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| New York Takes Boston in Game Seven and Heads to the WORLD SERIES!! |
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| SERIES STATS |
| YANKEES |
vs. |
RED SOX |
| .268 |
BA |
.279 |
| 94 |
R |
109 |
| 176 |
H |
188 |
| 17 |
HR |
26 |
| 69 |
BB |
64 |
| 11 |
SB |
10 | |
| REGULAR SEASON STATS |
| YANKEES |
vs. |
RED SOX |
| .271 |
BA |
.289 |
| 877 |
R |
961 |
| 1518 |
H |
1667 |
| 230 |
HR |
238 |
| 684 |
BB |
620 |
| 98 |
SB |
88 |
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| THE 2003 ALCS vs. BOSTON RED SOX |
| Game |
Team |
Score |
Pitcher |
| Game 1 - HOME |
Yankees |
2 |
L - Mussina
S - Williamson |
| Wed. 10/8-8:00pm |
Red Sox |
5 |
W - Wakefield |
| |
| Game 2 - HOME |
Yankees |
6 |
W - Pettitte |
| Thu. 10/9-8:00pm |
Red Sox |
2 |
L - Lowe |
| |
| Game 3 - AWAY |
Yankees |
4 |
W - Clemens |
| Sat. 10/11-4:00pm |
Red Sox |
3 |
L - Martinez
S - Rivera |
| |
| Game 4 - AWAY |
Yankees |
2 |
L - Mussina
S - Williamson |
| Mon. 10/13-8:00pm |
Red Sox |
3 |
W - Wakefield |
| |
| Game 5 - AWAY |
Yankees |
4 |
W - Wells |
| Tues. 10/14-4:18pm |
Red Sox |
2 |
L - Lowe
S - Rivera |
| |
| Game 6 - HOME |
Yankees |
6 |
Pettitte
L - Contreras
S - Williamson |
| Wed. 10/15-4:05pm |
Red Sox |
9 |
Burkett
W - Embree |
| |
| Game 7 - HOME |
Yankees |
6 |
Clemens
W - Rivera |
| Thurs. 10/16-8:00pm |
Red Sox |
5 |
Martinez
L - Wakefield |
Game 1 - Yanks Lose Game 1
On Wednesday, October 8th, Tim Wakefield provided the Boston Red Sox with a crucial victory in Game One of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees’ inability to score runs came as a result of Wakefield’s signature knuckleball pitch—causing the ball to appear as if it is “dancing” in mid-air.
After a controversial Todd Walker home run call in the fifth inning, the Red Sox took a 4-0 lead. They later scored one more run in the seventh inning to make it 5-0. The Yankees battled back in the seventh inning but fell short by a score of 5-2.
On Thursday, October 9, 2003, Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte looks to repeat last week’s great performance in the ALDS, where he was able to even the series with a win in Game Two against the Twins after Mike Mussina had lost Game 1. He will face Red Sox starter Derek Lowe who had a regular season record of 17-7 and a 4.47 ERA.
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Game 2 - Pettitte To The Rescue
The Yankees bounced back from a rough outing Wednesday night taking Game Two of this American League Championship Series by defeating starter Derek Lowe and the Boston Red Sox by a score of 6-2. The pairing of timely hitting by Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams along with a two-run homerun by the struggling Nick Johnson provided more than enough breathing room for Andy Pettitte as he shut down the Boston lineup. Pettitte went 6 2/3 innings, yielding two earned runs and two walks to complement his five strikeouts. Johnson's homerun in the second inning gave him just two hits in his last 20 at bats (.100 batting average), but he made it count giving the Bombers a 2-1 lead that was never relinquished by the combination of Pettitte, Jose Contreras, and Mariano Rivera.
As for the Yankee contributors at the plate, Bernie Williams blasted two hits and one RBI, raising his team leading postseason average to .381. Jorge Posada, whose clutch two-run double in the 7th inning helped seal the victory, raised his average to .429 for the series.
The series will surely intensify as Roger Clemens returns to Fenway Park to face off against Pedro Martinez in Game Three on Saturday, October 11 at 4:00pm. Games Four and Five will also be played in Boston on Sunday, October 12th, and Monday, October 13th at 8:00pm. If it is necessary, the series will return to the Bronx for Games Six and Seven on Wednesday, October 15th and Thursday, October 16th.
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Game 3 - The Rivalry Heats Up
On Saturday, October 11th, a bench clearing altercation overshadowed a 4-3 Yankee victory in Game Four of the ALCS. The madness began in the fourth inning, after the first three batters of the inning had reached base safely. Runners were on second and third with no outs, when Pedro Martinez drilled Karim Garcia with a pitch in the upper back. In the bottom half of the inning, a Roger Clemens fastball, which was high, but not tight, sent Manny Ramirez storming towards the mound. Both benches cleared and an enraged Yankee bench coach, Don Zimmer, was then tossed to the ground in a skirmish with Martinez. Later, between the 8th and 9th innings, a fight broke out in the Yankee bullpen between a grounds crewmember and a number of Yankee players, including Garcia and reliever Jeff Nelson.
The Yankees overcame this adversity, as well as an early Manny Ramirez two-run single, to win the game. Derek Jeter’s game-tying solo home run in the third inning, paired with Hideki Matsui’s RBI double in the fourth, gave the Yankees their first lead of the game. The Yankees never looked back, as Alfonso Soriano would later add an RBI to bring the score to 4-2. Boston’s seventh inning, one-run comeback would fall short once Jose Contreras induced Trot Nixon into a bases loaded double play.
Roger Clemens showed poise and composure in his last game at Fenway Park against his former team allowing only two runs over six innings. In addition, Clemens retired the batters in order in both the fourth and fifth innings. Mariano Rivera finished the game with a pair of perfect innings, retiring all six batters he faced. The Yankees now lead the series 2-1.
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Game 4 - The Sox Tie Up the Series 2-2
On Monday, October 13th, Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox won an emotionally-charged pitchers duel against Mike Mussina and the New York Yankees. It was Wakefield’s knuckleball that floated and fluttered past the New York Yankees in a 3-2 win that knotted the American League Championship Series at two games apiece. After a day off due to rain, both teams were on their best behavior. Todd Walker and Trot Nixon hit solo home runs for Boston’s struggling offense, while Jason Varitek added a key RBI grounder in the seventh inning to give the Red Sox a lead that they would not relinquish.
Tim Wakefield pitched a masterful game striking out eight batters, while only giving up one earned run on Derek Jeter’s fifth inning RBI double. The Yankees looked like they were going to jump to an early lead in the first inning after Alfonso Soriano had a leadoff walk followed by a Derek Jeter single. Jason Giambi hit a scorcher to first base that was caught by Kevin Millar, who doubled up Jeter. After a walk to Bernie Williams, Wakefield was able to escape the inning unscathed by getting Posada to strike out looking.
While the Yankees had runners on base in four of the first five innings, Wakefield pitched out of trouble, holding New York to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving the bases loaded in the fifth, when Posada ended the inning with a line drive to leftfield that was caught by Manny Ramirez. Wakefield then struck out the side in the sixth and retired the side in the seventh on four pitches.
The series continues at Fenway Park on Tuesday afternoon—originally scheduled as a travel day—as Yankee starter David Wells will oppose Derek Lowe in a pivotal Game Five.
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Game 5 - Yanks Only One Away
On Tuesday, October 14th, the Yankees moved one step closer to winning their sixth American League pennant in eight years, defeating the Red Sox by a score of 4-2 in the final of the three games set at Fenway. Bouncing back from a tough loss the day prior, Yankee pitcher David Wells came through with another outstanding performance, allowing only one run in seven innings.
New York wasted no time in Game Five taking an early lead in the second inning. Derek Lowe, who was 11-2 at Fenway in the regular season, struggled against this Yankee lineup. The inning began with Jorge Podsada drawing a one-out walk off Derek Lowe who then intentionally walked Nick Johnson. Aaron Boone proceeded to load the bases hitting a high bounding ball to third that went for a single. Karim Garcia’s drive up the middle brought in the first two runs of the game, while Alfonso Soriano’s RBI single brought Boone home to bump the Yankee lead up to 3-0.
Wells pitched seven strong innings with only one mistake. Manny Ramirez opened up the fourth inning hitting a high change-up from Wells over the Green Monster. Ramirez’s homer accounted for the Red Sox first run of the game, only to be answered by the Yankees later in the eighth inning. Alan Embree relieved Lowe in the eighth inning after a walk, fielder’s choice and single put runners at first and third. Hideki Matsui knocked in the final run on a fielder’s choice, scoring Bernie Williams from third.
The Red Sox rallied late in the eighth after Mariano Rivera stepped in to replace Wells. Todd Walker ripped a triple into right field, only inches away from a home run. A grounder by the struggling Nomar Garciaparra later in the inning brought Walker home, but it was the last run the Red Sox would score, finishing the game with the Yanks up 4-2.
The two teams will now head back to New York to close out the series at Yankee Stadium. With New York up 3-2 in the series, Game Six will be played as a potential elimination game for the Red Sox. Boston survived three potential series ending games before they eliminated the Oakland A's to advance to the ALCS with the Yankees. Andy Pettitte and the Yankees will host John Burkett and the Red Sox for Game Six in New York at 4:05pm on October 15, 2003.
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Game 6 - Yanks Drop Game Six
On Wednesday, October 15th, the New York Yankees’ bullpen could not hold off the Boston Red Sox dangerous lineup, as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox by a score of 9-6. The Red Sox bullpen, on the other hand, held the Yankee sluggers to one run over 5 1/3 innings.
During the first five innings, it looked as if the Yankees were cruising along to another pennant title after Jason Giambi launched a first-inning solo home run. Shortly after the Red Sox took a brief 4-1 lead, a pair of RBIs by both Nick Johnson and Alfonso Soriano brought the score to 5-4. A fifth-inning home run by Jorge Posada would later put the Yanks up by the score of 6-4.
The night was shaping up as though New York had Game Six all wrapped up, until a few costly mistakes caused the game’s momentum to turn in Boston’s favor. A seventh-inning throwing error by Hideki Matsui allowed Nomar Garciaparra to score, bringing the score to 6-5. David Ortiz then singled off the first-base bag to tie the game. Boston would soon take the lead on a controversial strike call after relief pitcher Felix Heredia walked in a run. A two-run home run by Trot Nixon in the eighth inning gave Red Sox closer Scott Williamson more than enough of a cushion to secure the game.
The Yankees now face elimination in Game Seven at the Stadium on Thursday night, as Roger Clemens will oppose Boston Ace Pedro Martinez. The winner of Game Seven will advance to face the Florida Marlins in the World Series.
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Game 7 - Bombs Away!
In a game that could be described as a microcosm of the American League Championship Series, the New York Yankees won the war with the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, October 16th, in the 11th inning by a score of 6-5. After playing 19 games during the regular season, along with seven in the postseason, both teams still needed extra innings to determine a league champion.
As Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez looked to exorcise the Curse of the Bambino, Joe Torre handed the ball to his Hall of Fame right-hander, Roger Clemens. Clemens, however, did not look like a pitcher with 300 wins and 4,000 strikeouts in his career. After surrendering home runs to Trot Nixon and Kevin Millar, and allowing runners on first and third with no outs in the fourth inning, Clemens was knocked out of the game and replaced by Mike Mussina—a starter who had never pitched an inning of relief in his career. Mussina pitched brilliantly, however, by not allowing another run to score in that inning, nor in the two following innings.
While Clemens was unable to get past the fourth inning, his counterpart, Martinez, looked to get stronger as the evening moved along—allowing only two solo home runs to Jason Giambi through seven innings. Giambi’s resurgence came after he was moved down in the lineup to bat seventh, a change from his usual “clean-up” position.
After a David Ortiz solo home run in the top half of the eighth inning increased Boston’s lead to a 5-2 score, the Yankees finally were able to take advantage of a tired Pedro Martinez in the bottom half of the inning. Despite inducing a Nick Johnson fly out at the start of the eighth, Martinez then allowed four consecutive hits by the heart of the Yankees’ order—Jeter, Williams, Matsui, and Posada. By the time the onslaught was over, New York had tied the game at 5-5 and Martinez was pulled from the game.
The game was left to both team’s bullpens, of which Boston had the distinct edge throughout the series. However, Yankee closer Mariano Rivera continued to shine in the postseason, pitching an unbelievable three innings, allowing only two hits and striking out three. Since becoming the Yankees closer, Rivera had never pitched three innings in the postseason. His efforts lowered his career postseason ERA to a miniscule 0.75 and earned him ALCS MVP honors.
As the clocked ticked past midnight, both teams were unable to put the other away until the bottom of the 11th inning, when third baseman Aaron Boone blasted the first pitch thrown by Red Sox starter turned reliever Tim Wakefield down the left field line and into the second deck. The win gives the New York Yankees their 39th American League pennant and earns them a chance to win their 27th World Championship. The Bronx Bombers will now face the National League Champion Florida Marlins in the Fall Classic, beginning Saturday night at the Stadium.
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Last Updated On:
Friday, October 17, 2003 GO YANKS!! | |
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