The weather was fine Wednesday night in New York, but one couldn't blame Yankees fans if they thought they saw ominous clouds overhead. (photo by jebb)
The New York Yankees saw their playoff hopes nearly flicker out as they dropped their second in a row at home to the Boston Red Sox by a final score of 11-3. The loss drops the Steinbrenner family's team 10.5 games out of first place in the American League East and 7 games behind the Sox for the AL Wild Card spot. The Tampa Bay Rays won, so Boston remains 3.5 games back.Neither starting pitcher was particularly dazzling, with both Paul Byrd and Sydney Ponson surrendering early runs. Byrd, however, settled down and ended up allowing only two runs, while Ponson was chased in the fourth after giving up four. The Yankee bullpen folded in the top of the eighth inning, allowing seven Boston players to cross the plate, including four on Dustin Pedroia's grand slam.
The Red Sox bullpen was solid until the bottom of the 9th, when Mike Timlin followed a 10 pitch eighth by giving up a leadoff homer to Jason Giambi followed by back-to-back singles. He got a flyball out and then Ivan Rodriguez grounded into a game-ending double play.
The final game of the series features a potential pitching duel in a matinee performance. Jon Lester and Mike Mussina will face off in the game that will determine whether the Red Sox sweep their final series in Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees entered the series with hopes of a sweep in order to breathe new life into their season. Despite the rash of recent injuries, the Red Sox have managed to guarantee they will win the series.
It now appears entirely likely that Yankee Stadium has seen its final playoff game and there will be no fond October sendoff for the storied park.
Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner spoke to ESPN at the ballpark tonight and discussed the future:
Steinbrenner said the Yankees still "have a shot" at making the playoffs, but even if they do qualify there will be changes. The Yankees have already identified CC Sabathia as a free agent they will pursue. "There is going to be a lot going on this offseason," Steinbrenner said. "I promise you that."
Along with CC, we should expect the Yankees to be ordering some new pinstripes with the numbers "99" on them as I'll put money on the fact that they go over Manny.
It's certainly a possibility, but many analysts speculate that the Yankees aren't that interested. But it certainly wouldn't surprise me to see Manny in pinstripes.