So, the first Red Sox-Yankees confrontation of the 2009 season is in the books, and it was anything but ordinary. It was, in fact, downright spooky, with the teams combining for 29 men left on base (New York 15, Boston 14), and with each team bemoaning the failure to put the game away long before the two Sox homers were able to send the fans home in a state of semi-delirium.
It was a night of juxtapositions, but none bigger than the one in the ninth, when the Yankees, holding a 4-2 lead, were unable to score off Javier Lopez after loading the bases with no one out, and the Red Sox, down to their last out, were able to tie the game when Bay deposited that 1-0 pitch directly over the yellow line in deep left-center.
Youkilis, who is hitting a mere .433, was involved in that business, too, having ripped a one-out single past Rivera's ear to give the Sox a base runner and bring the proverbial tying run to the plate. Twice before in this little history with Rivera has a Red Sox player reached him for a huge two-out homer. Bill Mueller hit that memorable grand slam off him in '04. Manny did it one night in Yankee Stadium, but the Red Sox went on to lose that game in the 10th. And now Bay has done it, making him the first Canadian to have the honor. Hey, this is baseball. There's a category for everything.
When Bay stepped into the batter's box against Rivera, it's not as if anyone in the Red Sox dugout was brimming with confidence. For Rivera had converted his last 15 save opportunities, dating to Aug. 12, and was on a 43-of-44 run since the start of the 2008 season. He's already had four saves this season, and his ERA was not hard to calculate: 0.00.
"And he was throwing the ball so well tonight," Francona said. "You could see him spread the plate out. But Jason made a beautiful swing, and that allowed us to keep playing."
It was pointed out to the skipper that the Red Sox have had some degree of success against Rivera - more, at any rate, than most teams. "I don't know," he said. "That's because we face him more than anyone else, I guess. But to be honest, when he comes in, it's not exactly a confidence-booster. And if he is in, it means things aren't going that well for us."
