Yankees complete sweep of Red Sox

The Yankees (69-42) entered Thursday with a 2.5 game lead in the East over the Red Sox (62-48), and finished the weekend with a 6.5 game lead capped by a 5-2 win on national TV.

Quick ‘Cap:
Alex Rodriguez broke another scoreless tie in the seventh inning on his 574th career home run to pass Harmon Killebrew into ninth place on the all-time home run list. Andy Pettitte’s night ended after seven innings and 112 pitches.

Phil Coke allowed a two-run homer to Victor Martinez in the eighth and looked like he was going to be the losing pitching until the Yankees offense bailed him out.

With two out, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back homers off fireballer Daniel Bard, and rallied for two more runs as four more hitters reached base in the inning. Mariano Rivera did his thing in the ninth for the 32nd time this year. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
There is no higher high for a Yankees fan in the regular season. A four-game sweep is great non matter what, but against their biggest rival is a whole different ballpark.

The Yankees won every type of game in this series. A blowout Thursday night, an extra-inning pitchers’ duel Friday night, a shutout Saturday and a tight bullpen game tonight.

I find it amazing how the Red Sox find all of these relievers that throw 100 MPH, but still get lit up all the time (Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, Bard).

Line of the Night:
Pettitte: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. He’s been great in his last five, and this is one of his best starts ever against the Red Sox.

Up Next:
The Yankees will begin a three-game series with the Blue Jays on Monday in the Bronx and finish the week in Seattle. Series preview to come tomorrow.