- Red Sox 7, Yankees 5: Mike Mussina will be seeing Manny Ramirez in his sleep. The Stanford graduate gave up two home runs to the George Washington High School product as part of a distressing performance. The righty allowed five runs in three innings, and, unlike Wednesday, the Yankees could not put up 15 runs.
Ramirez has worn out all Yankees pitching, not just Mussina, and who could be blamed for thinking the slugger is underappreciated by the Red Sox? David Ortiz, off to a terrible start this season, has put up five tremendous years and gets all the credit, but Ramirez is the best or second-best right-handed hitter of his generation. He gets written off as a goofball, but, from all accounts, no one takes more batting practice than he does. He's the one going to the Hall of Fame in a Red Sox cap.
As for Mussina, his struggles make the case for Joba Chamberlain to get into the rotation. The Yanks head to Baltimore for a three-game set starting Friday. They'll be thanking the Pope on their way down.
- Mets 3, Nationals 2 (14 innings): Damion Easley scored on a wild pitch in the 14th inning. His run was a fitting cap to a game marked by a dearth of offense. Willie Randolph called on every relief pitcher except Scott Schoeneweis. Coincidence the Mets won? Don't think so. Jorge Sosa -- who was probably out there until his arm fell off -- pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Brooklyn's own Nelson Figueroa struck out seven in seven innings of work, but he was bettered by Long Beach's John Lannan of the Nationals, who struck out 11. Only Carlos Delgado's game-tying single in the eighth made extras possible. And no Met or National should complain. The Rockies and Padres played 22 innings Thursday night/Friday morning.
Photograph of Red Sox players Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez welcoming Kevin Youkilis home on a J.D. Drew double, as Yankees catcher Chad Moeller signals for the ball to be thrown home, by Julie Jacobson/AP
