Joba Impressive in Yanks 9-5 Win Over Boston

(REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
BOS	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	2	0		5	8	0
NYY	1	0	4	1	0	2	1	0	X		9	14	1

WP - Joba Chamberlain (9-6)
LP - Jon Lester (14-8)
As I said earlier today this was the one game this series that I felt the Yankees would lose, but Joba Chamberlain seemed to regain his post all-star break form and the Yankees were able to defeat Jon Lester and the Red Sox 9-5. Their magic number to clinch the AL East is down to three and with CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte starting the next two game there's a good chance they will wrap things up this weekend.

Ovee six innings Chamberlain allowed three runs on five hits, walked one, and struck out five. All three runs came via that longball. It was the longest start for Joba since August 11th, and of his 86 pitches, 52 were strikes. The first Boston run came on Victor Martinez's solo shot in the fourth, and runs two and three on David Ortiz 27th homer in the sixth.

He threw mostly fastballs on the night, 55 according to Brooks Baseball, and had good break on his slider and curveball. That was according to the terrible swings some Red Sox were taking. With the playoffs rapidly approaching, it was a huge start for Joba.

Offensively the Yankees got things going early with a run in the bottom of the first off Sox starter Jon Lester. Alex Rodriguez began what would end up being a big night when he drove in Derek Jeter with a two out RBI single.

Then in the third, A-Rod would then make it 3-0 Yanks with a two-run homer off Lester, deep into the second deck in left. The Yanks would eventually score two more that inning, the first coming when Melky Cabrera hit a line drive off Lester's knee, knocking him to the ground and out of the game. It looked very bad when it happened, but the X-rays did come back negative. Derek Jeter drove in the Yankees' fourth run with a RBI force out off Sox reliever Hunter Jones.

Lester has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past four month and came into the game with an 11-2 record and 2.13 ERA in his last 20 starts. So for the Yanks to do what they were able to do tonight was very impressive. The 5 ER he allowed tonight were the most he's allowed since before that 20-game stretch began, all the way back on May 26th.

After Lester left the Yankees offense would add another four runs through the night off various Sox relievers. One came in the fourth on a Jorge Posada RBI single. They'd add two more in the sixth on an A-Rod double in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the day and 93rd of the season, and another RBI single by Posada. And their ninth and final run came on a Mark Teixeira RBI single in the seventh.

The Yankees also abused Sox catcher Jason Varitek all night, racking up seven stolen bases, including three by A-Rod and two by Jeter. I don't think any of them came down to a close play, and Varitek looked awful. Is it time for the .208 hitting catcher to retire? I think so. It was the most steals for the Yankees since they swiping eight bags against the A's back on June 2, 2006 in Oakland.

Joe Girardi pieced the final three innings together with five relievers, and all of them but Jonathan Albaladejo pitched well. Alfredo Aceves pitched a scoreless seventh, Damaso Marte and Phil Hughes both faced one batter and retired him, and Phil Coke pitched a scoreless ninth. As for Alby, he allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits in a walk, in just one-third of an inning.

At 98-56 the Yanks are now a season high 42 games over .500, it's the first time they've been this many games over since the end of the 2002 season. And the 98 win are the most since their 101 win season in 2004.

The Yanks will send CC Sabathia to the mound tomorrow afternoon in the Bronx, and he will face Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will be facing the Yankees for the first time this season.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	2	2	1	1	1	2	.330
Damon, LF	3	1	0	0	2	0	5	.284
Gardner, CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.279
Teixeira, 1B	5	1	2	1	0	1	2	.293
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	3	3	4	2	0	0	.288
Matsui, H, DH	3	1	2	0	2	0	3	.280
Posada, C	4	0	2	2	1	1	3	.286
1-Guzman, F, PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Molina, J, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.221
Cano, 2B	5	1	2	0	0	0	4	.321
Swisher, RF	4	0	0	0	1	3	2	.248
Cabrera, Me, CF-LF	5	0	1	1	0	2	2	.272
Totals	36	9	14	9	9	8	23
1-Ran for Posada in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (47, Lester), Rodriguez, A (17, Bowden). HR: Rodriguez, A (28, 3rd inning off Lester, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter 2; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 7; Matsui, H 2; Posada 2; Cano 3; Cabrera, Me. RBI: Rodriguez, A 4 (93), Cabrera, Me (66), Jeter (65), Posada 2 (81), Teixeira (119). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez, A; Teixeira. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada; Damon 2; Cano; Matsui, H 2; Cabrera, Me. GIDP: Cano. Team RISP: 7-for-21. Team LOB: 12. BASERUNNING SB: Cano (5, 2nd base off Lester/Varitek), Rodriguez, A 3 (14, 2nd base off Lester/Varitek, 2nd base off Jones, H/Varitek, 3rd base off Lester/Varitek), Jeter 2 (30, 2nd base off Delcarmen/Varitek, 2nd base off Lester/Varitek), Damon (11, 2nd base off Bowden/Varitek). FIELDING E: Damon (5, fielding). DP: 2 (Cano-Teixeira, Cano-Jeter-Teixeira).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chamberlain (W, 9-6)	6.0	5	3	3	1	5	2	4.72
Aceves, A	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3.82
Albaladejo	0.1	2	2	1	1	1	0	4.96
Marte, D	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.75
Hughes, P	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.02
Coke	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4.71

Pitches-strikes: Chamberlain 86-52, Aceves, A 8-6, Albaladejo 22-12, Marte, D 2-2, Hughes, P 5-4, Coke 14-7.

RED SOX STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alex Rodriguez (3-for-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 SB)

HONORABLE MENTION: Joba Chamberlain (W, 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. Red Sox
Game Time:4:05 p.m. TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS
LHP CC Sabathia (18-7, 3.31) vs. RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-5, 6.80)