Term used to describe the five-game series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Also known as "Boston Massacre II" and "Son of Massacre"[141],[142], it took place from August 18th to August 21st, 2006, at Fenway Park in Boston. These titles are all references to the 1978 Boston Massacre, a series in which New York swept four at Fenway in September to erase the rest of what had been a 14-game deficit. They eventually would win the division in on Bucky Dent's home run in a one-game tiebreaker.

The Setup

The Yankees were behind the Red Sox for most of the season, but managed to creep up from behind. They swept the Chicago White Sox after the All-Star Break to gain the lead for the AL Wild Card. A streak of wins, accompanied by a Red Sox slump, put them on top of the AL East.

At the trade deadline, the Yankees traded for a number of players, including Bobby Abreu, Corey Lidle and Craig Wilson. The Red Sox, on the other hand, made no substantial transactions, a decision that had many criticizing Boston GM Theo Epstein. Epstein, however, insisted that he wanted to preserve the youthful tandem of Red Sox pitchers — starter Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, and especially closer Jonathan Papelbon — for the future and rejected deals that involved any of them. Seveal injuries to key players did force Boston to make two later trades, acquiring Javy Lopez from Baltimore and Eric Hinske from Toronto — both for cash and a player to be named later.

Because an earlier game was rained out at Fenway, the two would meet for five games in four days, beginning with a double header. They went in with the Yankees leading 1 1/2 games.

Game 1 - Friday, August 18th

Starters: Chien Ming Wang (NYY), Jason Johnson (BOS)

Johnny Damon began the game with a triple, and Derek Jeter singled to bring him home. Despite Yankee pitcher Wang loading the bases twice, this would be the only run until the 4th, when a groundout by Alex Gonzalez brought Hinske home from third to tie the game. After Craig Wilson struck out in the 5th, there wouldn't be another out for the next 5 batters, and a total of 3 runs, two of which came from a Damon home run.

In the next few innings, the Red Sox came back to make it 4-3, but the Yankees broke out in the 7th. With one out, the Yankees scored three runs, with a total of ten batters in the inning. They got four insurance runs in the top of the 9th, two of which were off walks with the bases loaded. Boston would only get one run in the bottom of the ninth, much less than enough.

NYY - 12

BOS - 4

Game 2 - Friday, August 18th

Starters: Sidney Ponson (NYY), Jon Lester (BOS)

The game was thought to be a crapshoot between the Yankees and Red Sox. The Red Sox struck first blood in the 1st inning off of Ponson. In the 2nd inning, the Yankees scored 5 runs off Lester, making him throw over 40 pitches in that inning. But Ponson couldn't hold the lead in 3rd and 4th innings. Ron Villone relieved Ponson and allowed 3 runs in one inning. The Red Sox had a 10-7 lead in the top of the 7th inning, when Derek Jeter with the bases loaded hit a bases clearing double off of Mike Timlin. That 3-run double gave the Yankees tied the game at 10-10. Then Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano hit doubles that scored 4 runs and gave the Yankees a 14-10 lead. In the bottom of the 7th, Wily Mo Pena hit a line drive off of Kyle Farnsworth's leg which sidelined the pitcher. The Yankees held on to the lead and won the game.


NYY - 14

BOS - 11

Game 3 - Saturday, August 19th

NYY - 13

BOS - 5

Game 4 - Sunday, August 20th

NYY - 8

BOS - 5

Game 5 - Monday, August 21st

NYY - 2

BOS - 1

The Aftermath

This series marked the first time Boston had been swept in a five-game set since 1954.

The pitching was severely lacking on both sides for the first four games, but the Yankees managed to outscore the Red Sox 47-25, their bullpen having an ERA of 3.60 to Boston's 11.50. The Monday loss would leave the series at 49 runs for the Yankees, and 26 for the Red Sox.

Former Boston center fielder Johnny Damon had a big series hitting .435 (10-for-23) with two homers, seven RBI and six runs. He was also named AL player of the week.

Manny Ramirez was the most productive player in the Red Sox lineup during the series, going 8-for-11 with two homers, seven RBIs and nine walks. Red Sox leadoff man, Coco Crisp was an abysmal 1-for-19 in the series.

The series would put Boston 6 1/2 games out of first for the AL East, and 4 games out of the lead in the AL Wild Card.

See Also

Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry

New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox

Curse of the Bambino

External Links

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/08/19/these_performances_difficult_to_watch/

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/08/20/getting_that_sinking_feeling/