 2004. Past is not prologue in the postseason.

"We're similar in a lot of ways," Bard said. "Two of the best offenses in the league. The rotations are

probably looking kind of similar. The bullpens as well. We both have really good bullpens.

"We both have really good teams. You can put us up 100 times, it's going to come out close to .500, I

guess."

But don't assume that rendezvous with destiny in October is a sure thing. Anything but. The Yankees leave

town, and the Texas Rangers pull in. They're the defending AL champions. Remember?

That's why Pedroia wasn't hearing any talk of a Yanks-Sox ALCS.

"There's a long way to go," he said. "A long way for that."

Gordon Edes covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com.

Daniel Bard, Jon Lester get worn down

Joe McDonald

When Russell Martin delivered the go-ahead hit with a two-run double off Boston Red Sox reliever Daniel

Bard in the top of the seventh, the New York Yankees' dugout erupted in celebration.

The Yankees held on for a 4-2 victory Thursday night at Fenway Park and left town, winning two of three

against the Red Sox.

From the first pitch until the last out, New York's batters wore down Boston's pitchers. The Red Sox

delivered a total of 203 pitches in this one.

"It's tough," Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "Hitters get better as the at-bats go. You see more

pitches and you start to get a little more comfortable, but they battle, it's as simple as that. They went out

there tonight and fouled some pitches off and kept their at-bats alive and made us earn those outs. We

pretty much earned every out we had to get tonight."

After Red Sox starter Jon Lester worked only five innings, Alfredo Aceves entered in the top of the sixth

with a 2-1 lead. Aceves came in carrying a career-high scoreless streak of 13 1/3 innings and has been solid

all season with Boston. But his former club figured him out and produced two runs on two hits during

Aceves' 1 1/3 innings of work.

The finesse right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. He then struck out Nick Swisher to

begin the seventh, but Andruw Jones followed with a 14-pitch battle and drew a walk. Aceves then hit

Jesus Montero before he was removed in favor of Bard.

"[Bard and Aceves] went after guys with everything we had," Saltalamacchia said. "Alfredo had what felt

like a 100-pitch at-bat with Andruw. It was a good at-bat, he kept battling and we've got to figure

something to throw at him. We threw a couple of curveballs and he took some good pitches, got a walk and

that started the inning for them."

It was an unlikely scenario for Bard, who entered Thursday having allowed only three of 29 inherited

runners to score this season.

The first batter he faced, Martin, delivered the crushing blow.

Bard thought his 1-and-2 offering was a good pitch, calling it "maybe an inch off" and a "good pitcher's

pitch." Martin continued to work the count, and when it reached 3-and-2, Bard challenged Martin with a

nasty slider that Martin was able to foul off. Bard's next offering was a fastball that caught too much of the

plate, and Martin provided the two-run double that proved to be the difference.

"I thought I made two really good two-strike pitches on him, just didn't put him away," Bard said.

Saltalamacchia concurred.

"Daniel came in and threw his fastball like he normally does, got ahead of some guys and threw a good 1-2

pitch to Martin that we both thought was a pretty good pitch," he said. "Basically, they just got some key

hits."

The Red Sox were up against it as Lester struggled early and lasted only five innings. The lefty allowed

only one run on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts, but he tossed 43 pitches in the first, which is

a career-high for a single inning.

"It was a long inning and I was happy to get out of there with one [run] and from there on out it was a

struggle," Lester said.

Boston's southpaw was able to settle in a bit, but the Yankees wore him down and made him work.

"That was kind of the theme tonight, just hanging in there," Lester said. "I minimized damage and made

pitches when I had to. Really, two hard-hit balls and 114 pitches later I had to get through five."

The Yankees produced foul ball after foul ball and turned in some long at-bats.

"He had to battle," Saltalamacchia said. "They were fouling a lot of pitches off and just kept working him

and working him. I felt like he made a lot of good pitches, but they kept fouling them off and grinding."

On the other side, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett was effective and mostly kept Boston off balance, allowing

only a two-run homer to Dustin Pedroia in the bottom of the fourth.

"He threw his curveball early in the count for strikes and that sets up everything else," Pedroia said. "He

was locating and did a great job. He's got great stuff and you just tip your hat."

More On The Red Sox

With the Yankees holding a two-run lead, future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera entered and almost blew it

for New York. With two outs, Boston loaded the bases with Adrian Gonzalez coming to the plate. Rivera

had Gonzalez 1-and-2 before striking him out looking on a 93-mph cutter to end the game.

"He's a tough pitcher. We had the bases loaded in a good situation and a base hit ties the ballgame,"

Saltalamacchia said. "He pitched well."

Gonzalez was not happy with the call.

"The only thing I have to say is that pitch was down and I should still be hitting. It should be 2-and-2, and

you can quote me on that," he said.

At the start of the series, the Red Sox held a 10-2 season lead on the Yankees but New York won two of

three at Fenway.

"They played better than us," Pedroia said. "They're all long games and we're all tired. Tonight we just

didn't swing the bats well, so we'll move on and try to win tomorrow."

Just because the Yankees leave town doesn't mean it gets any easier for the Red Sox with the Texas

Rangers arriving for a three-game set. The games probably won't be marathons, but you can bet they'll be

hard fought with two top lineups squaring off.

* CSNNE.com

Red Sox come up short against Yankees, 4-2

Sean McAdam

Alfredo Aceves almost never loses. Daniel Bard seldom fails to protect a late-inning lead.

But when both pitchers slipped up in the seventh inning Thursday night, it proved highly costly for the Red

Sox, who lost to the New York Yankees, 4-2.

They were almost bailed out in the bottom of the ninth when the Red Sox loaded the bases, but Mariano

Rivera got Adrian Gonzalez looking for the final out.

The setback moved the Yankees back to within a half-game of the first-place Sox, as the Yanks posted their

first series win in five tries against Boston this season.

Dustin Pedroia's two-run homer into the center-field bleachers had given the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the

bottom of the fourth, a lead they maintained with nine outs to go.

But Aceves, a former Yankee, issued a one-out walk, then hit rookie Jesus Montero, leaving two

baserunnes for Bard. Russell Martin shot a line double to the bullpen wall in right, scoring both baserunners

and Eduardo Nunez followed with a run-scoring single.

The loss was just the third in 26 career decisions for Aceves. Meanwhile, Bard, who entered the game with

the most holds in the American League (31) had a rare stumble.

Jon Lester endured a brutal first inning in which he threw 43 pitches, though he allowed just one run. Lester

didn't allow another, but because of his inflated pitch count early, was done after five innings.

Player of the Game: Russell Martin

Martin was out of the starting lineup for the first two games of the series, but made his presence felt in a big

way in the finale. In the seventh inning, after falling behind Daniel Bard 0-and-2, Martin drilled a bullet to

the bullpen wall, scoring two baserunners and giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Honorable Mention: A.J. Burnett

Burnett had been horrendous of late and was in jeopardy of losing his sport in the New York rotation.

Pitted against a powerful Red Sox lineup, Burnett appeared to be overmatched. Instead, he limited them to

just two runs over 5 1/3 innings, and in the process, put a tighter hold on his spot.

The Goat: Daniel Bard

Bard entered Thursday's game with the most holds of any American League reliever, but, coming in with

two baserunners on and one out, he allowed Martin's two-run double and a run-scoring single to Eduardo

Nunez, turning a 2-1 Red Sox lead into a 4-2 deficit.

The Turning Point: Granderson's catch

The Sox seemed poised to add to their 2-1 lead in the sixth. They had Dustin Pedroia at second and David

Ortiz on first with two outs when Jed Lowrie hit a sinking liner to shallow right center. With both runners

off with swing of the bat, it looked like both might score. Instead, Curtis Granderson made a spectacular

sliding catch, keeping the Yankees to within a run.

By the Numbers: 29-32

Entering Thursday, Bard had prevented 29-of-32 baserunners from scoring. Then, in the span of a handful

of pitches, he allowed two to cross the plate.

Quote of Note

"That pitch was down. I should still be hitting."-- Adrian Gonzalez, after being called out on strike three on

a pitch from Mariano Rivera, with the bases loaded.

Beckett sets the bar at 100

Sean McAdam

Back in February, without being asked, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett set the bar.

Sitting on a picnic table outside the Red Sox Player Development Complex, Beckett almost casually noted

that he had never been part of a 100-win team in his career, and added that for the 2011 Red Sox do

achieve that milestone would be "kind of cool.''

It wasn't exactly a Joe Namath moment, or even Dick Williams promising that a team which finished ninth

out of 10 teams the season before would somehow win more than it would lose. But still, there it was -- the

gauntlet.

Beckett seemed to be challenging himself and his teammates. The winter had brought the Sox newcomers

Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, while the injuries which had crippled the Sox in 2010 were largely

healed.

General manager Theo Epstein is fond of saying that the Sox start out of every year believing it will take a

mininum of 95 wins to reach the post-season in the American League East. Win 95, goes the thinking, and

you're in, regardless of what the New York Yankees do.

But a hundred wins? Sure, why not, thought Beckett.

And now, in the final month of the season, the number doesn't seem very far away. After Thursday's 4-2

defeat to the Yankees, the Red Sox are 83-53 (.610) after their first 136 games; they would need to go at

least 17-9 (.653) in their final 26 games to crack 100 victories.

"I think it's a realistic goal,'' said Beckett Thursday, "and obviously still is, or we wouldn't be talking about

this. It's just something that I've always wanted to do. I think a lot of it stems from the run that the (Atlanta)

Braves went on when I was with Florida. Every year, it seemed like they'd win 99, 100, even 102 games.

And I remember thinking, 'That would be fun to do one year.' And I felt like coming into spring training,

we had a really good chance to do that."

Of course, not long after Beckett said the Sox were capable of greatness, they stumbled badly out of the

gate, losing their first six games. After a dozen games, the Sox were just 2-10.

One hundred wins? Just finishing above .500 looked like it might be a challenge in mid-April.

But, of course, the Red Sox righted things. They played .655 ball (19-10) in May, .640 in (16-9) in June

and a scorching .769 (20-6) in July before dropping off some in August (17-12, .586).

Beckett liked the notion of achieving something few teams achieve. In the last 25 years, only 12 teams have

won 100 games in the American League. From 1986 through 1997, only three teams did it.

In the National League, the 100-win barrier has been reached 14 times.

Since 1986, six different N.L. franchises have done it; five have done it in the A.L.

Amazingly, no Red Sox team has won 100 games since 1946, 65 years ago.

Not that Beckett's pre-emptive boast had his teammates doing the math in their heads, or figuring out how

many wins per months they would need to get to 100.

"I think our guys are really good about staying day-to-day,'' said Beckett. "It's 'Let's win today; let's not

worry about yesterday or tomorrow.' I think a lot of it starts with the position players. They're the guys who

go out there every day. They stay in the moment. When we have 90 wins, they think of winning 91. They

don't think, 'We've got to get to 100.' They don't do that.

"When it's all said and done and we don't end up (reaching 100) but we get to the playoffs, I think

everybody is still going to be just as happy. I think it was more my goal than a team goal.''

Getting it accomplished in the American League East -- with 18 games against the Yankees and 36 more

with Tampa and Toronto -- would make the achievement that much more special.

"That's a pretty damn consistent season,'' said Beckett. ''You can't have a bad month. I know we had a bad

start to a month in April. But you can't have a bad month (and reach it). You can't.''

Beckett asked how many games the Sox would have to win of the remaining 26 to reach 100. Told they'd

need to go 17-9, he paused to do the math.

"I think we've done that a few times this year,'' he said with a smile.

* NESN.com

Jon Lester's Long First Inning a Perfect Example of How Yankees, Red Sox Wear Out Opponents

Tony Lee

When the Yankees and Red Sox offenses are doing their thing, the impact isn't always immediately evident

on the scoreboard. What they so often do is create cause-and-effect scenario at another point in the game.

Such was the case Thursday night at Fenway Park, where New York began a marathon affair with a

marathon showing against Jon Lester in the first inning, the first blow in what resulted in a 4-2 Yankees

victory.

Lester allowed only one run in the 43-pitch opening frame, but the ramifications of it would reverberate

through the entirety of a four-hour, 21-minute affair, the longest between the two rivals this season.

Although Lester did an admirable job of limiting the Yankees in the inning, leaving the bases loaded, all

the work he did eventually would limit his night, expand that of the bullpen and leave the Red Sox exposed

a bit more than manager Terry Francona would like.

"The first inning was a good example," Francona said of New York‘s grinding approach to at-bats. "They

make Lester throw 43 pitches, almost to the point where we had to get somebody up. Not because he was

ineffective, just start getting to the point where it's a lot of pitches.

"They do a really good job of that. You get to your bullpen early and if somebody makes a mistake, that's

what happens."

Lester left with a 2-1 lead but lasted just five innings, his shortest start of the season that did not involve an

injury. He threw 114 pitches, and seemingly 113 of them became souvenirs for those that were part of

Fenway Park‘s 699th consecutive sellout.

"A lot of foul balls, a lot of long at-bats," Lester said. "That's what you get with these guys."

It began innocently enough. Lester struck out Derek Jeter on six pitches to start the game. Curtis

Granderson singled on the third pitch of his at-bat and Mark Teixeira did the same on the fifth Lester

offering he saw.

Robinson Cano drove Lester's 17th pitch of the inning off the Green Monster to drive in the only run of the

inning, but the next 26 (10 in a strikeout to Nick Swisher, nine in a walk to Andruw Jones and six in a

strikeout of Jesus Montero) laid the foundation for late-game shifts that helped the Yanks mount the critical

rally in the seventh.

Lester said he felt as if he threw the ball well, and he did. The Yankees just found a way to waste so many

of those deliveries.

"Really two hard-hit balls and 114 pitches later I‘m through five," he said.

After the early exit, Lester watched as Alfredo Aceves labored. Aceves faced six men in the sixth, escaping

with the bases loaded, and then allowed two to reach with one out in the seventh. That prompted Francona

to call on Daniel Bard, who does the bulk of his work once the eighth inning begins, not two outs before.

Bard made a couple of rare mistakes, the first resulting in a go-ahead two-run double by Russell Martin and

the second a run-scoring single by Eric Chavez that created the final margin.

As great as Bard has been, he is going to give up a hit or two. What made these two hits hurt was the fact

that runners were on base. What helped those two runners reach was a wayward Aceves that had to throw

42 pitches in just 1 1/3 innings. What made Aceves have to throw so many pitches so early on was the short

start made by Lester. And what made Lester's start so short, relatively speaking, was a first inning that

summed up what make these teams great.

"People wonder why we play four-hour games with the Yankees," Lester said. "It's right there in front of

you."

Adrian Gonzalez Upset Over Called Third Strike Against Mariano Rivera

Tony Lee

It's safe to say that Adrian Gonzalez was not pleased with the umpiring during the Red Sox-Yankees series

this week.

After having a few things to say about what he felt was a wide strike zone against CC Sabathia in the series

opener Tuesday, Gonzalez was peeved with a called strike three that ended the series finale on Thursday. It

was a cutter from New York closer Mariano Rivera that Gonzalez took with the bases loaded, ending a 4-2

Yankees win.

Although Gonzalez spoke at length about home plate umpire Ed Rapuano's strike zone the other night, he

went right to the point when asked about the Rivera offering.

"The only thing I have to say is that pitch was down and I should still be hitting," he told reporters. "It

should be 2-2, and you can quote me on that."

Rivera began the ninth by walking Jed Lowrie. Two outs later, he walked Jacoby Ellsbury, and Marco

Scutaro followed with a base hit to right to load the bases. That set up a star-studded encounter with

Gonzalez that had Fenway Park buzzing.

"We had the right guy up. That‘s who we want up there," said Dustin Pedroia, who was on deck when

Gonzalez was punched out by Alfonso Marquez.

Facing nothing but Rivera's trademark cutter, Gonzalez fell down 0-2 on a swinging strike and a foul. After

taking a ball, the Red Sox first baseman fouled another inside pitch right off his body. Then came the final

offering, which broke down and away as it crossed the zone. Or, in the eyes of Gonzalez, missed the zone

entirely.

Gonzalez didn't say much of anything to Marquez, but he lingered at the plate and his body language spoke

volumes. So, too, did his one postgame quote.

* Associated Press

Martin's 2-run double lifts Yanks over Red Sox 4-2

A.J. Burnett kept the New York Yankees close, Russell Martin put them ahead and Mariano Rivera nailed

down a satisfying victory over Boston.

Rivera struck out AL batting leader Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded for the final out and Martin hit

a go-ahead double in the seventh that sent New York to a 4-2 victory Thursday night despite stranding 12

runners over the first six innings.

Burnett, coming off an awful August, allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings after adjusting his

delivery. Yankees manager Joe Girardi thought the changes would work.

"I just had a feeling tonight he was going to get it done," Girardi said, "and he did."

Struggling to stay in the rotation after going 1-2 with an 11.91 ERA in five starts last month, Burnett

changed the position of his hands at the start of his windup.

"I've only really been working on that for three days. I've been pitching the same way for 11 years so it's a

big change, but as the game went on I felt more comfortable," he said. "It all goes down to focus and

conviction and that was a lot better."

The Yankees trailed 2-1 when Burnett left, then scored three times in the seventh off Alfredo Aceves (9-2)

in a tense game that took 4 hours, 21 minutes.

Nick Swisher started the inning by striking out. Aceves then walked Andruw Jones and hit Jesus Montero ,

a top prospect making his major league debut, with a pitch. Aceves was replaced by Daniel Bard , who

gave up a double to right-center by Martin, the first batter he faced. Two runners scored and Martin went to

third on the throw to the plate. Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez followed with an RBI single.

"Tremendous," Girardi said of Martin's hit. Bard "is one of the best relievers in the game and we were able

to get some runs off him."

The Red Sox threatened in the ninth, loading the bases on walks to Jed Lowrie and Jacoby Ellsbury and a

single by Marco Scutaro . But Rivera caught Gonzalez looking at a third strike and picked up his 36th save

in 41 opportunities.

"We gave ourselves a chance," Boston manager Terry Francona said.

Dustin Pedroia 's two-run homer after a double by Gonzalez gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Aceves escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, then struggled in the seventh and took his first loss in relief

after winning 18 straight decisions out of the bullpen.

The Yankees moved within a half-game of the first-place Red Sox in the AL East by winning two of three

in the series. New York is 4-11 against Boston this season, and the teams have one three-game series

remaining at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 23-25.

Cory Wade (3-0) got the win after pitching to just one batter, Lowrie, who ended the sixth by flying out.

Boston starter Jon Lester struggled in each of his five innings, throwing 114 pitches, but gave up only one

run. That scored in the first when he needed 43 pitches. Leadoff hitter Derek Jeter struck out, but Curtis

Granderson and Mark Teixeira singled and Robinson Cano drove in the run with a double.

"I tried to minimize the damage," Lester said. "I was happy to get out of the first with one and from there

on out it was a struggle."

Teixeira left the game in the bottom of the seventh and is day-to-day after being hit by a pitch from Aceves

on the side of the right knee in the sixth.

"I don't know if I'll have him (Friday)" in the opener of a three-game series against Toronto, Girardi said.

"We'll just wait and see."

Burnett allowed one hit through three innings before giving up Pedroia's homer into the center-field

bleachers, his career-high 18th of the year. He hit 17 in 2008, when he was the AL MVP.

Burnett threw 94 pitches, walking David Ortiz on the last one. Boone Logan then struck out Carl Crawford

. Wade came in and ended the inning by retiring Lowrie.

"It feels good to keep my team in it," Burnett said. "Obviously, you want to go deeper, but to bounce back

after a homer and to go as long as I could go and leave it all out there, it's all I can do."

NOTES: Aceves is 23-3 in his career. He entered the game as the only pitcher in baseball history to win 23

of his first 25 decisions. ... The Red Sox added first baseman-outfielder Conor Jackson , obtained

Wednesday night from the Oakland Athletics , and recalled left-hander Felix Doubront from Triple-A

Pawtucket. ... Montero stranded six runners as the designated hitter. ... Bard's streak of eight scoreless

outings ended. ... Ortiz extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the second. ... Phil

Mickelson, playing in the Deutsche Bank Championship starting Friday in Norton, threw out the

ceremonial first pitch. ... The Yankees return home for the opener Friday night of a three-game series

against the Blue Jays. Ivan Nova (14-4) pitches for New York against Brandon Morrow (9-9). ... The Red

Sox send Andrew Miller (6-1) to the mound against Derek Holland (12-5) in the opener Friday night of a

three-game series with the Texas Rangers .

* The New York Times

Burnett pitches better, and rally beats Red Sox

David Waldstein

Through all of A. J. Burnett‘s recent failings, the Yankees have =supported their struggling pitcher. They

took a lot of criticism for allowing Burnett to continue to start, but on Thursday night Burnett finally

rewarded them Thursday for their faith.

Working against one of the most challenging lineups in baseball, Burnett pitched as well as he has in two

months. He allowed only two runs — his lowest output since June 29 — and five hits against the Boston

Red Sox, and might have saved his spot in the starting rotation.

Burnett kept his team close, and then watched as the offense finally broke through with three runs in the

seventh inning to secure a 4-2 victory in a 4-hour-21-minute game at Fenway Park. Ninety six of the

game‘s 381 pitches were thrown by Burnett in his biggest start of the year.

―I pitched tonight,‖ he said. ―I went at it as a playoff game, and was pretty much focused on every pitch,

and threw every pitch with conviction.‖

The Yankees took two of three games at Fenway and won their first series from Boston this season. More

important, they moved a half-game behind the Red Sox in the American League East.

―They played better than us,‖ Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. ―Long games. We‘re all tired.‖

Part of what extended this chapter of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was a tense ninth inning in which

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera loaded the bases with two walks and a base hit. But with two outs Rivera

got Adrian Gonzalez on a called third strike for his 36th save, the 595th of his career.

―That pitch was low,‖ Gonzalez said. ―I should still be hitting. That‘s all I‘ve got to stay.‖

With the Red Sox holding a 2-1 lead after a two-run homer by Pedroia in the fourth, the Yankees broke out

with three runs in the seventh. Russell Martin, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left

thumb, had the big hit: a two-out, two-run double off the hard-throwing reliever Daniel Bard.

That scored Andruw Jones, who had drawn a much-deserved walk at the end of a 14-pitch at-bat, and Jesus

Montero, who was making his major league debut. Eric Chavez then drove in Martin with a pinch-hit single

to right.

Montero, the Yankees‘ top prospect, went 0 for 4 as the designated hitter. He reached base, though, after he

was grazed by a pitch in the seventh. That put him on base and in position to score the first run of his career

on Martin‘s double to the gap in right-center.

Burnett was replaced in the sixth, so he did not get the win.

―A. J. gave us a great performance,‖ Manager Joe Girardi said. ―I mean, outstanding. I‘m very proud of

what he did.‖

After his two more recent outings, in which he allowed a combined 15 runs, Burnett had worked with the

pitching coach Larry Rothschild in an effort to simplify some aspects of his wind-up and delivery. He

adjusted the way he held his hands in his glove as he came to the set position, and he also tried to reduce

the rotation of his body.

On Wednesday, Burnett had said he wanted to change some minds with his performance.

―I changed my own mind, and that‘s the most important thing,‖ he said. ―I felt comfortable out there. I feel

like this is something I can build on. We talk about minor changes, but they are major to a guy who has

been pitching the same way for 11 years.‖

Burnett‘s only two mistakes came in the fourth, when he fell behind both Gonzalez and Pedroia. Gonzalez

doubled on a 2-0 pitch, and Pedroia followed with a two-run home run into the center-field bleachers on a

3-1 pitch.

Burnett scattered three other hits in his five and one-third innings, one of them an infield single by Jacoby

Ellsbury in the fifth. He threw 96 pitches, the last one a ball on a full count to David Ortiz in the sixth

inning after Pedroia had singled to right and stolen second.

With runners at first and second and one out, Girardi pulled Burnett, who then watched as Boone Logan

and Curtis Granderson got him out of his predicament.

First, Logan struck out Carl Crawford, and then he induced a bloop to shallow center from Jed Lowrie.

Granderson sprinted in to make a terrific diving catch, saving at least one run, and the Red Sox failed to

increase their lead.

―That‘s a huge play,‖ Girardi said of Granderson‘s catch. ―That‘s why I talk about him for M.V.P., because

it‘s not just about his numbers at the plate. It‘s his defense as well.‖

INSIDE PITCH

C. C. Sabathia said he would be starting Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays on regular rest. Freddy

Garcia will presumably start Monday against Baltimore, a team he beat in his last outing. ... Mark Teixeira

was hit in the right knee with a pitch by Alfredo Aceves in the sixth inning and was later removed from the

game with a bruise after it stiffened up. Teixeira said he hoped to play Friday. ... Phil Mickleson, in town

for the Deutsche Bank Championship, took batting practice left-handed and threw out the ceremonial first

pitch right-handed. ... Alex Rodriguez, who is recovering from a sprained left thumb, said he was hoping to

be able to play Friday.

Epstein or Cashman moving on? Not likely

Tyler Kepner

The greatest World Series that never happened, at least in recent years, was the Yankees or the Red Sox

against the Chicago Cubs in 2003. All that history, all that potential for curse-busting, went poof in a

ghastly collapse at Wrigley Field.

The Red Sox have won two championships since then, and the Yankees have captured another. The Cubs

have not won a playoff game, and two weeks ago they fired their general manager, Jim Hendry. No surprise

that the architects of the Yankees and the Red Sox were quickly said to be candidates for the job.

―I can‘t comment on everything that‘s written out there,‖ Theo Epstein, the Red Sox‘ general manager, said

this week. ―But I‘m completely focused on the Red Sox in 2011 and working very hard with my staff to

make this into the organization we want it to be.‖

Even if he did want to leave, the timing is all wrong. Epstein is under contract through 2012, and the Red

Sox — thriving on the field and off — have no incentive to let him go.

Brian Cashman, the Yankees‘ general manager, is not signed past this season. But, like Epstein, he has had

the freedom to reshape and streamline his organization‘s baseball operations department. Leaving now

would be like constructing a dream house for somebody else.

―I‘m not looking to leave,‖ Cashman said. ―My preference would be to stay. I‘ve worked hard to build

something that‘s very good, very strong. This is a fantastic place. We are looked at as a model, efficiently

run franchise, and I‘m proud of that. We‘re spending the money that we can spend, which is a lot, but we‘re

also developing top players.‖

Epstein has worked elsewhere — in Baltimore and San Diego — and the spotlight is harsh in Boston,

where years ago he clashed with the team president Larry Lucchino. But Epstein aspired to the job he has

now, and he has led his hometown team to remarkable success.

Cashman has worked only for the Yankees. He spent more than two decades under George Steinbrenner,

perhaps the most intense and demanding boss in sports history. With Steinbrenner‘s more rational son Hal

now in charge, there is no motivation to look elsewhere. All indications are that the Yankees will happily

sign Cashman to a new deal after the season.

As for the idea that Epstein and Cashman would be eager to take on a new challenge, well, the American

League East is a challenge in itself. The Toronto Blue Jays continue to make smart decisions under General

Manager Alex Anthopoulos, and Andrew Friedman has guided the Tampa Bay Rays to four consecutive

winning seasons and two playoff trips.

Friedman‘s name has also surfaced in Chicago, because the Cubs‘ owner, Tom Ricketts, has said he wants

a G.M. with experience and a strong track record. But if Friedman goes anywhere, he would seem more

likely to land with his hometown Houston Astros, if a new owner fires the incumbent, Ed Wade.

The Oakland Athletics‘ Billy Beane has experience and a track record, and it would be fascinating to see

what Beane — or Friedman — could build with a high payroll. The Athletics‘ endless quest for a new

stadium has frustrated Beane and kept him from mapping a coherent strategy for the organization. But he

also holds a small ownership stake in the A‘s.

Whoever it is, you can see the pattern. Epstein, Cashman, Friedman and Beane— and Jon Daniels, the

young Texas Rangers general manager who is signed through 2015 — are all well-known for their

openness to new ideas. None is afraid to consider advanced statistics, as well as traditional scouting, in

making decisions.

The Cubs made the playoffs three times under Hendry, a respected evaluator whose 2008 team had the best

record in the National League. But in the last three seasons, as overpaid players and erratic personalities

have weighed down the roster, the Cubs have come to be regarded as slow to adapt, lacking a consistent

and disciplined approach to player moves.

If Ricketts wants an executive with previous experience as a general manager, Josh Byrnes, a former

Epstein assistant who recently ran the Arizona Diamondbacks, could be a fit. If he is willing to consider a

first-time general manager, Rick Hahn, the assistant for the crosstown White Sox, would be a natural

candidate.

Hiring Cashman or Epstein is not realistic. But luring a top assistant — like Billy Eppler, Mark Newman or

Damon Oppenheimer of the Yankees, or Allard Baird, Ben Cherington or Craig Shipley of the Red Sox —

might be.

Ricketts would be wise to consider them, if only because he seems a little like Hal Steinbrenner or John

Henry, the Red Sox owner. He is genial but does not crave attention, and is driven to win and willing to

spend, good qualities for the caretaker of a signature franchise. Whoever gets the job will inherit a century

of misfortune, to be sure, but also a rich opportunity.

* The New York Daily News

Russell Martin hit, Curtis Granderson catch help Yankees take series from Red Sox; Burnett not bad

Mark Feinsand

Has a team ever been more excited about its starting pitcher taking a no-decision?

A.J. Burnett gave the Yankees a solid performance against the Red Sox, allowing the Bombers to pull out a

4-2 come-from-behind win at Fenway Park last night.

The Yankees took two of three this week, marking their first series win in five tries this season against the

Red Sox.

"Coming into their place and taking two games," Nick Swisher said, "that's a big deal."

The Yankees won for only the fourth time in 15 games against the Red Sox this season, yet the two clubs

are tied in the loss column, separated by only a half-game in the American League East with less than four

weeks to play in the regular season.

"We didn't play very well the first nine games against them," Joe Girardi said. "They beat us up pretty

good, but we've pitched a lot better against them and our at-bats have been a lot better."

Jon Lester gave up one run over five innings, but Russell Martin's two-run double off Daniel Bard

highlighted a three-run seventh that put the Yankees ahead for good.

Girardi insisted before the game that he had a "feeling" that Burnett would pitch well, the ultimate show of

optimism given the righthander's dreadful showing over the past two months that included an 11.91 ERA in

August.

Burnett backed up his manager's hunch, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over 51/3 innings,

striking out four.

"That's a big performance," Girardi said. "For what he's been through in August, to be able to do that, he

pitched great."

Burnett tweaked his mechanics over the past few days with pitching coach Larry Rothschild. The results

were evident right away, as he opened the game with three innings of one-hit ball.

"I really bought into what we've been working on," Burnett said. "I've pitched bigger games than this one

before, but I was taking the approach that it was a playoff game."

The Yankees made Lester work hard in the first inning, and although they scored only one run and left the

bases loaded - Jesus Montero struck out to end the inning in his first big-league at-bat - they pushed Lester's

pitch count to a whopping 43.

Adrian Gonzalez led off the fourth with a double to right, setting up Dustin Pedroia's two-run homer to

center that gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

Pedroia singled with one out in the sixth, then Burnett walked David Ortiz. Girardi pulled Burnett for

Boone Logan, who fanned Carl Crawford for the second out. Cory Wade came in and retired Jed Lowrie

thanks to a spectacular diving catch by Curtis Granderson that held the deficit at one run.

"That's a huge play," Girardi said. "Grandy, that's why I talk about him for MVP, because it's not just his

numbers at the plate. It's his defense, as well."

After wasting another bases-loaded opportunity in the sixth against Alfredo Aceves, the Yankees rallied yet

again with one out in the seventh. Jones grinded out a 14-pitch walk against Aceves, who then hit Montero

to put runners on first and second.

Terry Francona turned to the hard-throwing Bard, who thought he had Martin struck out on a 1-2 fastball.

Martin worked the count full before lining a 97 mph heater to right field for a two-run double, giving the

Yankees a 3-2 lead. Eric Chavez added a pinch-hit RBI single to boost the lead to two runs.

"He got in a situation where he didn't want to walk me," Martin said. "He threw a fastball over and I put a

good swing on it."

The bullpen took care of the rest. Rafael Soriano and Dave Robertson did their jobs as usual, but Mariano

Rivera loaded the bases on two walks and a single.

Rivera caught Gonzalez looking at a called third strike to end the game, but the Boston slugger wasn't

pleased with the call.

"That pitch was down; I should still be hitting," Gonzalez said. "That's all I have to say."

As big as the win was, the Yankees believed that Burnett's performance was the most important

development of the night.

"That's what I'm excited about," Swisher said. "I loved his composure. That's the A.J. we all know."

Length of Yankees-Red Sox games can drive you crazy, but it's why they have a shot at World Series

John Harper

They can drive you crazy, these two teams, because they make most every baseball game a four-hour test

of stamina for all involved, and yet on nights like this, you see how one relentless at-bat can change

everything.

You see why one of these teams is going to the World Series.

Which one?

It feels like more of a toss-up than ever now, as the Yankees have changed any perception they can't quite

match up with the Red Sox. Thursday night was all the proof you need, and not just because A.J. Burnett

didn't wilt under the pressure of pitching for his spot in the rotation.

Andruw Jones, a bit player for the Yankees, refuses to go away in a 14-pitch at-bat against Alfredo Aceves,

fouling off eight pitches after falling behind 1-2, and finally draws a walk that leads to a three-run rally in

the seventh inning and eventually a 4-2 victory.

Andruw Jones.

He didn't get a hit Thursday night but he walked three times. He had a 10-pitch at-bat in the first inning

against Jon Lester, who needed 43 pitches to get to the second inning, and then the 14-pitch at-bat that may

very well have had led to Aceves hitting the next hitter, Jesus Montero.

Afterward Jones smiled and said, "That's why these games go four-plus hours. Both sides just battle and

battle. You try to do anything to wear down the pitcher, anything that might help you win the game."

And so it is with both of these teams. You never know who might get you, or where in the lineup. The

Yankees are every bit as relentless as the Red Sox, even - or perhaps especially - on nights when Jones

starts the winning rally, Russell Martin delivers the key hit and Eric Chavez comes off the bench to line a

single to right for an insurance run.

It's why the Yankees are every bit as capable of winning it all this season as the Red Sox, no matter what

the final tally of the 18 games between them will be. The Sox still have a lopsided 11-4 edge, but the

Yankees won two of three here, including this one Thursday night, one nobody in either city would have

predicted, with Burnett pitching against Lester.

Rather shockingly, considering the way he has pitched of late, Burnett gave the Yankees a solid effort,

working into the sixth inning, allowing little more than a two-run home run to Dustin Pedroia.

It doesn't mean he is suddenly trustworthy enough for the post-season, but his start was good enough to

keep him in the rotation, if only because there are a lot of reasons it makes more sense to send Phil Hughes

to the bullpen.

Maybe there is no obvious role for Hughes in the pen, where the Yankees may already have a key edge

over the Red Sox, with their late-inning trio of Rafael Soriano, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, but

it's not hard to imagine that their starters will need sixth-inning help as well in the postseason.

In any case, it's time for Joe Girardi to make a decision, get back to a five-man rotation, and move on.

All in all, the Yankees come out of this series feeling much better about the possibility of matching up with

the Red Sox in October for the American League pennant.

CC Sabathia gutted out a win on Tuesday, putting to rest any notion that he suddenly couldn't beat the Red

Sox anymore. And then the Yankees finally smacked Josh Beckett around a bit on Wednesday, ending his

dominance against them this season even if it didn't lead to a win.

Thursday night they made Lester work hard enough to get him out of the game in five innings, at least

neutralizing another Yankee-killer. And their bullpen was brilliant, five relievers combining to throw 4-2/3

scoreless innings.

So maybe Girardi was right when he said his team senses the tide is turning.

"They beat us up pretty good in the first nine games," he said. "But since then we've pitched better, we've

had better at-bats. We've just played better against them."

It doesn't feel anything like 2009, when the Yankees turned the season series around completely over the

second half and left little doubt they were the better of the two teams. But neither does it feel as if the Sox

have any sort of definite edge this season.

How could it when every game leaves these teams drained, when someone like Andruw Jones can change

everything by refusing to give away an at-bat?

In the end, it's as much about toughness as anything in surviving these four-hour marathons.

Thursday night the Yankees were a little tougher.

Come October, who knows?

* The New York Post

Yankees comeback tops Red Sox, maybe saves A.J.'s job

George A. King III

A.J. Burnett's first positive performance since late July was in the hands of Mariano Rivera, who had

loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth and was facing Adrian Gonzalez, the leading hitter in baseball

with a two-run cushion.

On the advice of Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild, Burnett had radically changed his setup with

the hope of eliminating side-to-side movement in his delivery and it worked.

Because he left a run down, Burnett wasn't looking for Rivera to save a win for him. He, like all his

teammates, wanted the victory so the Yankees could walk out of Fenway Park with two wins in three

games over the Red Sox.

Thanks to a called third strike on a pitch Gonzalez insisted was a ball, Rivera saved a 4-2 win that was

witnessed by 38,074 and pulled the Yankees to within one-half game of the Red Sox in the AL East.

"That pitch was down," Gonzalez said of the 1-2 game-ending pitch that resulted in Rivera posting his 36th

save and 595th of his career. "I should still be hitting. That's all I got to say."

Rivera, who trails all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman by six, overlooked the two walks and a single that

added drama to the ninth.

"The bottom line is that we won the game," Rivera said of the victory that gave the Yankees their first

series win over of the Red Sox this year and was their fourth win in 15 tries. "You have to do what you

have to do. He is a great hitter but I am not going to back off. There was no place to put him."

After missing the previous two games with a left thumb problem, Russell Martin delivered a two-run

double off Daniel Bard in a three-run seventh that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.

The clutch hit enabled Burnett to avoid a loss after he provided 5 1/3 innings of two-run, five-hit ball and

looked nothing like a pitcher who had won once since June 29.

Curtis Granderson also contributed with two hits, a run and a diving catch of a Jed Lowrie sinking liner in

right-center for the final out of the sixth inning with runners on first and second.

Highly hyped Jesus Montero made his major league debut and went 0-for-4, was hit by a pitch and scored

what proved to be the winning run on Martin's double.

Burnett, working with his hands planted firmly in front of his chest so there wasn't so much movement in

the delivery, kept the ball down and was able to rebound from Dustin Pedroia's two-run homer on a 3-1

fastball in the fourth inning.

"It's a big step for me," said Burnett, who made the adjustment Monday in Baltimore after getting rocked

Friday night. "Just the fact that I have thrown the same way for so long. I have to stick with the game plan."

Burnett didn't lack for pressure. First, the Red Sox had ace Jon Lester pitching. Second, manager Joe

Girardi is slicing his rotation from six to five as soon as today and a winless August had put Burnett in

jeopardy of taking a $16.5 million salary to long relief.

So, was it the first step in Burnett's voyage back from pitching hell? After all, it came against the Red Sox

and not the Orioles. Nevertheless, it's one game and nothing more.

"Tonight is one night and we have to go from there," Rothschild said.

It was also one night when the pitching coach didn't have to answer questions about what was wrong with a

pitcher who took a step toward rebuilding his confidence and those inside the Yankees' clubhouse.

* The Wall Street Journal

Shockingly, A.J. shuts down the Sox

Daniel Barbarisi

For two of the players in Thursday's 4-2 Yankee win over Boston, much more was at stake than just a late-

season win or loss.

To embattled veteran A.J. Burnett, this was a last chance of sorts, an opportunity to show the Yankee brass

he deserved to stay in the rotation.

And to top prospect Jesus Montero, who made his major-league debut, it was a chance to show that he was

ready for the big leagues and that he could be trusted with a regular spot for the last month of the season.

One of them accomplished his goal. The other didn't—but he helped win the game in the process.

Burnett has been perhaps the worst pitcher in the majors this summer, and the Yankees had refused to

announce a rotation for next week, leaving both Burnett and Phil Hughes in limbo. Hughes was poor on

Wednesday, but on Thursday, against all odds, Burnett stepped up to allow only two runs in 5.1 innings

against a powerful Red Sox lineup—with some help from center fielder Curtis Granderson.

After the Yankees staked Burnett to a 1-0 lead with a Robinson Cano double, Burnett held the Red Sox

down for three innings, something that seemed like a feat in itself considering how badly he has pitched in

recent weeks.

With Burnett, it's always the big inning that dooms him. He'll be cruising along, racking up outs, and then

his concentration falters and one run turns into an avalanche.

In the fourth, he gave up a long two-run home run to Dustin Pedroia, the kind of situation that normally

starts Burnett spiraling out of control and ends his night.

But not this time. Burnett settled down and got out of the inning, and then he plowed through the Red Sox

in the fifth. He even got one out in the sixth, a promising sign.

But then Dustin Pedroia singled and David Ortiz walked, and that was it for Burnett, who was replaced by

Boone Logan after allowing two runs in 5.1 innings, with the Yankees trailing 2-1.

Logan struck out Carl Crawford before Logan himself was replaced by Cory Wade, who faced Jed Lowrie.

Lowrie laced a long, hard hit line drive to right-center field, seemingly far out of the reach of the Yankee

outfielders.

But Curtis Granderson took off like a rocket, racing toward the ball, and leaped at full speed to catch it at

full extension—just barely—as he slid hard along the ground.

Granderson then stood up, replaced the divot he tore out of the Fenway outfield and trotted back to the

dugout as Burnett applauded gratefully.

Then it was time for Montero to do his part, sort of. His night so far had been a debut to forget. He struck

out with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and flew out and grounded out with men on in his second and

third at bats.

So when he came up in the seventh, he had a lot to prove.

Montero's debut is one of the most highly anticipated in recent memory—certainly the biggest Yankee

prospect debut since Joba Chamberlain in 2007, and perhaps bigger than that, even possibly dating back to

Derek Jeter.

Montero has been universally rated among the top five prospects in the minor leagues for years, and nearly

all evaluators consider him a future middle-of-the-order bat.

Montero had a chance to win a job out of spring training, but he tightened up and had a poor spring. Then

there were reports that he was acting bored early in the season. But in the second half, he put up incredible

numbers—particularly against left-handers—and now the Yankees will see if he can be their DH against

lefties the rest of the way.

Montero came to bat for the fourth time with one out and Andruw Jones on first base in the seventh. He

worked the count to 2-2, and then made his biggest contribution of the night: He was nicked by Alfredo

Aceves's fifth pitch, planting the Yankees' go-ahead run on first base.

And when Russell Martin came up next and ripped a double into the gap, Montero chugged hard around the

bases to score the run that put the Yankees ahead for good.

It wasn't a perfect debut, but it was enough.

* The Bergen Daily Record

Yankees battle back to beat Red Sox, 4-2

Pete Caldera

Until the Yankees arrived for this series at Fenway Park, the Red Sox had generally proven Brian

Cashman‘s honest assessment of the rivalry in 2011.

Boston was the favorite, the Yankees‘ general manager said. His club was the hunter.

September‘s cool arrival finally coincided with the Yankees‘ first series victory against the Red Sox this

season – on a night when A.J. Burnett was manager Joe Girardi‘s starting pitcher.

Russell Martin greeted reliever Josh Bard with a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh, and the Yankees

held on for a 4-2 win on Thursday night before 38,074 fans, the 699th consecutive sellout at the 99-year-

old ballpark.

To pull within a half-game of Boston (83-53) atop the AL East, the Yankees (82-53) made lefty Jon Lester

depart after five innings and 115 pitches, while Burnett had his most encouraging start in weeks. Burnett

allowed five hits and two runs in 5¤ innings with two walks and four strikeouts.

―I‘m very proud of what he did,‖ Girardi said of Burnett. ―That‘s a big performance [considering] what he

did in August.‖

Burnett‘s dreadful August was underscored by an 11.91 ERA in five starts – one of which was a victory at

Kansas City. Opponents batted .415 against him during that stretch.

In Burnett‘s previous three starts, he‘d yielded 19 earned runs over 12¤ innings (13.87) against teams with

a combined .411 winning percentage.

During his eight previous starts against the Red Sox as a Yankee, Burnett had an 0-4 record and an 8.71

ERA.

―It feels good to bounce back and go as long as I could go,‖ Burnett said of his performance Thursday. ―I

felt comfortable out there. I feel it‘s something I can build on.‖

His chances of being in the playoff rotation might still be slim, but his only blemish Thursday was a two-

run homer to dead center by Dustin Pedroia that gave Boston a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Girardi is in no rush

to make a call on Burnett‘s place in the rotation.

―We‘ll talk about it,‖ Girardi said. ―I don‘t have to make a decision yet.‖

With runners at first and second, Boone Logan relieved Burnett and struck out Carl Crawford. Cory Wade

(3-0) then entered to face Jed Lowrie, who was robbed of a likely two-run hit on a diving catch by center

fielder and AL MVP candidate Curtis Granderson.

Making his big-league debut at designated hitter, slugging prospect Jesus Montero (0-for-4) extended a

seventh-inning rally when he was brushed by an Alfredo Aceves fastball. The ex-Yankee right-hander had

just walked Andruw Jones in a phenomenal 14-pitch at-bat.

Martin hadn‘t played since Monday due to a sore left thumb. With pinch-runner Chris Dickerson and

Montero in motion, Martin laced one to the right-center field alley and motored to third on the throw home.

Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez followed with an RBI single for a 4-2 lead.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira (bruised right knee) was removed in the seventh inning. He crumpled

to the ground after being hit by an Aceves fastball in the sixth and temporarily remained in the game.

After the game, Girardi said it‘s doubtful Teixeira will start today. He‘s listed as day to day.

The Yankees allowed Lester to get off the hook early, scoring just one run off three hits in the first inning.

―We just couldn‘t seem to get the big hit off Lester,‖ said Girardi of the Red Sox starter, who threw 44

pitches in the first inning, but only gave up an RBI double to Robinson Cano.

BRIEFS: Alex Rodriguez (sprained left thumb) might be ready to play tonight after missing five straight

games. … Gene Monahan, who is retiring at season‘s end, made his final trip to Boston as Yankees head

athletic trainer. The Hackensack resident began his Yankee career at Fenway Park 40 years ago this week.

* The Newark Star-Ledger

Yankees vs. Red Sox: A.J. Burnett, Russell Martin lift Yankees to 4-2 win

Marc Carig

The conversation began about a week ago. Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild figured it had to

happen eventually, but the opening only came after A.J. Burnett took his latest shelling, leaving the right-

hander in a fight for his own job. To Rothschild, the conditions were just right to propose a change.

―There‘s moments that are coachable and there‘s moments that aren‘t,‖ Rothschild said tonight. ―He had

struggled and he was frustrated, and (wanted) something to hang onto, to run with. Hopefully, we just

progress with it.‖

Step one in the process proved to be a rousing success.

Against a Red Sox lineup that has torched Burnett and the rest of the pitching staff, the right-hander

allowed just two runs in 5 2/3 innings. For his part in the Yankees‘ tense, 4-2 victory against the Boston

Red Sox, Burnett took a no decision.

His numbers in their raw form were modest, though they don‘t reflect the utter incompetence with which

Burnett had pitched over the last month, nor did they paint an accurate picture of the context. Though Phil

Hughes is a good bet to land in the bullpen when the Yankees cut their starting rotation down to five — his

experience as a reliever making him a more likely candidate — another stinker from Burnett might have led

to his exile from the rotation.

Instead, after keeping the Yankees in the game against the Red Sox, Burnett might keep his job after all.

Said Burnett: ―It‘s a big step.‖

The victory — which lifted the Yankees to 4-11 against the rival Red Sox this season — came at a heavy

price. First baseman Mark Teixeira took an Alfredo Aceves pitch off his right knee, and though he initially

remained in the game, he left in the middle of the seventh when it stiffened. The slumping Teixeira is day-

to-day with a bruise.

Nevertheless, the Yankees capped a hurricane-delayed road trip by grinding out a marathon win.

Catcher Russell Martin, who had missed the last two games with a sore thumb, changed the game in the

seventh. With the Red Sox leading 2-1, Martin doubled against reliever Daniel Bard to put the Yankees

ahead. Eric Chavez following with a tack-on run with his RBI single.

Five Yankees relievers combined to throw 3 2/3 shutout innings, capped by Mariano Rivera, who fanned

Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the ninth for his 36th save.

Meanwhile, Burnett made his strongest case to remain in the rotation by keeping the Yankees within arm‘s

reach. His only costly mistake came in the fourth inning, when he surrendered a two-run shot to Dustin

Pedroia to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

When Burnett left the game with one out in the sixth inning, the infield gathered on the pitcher‘s mound to

pat his back. He had done his job — and perhaps saved it — with his best performance in weeks.

Rothschild said Burnett reacted well to a suggestion that he limit the movement on his hands during his

delivery, a move which he hoped would cut down on the rotation of his motion. All of it was designed to

bring more consistency to Burnett‘s mechanics. The initial results were encouraging.

―I had a different hand set, I had a different delivery, but I was locked in on every pitch and I didn‘t let

anything bother me,‖ Burnett said. ―I was always stuck on throwing the way I‘ve always thrown. I pitched

tonight.‖

When he missed his location, Burnett missed low, a change that helped him avoid the kind of meltdowns

that have defined his outings.

Said Martin: ―He just looked like a different person out there today.‖

NOTE: Nick Swisher didn‘t know how many outs there were when he made his ill-fated decision to drop a

sacrifice bunt with the Yankees trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning. He thought there no outs when he moved

Robinson Cano to third base, though the Yankees already had one.

―I take full responsibility for it,‖ Swisher said.