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Yankees rally for six runs in eighth, down Red Sox

Sep 15, 2007 - 6:12 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Just when the New York Yankees seemed destined for a loss that would all but end their hopes of a 10th straight American League East title, they responded with their most dramatic rally of the season.

Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano homered off Hideki Okajima, sparking a six-run, eighth-inning rally as the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7, in the opener of their three-game series at Fenway Park on Friday.

The Yankees made sure their comeback was worth the wait, as the two teams took 4 hours, 43 minutes to play nine innings, coming within two minutes of the major league record also set by the two teams on August 18, 2006.

"I think it's our biggest win of the year, certainly," Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. "It's definitely a character-builder. It gives us a lot of confidence, coming into a place like this and being down five runs late in the game with their bullpen. It's a good character win."

The Red Sox (89-59), who entered the game with a magic number of 11 for clinching their first division title since 1995, blew a 7-2 lead and had their lead in the division trimmed to 4 1/2 games over the Yankees (84-63).

New York remains 3 1/2 games in front of the Detroit Tigers (81-67) in the American League wild card race.

Following the homers by Giambi and Cano, Melky Cabrera walked and Johnny Damon doubled off Okajima.

"Uncharacteristically, everything was over the middle of the plate," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Okajima. "He elevated and he couldn't get out of the middle (of the plate)."

After Okajima's performance, Francona went to closer Jonathan Papelbon to get six outs.

"We never gave up the fact we could win," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "In this ballpark, if you put any kind of little run together, you have a chance to score some runs. When Jason (Giambi) messed up that ball on the double play, that was the kicker because it was 5-2 at the time but this ball club never stopped fighting and never stopped screaming."

But the plan backfired as Derek Jeter singled home one run, before Bobby Abreu doubled to center, scoring two and tying the game, 7-7.

"It wasn't one of our better efforts but it sure was a great result," said Torre, who watched as his team committed two errors, helping Boston build a 7-2 lead after seven. "We gave away so much and we had so many opportunities to do some damage and we lucked out but that eighth inning was incredible."

Rodriguez, who homered off Papelbon (1-3) in the ninth to win a game on June 3, singled sharply to left-center, giving New York its first lead of the night.

It was the fifth straight win in the season series for the Yankees, who improved to 9-7 this season against Boston.

"It seems like we've played the last three games backwards," Francona said. "We got to where we wanted. I thought Daisuke pitched with a lot of heart. We got to Oki (Okajima) with the idea that even if things didn't go perfect, we had Pap ready for Jeter. It fell apart in a hurry."

Brian Bruney (3-1) earned the win by throwing one scoreless inning and striking out one.

Papelbon, who won his first game Wednesday on David Ortiz's walk-off homer, didn't hold the victory for Daisuke Matsuzaka, allowing two runs, ending a scoreless streak of 16 2/3 innings.

"It happened quick, that's for sure," Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said of the Yankee rally. "I feel good with a one-run lead with Oki and Pap. So I mean, they didn't hit too many balls soft, though. They took advantage of pitches, and they did it in a hurry. So that's a good hitting team. They did it. I don't have any explanation."

Matsuzaka pitched well, allowing two runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings and was pulled after 120 pitches. The righthander struck out seven and walked five, leaving the game with a 5-2 lead.

Matsuzaka pitched far better than his counterpart, Andy Pettitte. The Yankees starter was pounded for five runs - four earned - and nine hits over four innings. Pettitte struck out five and walked two as New York rallied to get him off the hook.