NEW YORK -- It's equivalent to left field at Fenway, except it's 4 feet deeper, 27 feet closer to the ground, and made of blue canvas. It's where yesterday's brilliant display of baseball, a 1-0 Yankee win on an equally brilliant day in New York, was decided. Right field at Yankee Stadium, close and inviting and unfair.
The Sox and Yankees managed only six combined hits yesterday, three per club, and when it was all said and done, the first was the only one that mattered.
''You think about the outcome," said Tim Wakefield, who couldn't recall pitching a better game in a Sox uniform, ''you don't think a ball that barely makes the foul pole is going to beat you."
But it did. Jason Giambi, hitless in his previous 18 at-bats against the knuckleballer, stepped into one with two outs in the Yankee first. Giambi had to lunge, extend, and muscle the ball, but he did sufficiently, clearing the white ''314 FT." label by little more than the length of a baseball bat.
''Pretty strong," noted manager Terry Francona. ''A good pitch. I was more hoping it would blow foul. We were helping it."
Instead, it hung fair, and by day's end, allowed the Yankees to take two of three in the weekend series, closing to three games the Sox' lead in the American League East with 20 to play.
''The biggest thing was not coming in here and getting swept," said Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli, whose team would have a tenuous one-game lead if not for Curt Schilling's Saturday masterpiece. ''That would put a damper on where we're trying to get to.
''We play these guys three more times. We knew as long as we didn't lose six times to these guys in the last [23] games we'd feel confident in our ability to win the East. I don't think this game changes the way we feel."
Once Giambi homered, he -- and nearly every other player with a bat -- stepped aside, leaving the stage to the pitchers, Randy Johnson and Wakefield, who together delivered one of the best-pitched games in baseball all season.
Johnson went seven innings, allowing one hit (a Kevin Youkilis single to begin the fourth). One day after turning 42 the towering lefthander fanned eight and walked two, exiting after 100 pitches with a cramp in his left leg.
''Randy pitched unbelievably today," Wakefield said. ''It's unfortunate we had to face that."
The 39-year-old Wakefield, whose season is an evolving testament to his mental focus and enhanced conditioning, pitched an eight-inning complete game, striking out a career-high 12. He conceded a single run on three hits, walking just one.
