Green: With Yankees looming, games getting bigger

The days are getting shorter, the geese are flying south, and the Sox have a magic number. It must be September.

The Red Sox have managed to hold on to the top spot in the AL East for month after month. But that won’t matter if they stumble now. When the Sox went to the Bronx two weeks ago, it was fashionable to say that those games didn’t matter for the Red Sox. I suppose it seemed “edgy.” But it wasn’t true.

These games still count. Boston-New York games will always count. That’s why I’m still having flashbacks of Wang’s no-hit bid, carried into the seventh. Of Youkilis called out for running outside the basepaths, Terry Francona ejected for arguing that call, and Joba Chamberlain’s ejection for aiming at Youk’s head. Cano’s two solo home runs, and the Abreu/A-Rod double steal and Varitek’s wild throw. And that was just Game 3. 

Of course, since then, the Sox had an actual no-hitter. They swept Toronto, took five out of seven from Baltimore, and have played well against Tampa Bay. Their lead in the division expanded, then contracted again, as A-Rod seemed physically unable to go nine innings without
belting at least one home run.

These games still count. If Boston gets swept a second time, the Yanks will be close enough to their 10th consecutive AL East title to smell it. And while there’s always the wild card, that’s not enough for Sox fans. Not this year. Not when the Sox have the league’s best pitching (in both ERA and strikeouts), its second-ranked defense, and its third-best offense (in terms of runs scored and SLG; they’re second in OBP). And not when they’ve spent most of the season with the best winning percentage in all of baseball.

Now, the Yankees are coming to Fenway, and the Red Sox are playing hungry. They’re making crazy outfield catches and bang-bang infield plays and stealing bases and swinging for the fences. After a rough patch, the bullpen looks rock-solid again. The rotation, with the exception of Matsuzaka, has been lights-out since Buchholz threw his no-no. In their first 10 days of the month, not counting Dice-K’s meltdowns, Sox pitchers were allowing 2.13 earned runs per start.

During that 10-game stretch, while the Sox were 7-3, the Yankees went 6-2. They’re mashing the ball (as usual), and their pitching rotation came together just in the nick of time. Now, after sweeping New York to start the season series, Boston trails New York by a game. The Yankees and the Red Sox are coming into this weekend as well-matched as ever.

It’s Boston versus New York in September. Of course these games still count. These games always do.

Sarah Green is a freelance writer who can be reached at sgreen@gmail.com