Pettitte Shines In 5-3 Yankee Win Over Red Sox

Andy Pettitte further solidified his reputation as a hot August pitcher by going seven strong innings in a 5-3 victory. He improved his record this month to a perfect 6-0. After going ahead 2-0 in Daisuke Matsuzaka's pitch-filled and shaky first inning, the Sox scored one run in the second and another in the third to tie it. One of those runs was a Manny Ramirez solo shot. But Manny had to leave the game in the 7th inning with back spasms, and he is day to day. Wow, what a loss he would be! Let's hope he's back in there tonight. The Yankees went ahead in the 5th with another run, but the Sox tied it at 3 in the top of the 7th with a Tek blast. That set the stage for Johnny Damon in the bottom of the inning with a 2 run shot, and that was all she wrote.

Daisuke labored and threw way too many pitches....110 in 5 1/3 innings. It was his first loss to the pinstripers this year, but of his three starts against them, none have been quality starts. The lead is down to seven games, and the Yanks know they must take these next two. They won't. Two tough Texans, Clemens and Beckett, go at it tonight, and I'm hoping Roger has the same stuff as he did in his last start against Detroit. But there's no cause for alarm, although it would have been sweet to win yesterday. Sweet indeed.

Click on the title of this post for more on the back injuries of Kielty and Ramirez, and of the Yankees' decision to shelve Moose Mussina, at least for one start. Just when it was getting fun watching him pitch! Everyone, enjoy your Hump Day. We'll get 'em tonight.