Order Restored

I'm really glad that I decided not to live blog during tonight's Yankees-Red Sox game. It's exhausting. Playing the Red Sox is exhausting. The game is guaranteed to take over four hours. I'm kind of wondering if we should get a petition going to Bud Selig to start these games an hour early, or shorten them to seven innings. It's like a playoff game on Fox with the extra commercials, but instead no one knows how to pitch.

Except for the always-reliable Yankees bullpen. A.J. Burnett stunk, but so did Lester. Believe it or not A.J. probably pitched a little bit better. At least he lasted five innings, which he had some serious trouble doing last season in Beantown. The Yanks had several opportunities to bust open the game against Lester, but Teixeira and Granderson could not come through with runners in scoring position. By Memorial Day, we'll remember that Tex is actually on the team.

What Alfredo Aceves did in the sixth and seventh was purely magical. Not only did he keep the Red Sox off the board in Fenway Park, but he got seven outs in the process. Seven, not six, because of Derek Jeter's pathetic throw to first base on a routine ground ball. The Yankees did everything they could to blow the game. In addition to Jeter's brutal throw, Marcus Thames gave up on a fly ball that turned into a run in the first inning. Jorge Posada committed an error, and Damaso Marte thought a lollipop throw to first base might pick off a threat on the bases- Kevin Youkilis.

But we've got to talk about some positives here. Robbie Cano is hitting, and his 9th inning homer provided some much needed insurance. In addition to Aceves, Joba Chamberlain looked like the Joba of 2007. Throwing 97 MPH, striking out two, pumping his fist, and then probably downing a twelve pack in the clubhouse after. Then there's Mariano Rivera, who still strikes out batters with the same pitches. Everyone knows what's coming, but they just don't swing. Also, Nick Johnson knocked in the game-winning run without swinging the bat, thanks to his Wade Boggs-like at bat in the eighth inning.

The Yankees did something they didn't do until the beginning of August last season: beat the Red Sox. It was painful, stressful, and it took about four hours. Nothing unusual for a Yanks-Sox game on April 6th.