Major Leagues: Red Sox own Yankees

Published 12:00 am Friday, June 10, 2011

By Tim Brittain
The Providence Journal
The Boston Red Sox are 10 games over .500. They owe 70 percent of that margin solely to their success against the Yankees.
Boston is 8-1 against New York and 28-25 against the rest of Major League Baseball. Theyíve racked up more losses in just three home tries against the White Sox and Mariners each than they have in nine games opposing their chief rivals and top A.L. East competition.
Put another way, Boston reliever Daniel Bard has more losses this season than the Red Sox do to the Yankees, and by a wide margin (4 to 1).
What is behind Bostonís dominance of the Yankees to this point in 2011? Well, like all true forms of dominance, it is simple and all encompassing, unable to be whittled down to a single element. Stated as straightforwardly as possible, the Red Sox have been better at everything when theyíve shared the diamond with the Yankees. They have pitched better, they have hit better, they have fielded better. Theyíve even styled around home plate better.
In the nine meetings, the Red Sox have scored 25 more runs. Bostonís ERA is a shade under four runs a game, compared to well over six for New York.
The Yankees have committed six errors to Bostonís three in the nine games.
ěIf you donít play well, theyíre going to beat you,î Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. ěTheyíve outplayed us every time weíve played them so far. They have a good team, thatís the bottom line. They can hit, they can pitch, they do a little bit of everything. If you donít play well, theyíre going to beat you, and thatís been the case the last couple times.î
Indeed, the narrative of the Red Sox season has been neatly punctuated in meetings with the Yankees. Boston won its first game this year ó in its seventh try ó when it opened the home schedule with New York. It got over .500 when it won in the Bronx in May. This week, the Red Sox have taken over first place; they hope itís another milestone worth noting.
Of course, Bostonís early-season success against the Yankees isnít new; itís not even as complete as it was in 2009, when Boston won the first eight meetings of the season versus New York. The Yankees, however, came back to win nine of the last 10 games between the squads, meaning that the teams finished the year an even 9-9 facing each other.
ěIím not using that as a barometer,î Boston pitcher Tim Wakefield said of the success against New York this season. ěLast time we were 8-0, and you know what happened after that. Weíre in June now, games are starting to mean a little more than they (did) in April and May, and weíre playing good baseball now.î
2009 was merely the starkest example of a strange trend in this rivalry. Although the teams have played nearly evenly since Major League Baseball adopted an unbalanced schedule in 2001, the Red Sox win the majority of their games against the Yankees early in the season.
Counting the first nine meetings this season, Boston is 94-99 against New York in the regular season since 2001. In the seasonís first three months, though, the Red Sox are 59-39; in the last three, 35-61.
In seven of the last eight years, the Sox have had a winning record over the Yankees before July 1; in seven of the last 10 years, theyíve had a losing record against them after July 1.
Thatís a big reason the Yankees have won seven division titles in the last 10 years to Bostonís one. New York has pulled out the key head-to-head meetings in the seasonís final months.
ěWe just try to play and win games, regardless of who itís against,î said Boston right fielder J.D. Drew. ěWe understand this is a big rivalry, a big series with division rivals. Itís important to win ball games.î
Since the season series has been so even for so long, it hasnít done much to define how the two teams perform against the rest of the league. The Red Sox won 11 of 19 meetings when they won the World Series in 2004; they lost 10 of 18 when they won it in 2007. The teams split their 18 meetings when the Yankees won it all in 2009.
The rivalry is thus more Duke-North Carolina than Patriots-Colts, lacking any kind of cause-and-effect relationship between regular and postseason success. So itís important, but perhaps not all-important.
ěItís important, but ultimately, itís (the) overall record. Weíre neck and neck right now,î said Drew. ěThereís a long ways to go. Itís just a matter of winning ball games and playing well. Fortunately, weíve started doing that, and hopefully we continue to roll.î