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Yanks complete five-game sweep
Abreu, Lidle lead way as Bombers pull away from Sox
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
BOSTON -- Before this weekend, the Yankees had swept the Red Sox in a five-
game series at Fenway Park just twice in their history, doing so in 1927 and
1943. They won the World Series in both of those years.
New York accomplished the rare five-game sweep again on Monday, but the Yanks
will have to wait another couple of months before they can try adding another
title to the franchise's total of 26 World Series titles.
The Yankees closed out the improbable weekend with a 2-1 win over the Red Sox,
marking the first five-game sweep for New York over Boston since Sept. 28-30,
1951, at Yankee Stadium. The previous two five-game sweeps in Boston came in
June 1927 and September 1943.
"Win or lose today, I was going to be proud of them," manager Joe Torre said.
"They came in here on a mission; you want to win every game, but you don't
anticipate that you're going to be able to do that."
"It's unbelievable. If anybody would have said that either team would win five
games in this series, I would have laughed," said Scott Proctor, who pitched
an inning-plus in four of the five games, allowing just one run in six innings.
"To be on the side that won five, it's a huge boost."
The sweep put some serious distance between the two rivals, as the Yankees
boosted their lead over the Red Sox in the American League East from 1 1/2
games to 6 1/2 games since Friday.
"Going from 1 1/2 up to 6 1/2, you get a bit more breathing room," Johnny Damon
said. "We have to continue to go out there and do it. We're feeling pretty
good about ourselves."
"It's not been a very good five days," Sox manager Terry Francona said. "That's
probably the understatement of the year."
Both teams now head to the West Coast, as the Yankees travel to Seattle and
Anaheim, while the Red Sox visit Anaheim, Seattle and Oakland.
"I would like to think that our 5 1/2-hour flight will be a lot shorter than
their 5 1/2-hour flight," said Mike Myers, who recorded a key out in the
seventh against David Ortiz.
David Wells gave the Red Sox their best pitching performance of the series,
holding the Yankees to two runs over 7 1/3 innings. Unfortunately for Boston,
Cory Lidle held the Sox scoreless over six innings.
Octavio Dotel, Myers, Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth (second save) combined to
go the final three frames, with Wily Mo Pena's solo homer off Proctor accoun-
ting for Boston's only run.
"It's fun to be on a team when everybody contributes," Myers said. "Everybody
can walk away from this weekend and say, 'I contributed to a sweep.' That's
pretty impressive."
Bobby Abreu snapped a scoreless tie in the sixth with an RBI double off Wells.
Abreu was 10-for-20 (.500) with four doubles, five runs, three RBIs, two steals
and seven walks during the series.
"He loves the responsibility," Torre said. "He's slipped into this lineup and
this clubhouse as easy as anybody."
"That's sweet; this is my first series against Boston and the sweep is great,
" Abreu said. "These games have been outstanding for me. I'm just having a
good time with the team and enjoying it over here."
Lidle flirted with trouble in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with
a pair of two-out walks. Javy Lopez missed his chance to give Boston the lead,
grounding out to end the frame.
Lidle posted another zero in the bottom of the sixth, overcoming a dropped
popup by Nick Green to hold the one-run lead and turn the game over to the
bullpen. Lidle (2-2) allowed three hits and walked five, striking out five
on the day.
"It's a great feeling to help this team," Lidle said. "I had pretty good
command. I ran into some trouble when I walked three guys and I think I started
nibbling a little too much and started to walk some guys. I tried to be too
fine, but I settled down after that and it felt good."
"When we dropped the popup, he picked everybody up the way he pitched the rest
of the inning," Torre said. "We got in a couple of jams, but when he needed to
get the outs, he did. They were one swing away from putting a couple of points
on the board and we were able to stop that."
Dotel started the seventh, but he was lifted after giving up a one-out single
to Mark Loretta. Myers came in and struck out Ortiz, then Proctor retired
Gabe Kapler to finish the inning.
New York tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, as Green doubled off Wells,
moved to third on a sac bunt by Cabrera, then scored on a Keith Foulke wild
pitch. Pena homered off Proctor in the eighth, but Farnsworth slammed the door
with a perfect ninth.
"That's what championship teams are made of," Damon said when asked about the
contributions of players such as Green and Cabrera. "We counted on everybody."
With 39 games remaining, the Yankees are at their high-water mark of 27 games
over .500. Torre has said repeatedly that once a team gets to 30-over, it can
realistically begin thinking about the postseason.
"Boston is never out of it," Alex Rodriguez said. "We have a lot of respect
for them, and we know they're going to fight hard. Somehow, they always stay
in it."
"A manager's dream is to have these guys be attentive, go out there, prepare
and play their hearts out in spite of being tired and weary," Torre said.
"To me, this is a winning ballclub. Does that mean we're going to win the
division? No, that doesn't guarantee that. But I like the attitude we have,
the determination and unselfishness in the areas that we need it."
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真是大快人心的Sweep!
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