Game 2 at Fenway courtesy of the insidious monster that is FOX baseball and the horrendous ensemble of a cast featuring: the voice that only loves to hear itself talk (Joe Buck); the shell of a man still dripping wet from a Deion Sanders ice bucket shower (Tim McCarver); the Peter Gammons wannabe (Ken Rosenthal); the head of hair that could contain a forest fire (Jeanne Zelasko); and the career minor league catcher dubbed “The Skipper” (Kevin Kennedy). And with that being said, there was an actual game that played in between the meticulously crafted storylines. Although, the outcome favored the Red Sox, the Yankees were able to rough up another star pitcher in the Boston rotation, this time stealing five runs off of Josh Beckett. There were no homeruns from A-Rod, but he did manage to extend his hit streak to 16 games with another extra base hit. After that, the game was only highlighted by a Big Papi homerun that propelled the Red Sox to their second consecutive rivalry victory.

Game 1, Series 1 for the season’s always anticipated rivalry matchup, Yankees-Red Sox. In a game highlighted by Alex Rodriguez’s assault on the April record books and a comfortable Yankees lead, it was a late inning rally by the Red Sox against baseball’s most dominant closer that would prove to overtake the headlines of the first meeting. The New York offense put together six runs, including 2 more homeruns from Alex Rodriguez, but it was the bullpen that failed in the eighth, allowing 5 runs in the Red Sox rally. New York starter Andy Pettitte looked sharp pitching 6.1 innings and allowing only 2 runs on eight hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen. But when Joe Torre found himself in trouble in the eighth, he looked to a well rested Mariano Rivera for a 2 inning save. Even with Rivera on the mound, the Yankees were unable to escape with a lead as a bloop single, reminiscent of Luis Gonzalez’s 2001 Game 7 World Series winner, put the Red Sox ahead leaving Rivera to blow his second save opportunity in two chances.

The first of 18 battles during the season long war between rivals New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox begins at Fenway on Friday night featuring the marquee pitching matchup of the series, Andy Pettitte versus Curt Schilling. Nearly one month into the season and six rivalry games to play, don’t think that early positioning in the standings isn’t going to a play a role down the stretch. Regardless of how “meaningless” these early season rivalry games are portrayed, in the scheme of things, every win counts in a season series that could ultimately determine the setup of the playoffs. That being said, series one bringsthe rivals together each coming off of a rally win and recent win streaks to find themselves 1-2 in the standings. The Yankees, riding a recent offensive tear led by Alex Rodriguez find themselves throwing Pettitte and two rookies, Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright against the top three starters of Boston’s rejuvenated rotation. With an unfamiliar starting staff, New York will rely on the offense to continue the hot streak and hope their rookies can hold down the potent Red Sox hitters. Game one is on the way, let the rivalry begin…