NBA Mock Draft

April 20th, 2007: Red Sox 7, Yankees 6

April 21, 2007
Red Sox 7, Yankees 6
Rodriguez Adds to Hot Streak, but Rivera Lets Lead Slip Away

By TYLER KEPNER
BOSTON, April 20 — In the breezy days of spring training, the plan seemed so logical to Yankees Manager Joe Torre. His indispensable closer, Mariano Rivera, would be restricted to one inning in 2007. It was better, Torre reasoned, to be careful with an elbow that was fragile last September.

Only 15 games into the season, with a rally bubbling in the caldron of Fenway Park, Torre changed his mind. The Yankees needed five outs to secure a three-run lead, and Torre bypassed five other relievers to call for his old reliable.

But Rivera could not deliver. The Boston Red Sox rallied for five runs in the eighth inning, four with Rivera on the mound, to upend the Yankees, 7-6. Even Alex Rodriguez, who homered twice against Curt Schilling, could not save the Yankees this time, lining out in the ninth inning.

“Anything that happens in this park is never surprising,” Rodriguez said. “So it’s not like you’re in awe. They’ve done it to us before in this park. A five-run lead is a two-run lead. The key is to capitalize, and when you’re ahead, step on them.”

The Yankees could not do that, leaving the bases loaded in the eighth inning. And when David Ortiz doubled against Mike Myers to start the Red Sox’ half, it kicked off a rally that culminated with Álex Cora’s bloop single to left over a drawn-in infield.

“That was Arizona,” Torre said, referring to the flare that ended the 2001 World Series against Rivera. “The ball hit the back of the infield. That’s Mo. He’s going to break some bats. You don’t get good results when you have to play out of position.”

Rivera has had only two save chances this season. He blew the first last Sunday on a two-out, three-run homer by Oakland’s Marco Scutaro. This time, he had help.

After Ortiz’s double, Torre called for Luis Vizcaino, who walked Manny Ramírez. With one out, Mike Lowell singled home Ortiz.

Despite his other options, Torre said that he used Rivera because he had not pitched since Sunday and was rested. He also gave him plenty of time to warm up, and the primary setup man, the erratic Kyle Farnsworth, rarely pitches on consecutive days. The plans of spring were gone.

“I lied, what can I tell you?” Torre said. “I’m not going to defend it. I lied. I didn’t plan on lying, but I did. As it turned out, he didn’t pitch two innings. I sort of, in a roundabout way, held to the one-inning stuff.”

Jason Varitek greeted Rivera with a single to right that drove in Ramírez, cutting the lead to 6-4. Coco Crisp then tripled down the right-field line, driving in Lowell and Varitek to tie the score. Cora’s single scored Crisp to put Boston ahead.

After the Oakland loss, Rivera blamed himself for his location. This time, Rivera said, all three hits came on cutters that he did not regret.

“There’s no one pitch that I would like to bring back, not at all,” Rivera said. “Varitek hit a good pitch. Crisp hit a good pitch, too, a ground ball that just found the hole. And the other guy, Cora, hit another one. Just find the holes.”

Rodriguez has been finding holes all month, usually over outfield fences. Johnny Damon acknowledged that the Yankees were “riding that A-Rod wave.” Rodriguez has more home runs than nine entire teams and has 476 in his career, more than Stan Musial and Willie Stargell, the Hall of Famers he tied and passed Friday.

His run production is just as staggering. Rodriguez has 30 runs batted in over the first 15 games. According to the Society for American Baseball Research, no other player has done that in the past 50 years.

But for all of Rodriguez’s heroics, including an eighth-inning double, the Yankees could not do much else. After Jason Giambi singled to drive in Rodriguez and put the Yankees up, 6-2, Torre removed Giambi for a pinch-runner, Kevin Thompson.

“I’m just trying to get another run,” Torre said, “and in this ballpark, if you’re going to score from second on a base hit, it’s going to have to be someone with more leg speed than Jason has. And if things work out the way we anticipate, Jason’s spot doesn’t come up again.”

But it did, at the worst possible time. With closer Jonathan Papelbon unavailable after pitching the past two nights, the Red Sox turned to Hideki Okajima in the ninth. After Bobby Abreu walked with one out, Okajima jammed Rodriguez with a 3-2 fastball for a lineout to second.

“Throughout the whole at-bat, he didn’t give me one fat pitch, so give him credit,” Rodriguez said. “And he gave me a strike.”

Thompson was up next, and he struck out trying to check his swing on a breaking ball. Okajima, of all people, had the save, and Rivera and the Yankees had a mystifying loss.

INSIDE PITCH
Catcher Jorge Posada left the game with a bruised left thumb, sustained on the second pitch of David Ortiz’s first at-bat. X-rays taken during the game were negative, but Joe Torre said that Posada might miss two days. Josh Phelps is the emergency catcher for the Yankees, who could need to make a roster move. ... Chien-Ming Wang has been cleared to return to the Yankees on Tuesday against the Devil Rays, with Hideki Matsui scheduled to return the day before. Both are recovering from strained hamstrings, as is Mike Mussina, who will throw in the bullpen on Saturday. Torre said that it was reasonable to think Mussina could be back by the first week in May. ... Derek Jeter has reached base safely in 55 of his past 56 games, a stretch that started the day before the Yankees’ five-game sweep at Fenway last August. ... The Red Sox wore green uniforms and caps in honor of Red Auerbach, the architect of the Celtics. Bob Cousy, the Celtics’ Hall of Famer, threw out the first pitch.

Van Ness wins Citrus Basket V

post to come....seriously.

Gator Repeat?

Two number one seeds in the final. No one picked Ohio State. Three have Florida and all three are either tied for first or tied for third.

Van Ness and Sperry are tied for the lead. Van Ness has Florida on Monday night and will win Citrus Basket V if the Gators win. Sperry didn’t pick Ohio State yet he’ll be pulling for the Buckeye’s in the final. Sperry and Van Ness both picked 26 out of 32 in the first round. Sperry nosed out Van Ness in the second round 13 to 12. Sperry has an overall record of 48-15 and Van Ness is at 47-15 with one game to play. Two impressive brackets going head to head tomorow. Good luck to both of you.

KittyKatKevKev and Nayt Dogg are the other two with Florida as the Champion. If Florida wins, they will both pass Sperry to tie for second.

96 (1-1) // Sperry // Kansas City, MO
96 (2-0) // Van Ness // Portland, OR

89 (1-1) // KittyKatKevKev // Portland, OR
89 (1-1)// Bev // Overland Park, KS
89 (2-0) // Nayt Dogg // Tulsa, OK

85 // Theresa Ann // Rochester, MN

81 // Butterworth the Bulldog // Washington DC

79 (1-1) // Simba // Los Angles, CA*
79 (1-1) // Spurgin // Portland OR

78 // Edward Feedtime // Lawrence, KS

77 (1-1) // Pa O’Neil // Lenexa, KS

73 // K Dees // Washington DC
73 // Ma O’Neil // Lenexa, KS
73 // Jim // Overland Park, KS

72 // Stoph // Washington DC
72 // Kitty// Rochester, MN
72 // Liam // Kansas City, MO

71 // Argo // Portland, OR
71 // Gern Blanston // Roca Baton, FL

70 // Victoria // Portland, OR

67 // Truffle the Bulldog // Washington DC