Thanks to some damn good pitching for Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees brought out the brooms and swept the Red Sox to gutter outside the House That Ruth Built. In the process of winning his 16th game of the year, Wang carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning when Mike Lowell finally hit a single to right.
Joba Chamberlain and Edwar Ramirez finished the game off for the Bronx Bombers, but not without controversy. Big Joba was tossed in the ninth inning after throwing two consecutive fastballs over Kevin Youkilis’ head.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona also had a spat with the umps yesterday and a silly incident during Wednesday’s game. Francona was tossed from yesterday’s contest after arguing a call that Youkilis had gone outside the base-path to avoid a tag at third base. Hey, it happens, but the incident from the previous night was a bit more unique. It turns out the MLB “style police” had their eyes on Francona in the dug out and actually asked him to come out and prove he was, in fact, wearing his jersey underneath his pul-over jacket. Of all the ridiculous things I’ve heard argued at baseball games, that has to be one of the most outlandish.
So, it turned out to be one of those classic August series that look like they’ll turn the fortunes of both the Red Sox and Yankees. Whether that will happen and the Yanks will catch the BoSox remains to be seen, but it’s actually starting to look feasible.