Yanks, Red Sox open final meeting of season in Fenway

Sep 14, 2007, 15:11 GMT

- The Boston Red Sox will try and reduce their magic number for clinching the American League East to single digits this evening when they begin a three-game series against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.

Boston, which has not won a division title since 1995, comes into tonight's matchup 5 1/2 games in front of the Yankees, who, of course, have captured the last nine AL East crowns.

The Red Sox lineup could also have an added boost this weekend with the possible return of slugger Manny Ramirez, who has missed 15 straight games with a strained muscle in his left side since a 5-3 loss to the Yankees on August 28.

Boston won the rubber match of its three-game set with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday in dramatic fashion, as David Ortiz capped off a big night with a two-run game winning homer in the ninth to give the Red Sox a 5-4 win.

Ortiz hit two homers in the game and drove in all five runs, while Dustin Pedroia finished 2-for-4 and scored. Julio Lugo scored twice for Boston, which has won three of four.

Closer Jonathan Papelbon (1-2) picked up his first win of the season for pitching a scoreless ninth.

Boston hopes struggling right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka can get on track tonight, as he tries to bounce back from a horrible outing in his last start on Saturday against Baltimore. Matsuzaka had the shortest outing of the season by a Boston starter in that loss, as he allowed a season-high eight runs over 2 2/3 innings to fall to 14-12 on the season, while raising his earned run average to 4.44.

Matsuzaka, though, is just 1-4 with a 9.57 ERA in his last five outings.

In three starts against the Yankees this season, Matsuzaka, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Thursday, is 2-1 with a 6.98 ERA.

New York, meanwhile, dropped a half-game in the wild card race to the idle Detroit Tigers on Thursday, as it was denied a sweep in its three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays, falling 2-1 in the ninth inning at Rogers Centre.

In the ninth, with Chris Britton (0-1) starting on the mound for the Yankees, Alex Rios led off with a single, stole second, and then crossed the plate on Frank Thomas' single up the middle to win the game.

Johnny Damon got the Yankees' only run on a solo homer, while Ian Kennedy was superb on the hill, as the rookie right-hander gave up just one run on one hit with four walks and seven strikeouts in seven-plus innings of work for New York, which had a seven-game winning streak stopped, but still leads the Tigers by 3 1/2 games.

Getting the call for the Yankees tonight will be left-hander Andy Pettitte, who is 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA in eight starts since the beginning of August. Pettitte earned the win in his last start on Saturday against Kansas City, as he held the Royals to just two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 frames to improve his record to 13-8 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 3.78.

Pettitte is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA in six appearances against Boston this season and owns a 15-6 lifetime mark against the Red Sox with a 3.32 ERA in 28 games, 26 of which have been starts.

New York lost five of its first six meetings with Boston this season, but has won seven of the last nine, including a three-game sweep in the Bronx the last time the teams met. The Yanks are just 2-4 at Fenway this season after winning seven of nine there a year ago.

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