Yankees take first game against Red Sox

The Yankees (98-56) beat down the Red Sox (91-62) 9-5 last night, led by Joba Chamberlain’s quality start and Alex Rodriguez’s perfect night at the plate. The magic number is now down to three.

Quick ‘Cap:
A-Rod drove in Derek Jeter in the first inning on a single, and then cranked a two-run homer into the second deck in left in a four-run third inning that also saw Jon Lester leave the game. Melky Cabrera smoked a line drive right back at Lester’s knee, but luckily he was able to slowly walk off the field.

Chamberlain was perfect for the first three innings, but Victor Martinez broke his bid up with a homer in the fourth. Chamberlain went on to finish six innings, and allowed a two-run homer to David Ortiz.

Joe Girardi, once again, had to use three pitchers in the eighth inning after Jon Albaladejo was ineffective and allowed two runs to score. Damaso Marte and Phil Hughes recorded the last two outs, and Phil Coke pitched an easy ninth. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
The story of this game was supposed to be Chamberlain, but it really spun around toward Lester and Jason Varitek. Lester left most of his fastballs high and the Yankees took advantage. The Yanks stole seven bases off Varitek, including three from A-Rod and two from Jeter. I wasn’t aware of this weakness for the Red Sox until last night. One would think Varitek would have to be very good defensively in order to keep his job with a  .208 batting average.

Line of the Night:
A-Rod: 3-for-3, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 SB. A perfect night and a triple shy of the cycle. And against the Red Sox? Who says he’s not clutch?

Up Next:
The series continues today at 4:10 p.m. with CC Sabathia (18-7, 3.31) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-5, 6.80) going at it.