-The inning of the night comes courtesy of that lengthy four hour 43-minute nine inning game which the Yankees managed to comeback from five runs down with a six-run eighth to pull out a great 8-7 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

With the game seemingly at hand, Boston skipper Terry Francona blinked when he replaced an ineffective Hideki Okajima with closer Jonathan Papelbon, hoping the second-year fireballer could get a six out save. It backfired as the Yanks got to him with three consecutive hits including an RBI single from Derek Jeter, a tying two-run Bobby Abreu double and a money RBI single from certain AL MVP Alex Rodriguez to complete a stunning comeback which started thanks to leadoff back-to-back solo shots from Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano.

Here’s how the huge inning looked:

It was a stunning reversal in a game which the Sahhhx were firmly in control of before that huge eighth. You have to wonder why Francona didn’t at least try going to Manny Delcarmen with Okajima clearly not sharp also walking Melky Cabrera and giving up a double to ex-Sock Johnny Damon who torched them for four hits in setting the Yanks up.

With Francona’s ballclub still five clear in the loss column, why was it so necessary to bring in Papelbon for something he’s not accustomed to doing? It was a boneheaded move which led to the usually lights out closer’s third blown save.
The Yanks took their fourth straight against the Sox with Mariano Rivera closing things out by getting promising Boston rookie center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury to chase a high fastball stranding J.D. Drew at first. It was Mo’s 27th save of the season.

This was a statement win and kept the Bronx Bombers’ slim chances of catching their bitter Massachusetts rivals. In order to actually have a realistic opportunity, Joe Torre’s ballclub will need to get the final two games of this series starting with later today when a featured AL Cy Young battle takes place between a pair of 18-game winners Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett on Fox.

If the Yanks take today’s game, Game 3 Sunday night features a throwback battle between Roger Clemens against Curt Schilling.

More importantly, Friday’s big victory kept the Yanks three and a half clear of the Tigers for the wildcard because Detroit posted a 4-2 win at Minnesota thanks to three RBI’s from one-time Met Timo Perez. Yes. Really. Him.

The Yankees still lead the Tigers by four in the loss column.

-On the other side in Queens, the Mets fell to the Phillies for the sixth straight time at Shea 3-2 in 10 innings.

The Amazin’s led by two runs thanks to MVP candidate David Wright’s 29th homer and a Moises Alou runscoring single which helped extend his hit streak to 18.
But another MVP candidate on the other side Chase Utley turned on a Tom Glavine pitch with a runner on and blasted a tying two-run dinger in the sixth. Despite missing a month with a broken hand, the second baseman still has 20 homers and 96 RBI’s and is a big reason the Phils are still within one a half of NL WC leading San Diego who used a walkoff homer from Khalil Greene in extras to comeback and defeat the Giants.

The Phillies got the go-ahead run in the 10th thanks to a sac fly from pinch hitter Greg Dobbs which scored Jayson Werth from third.

Brett Myers retired the Mets in order fanning two including Jose Reyes swinging to pull Philadelphia within five and a half, keeping New York’s Magic No. at 11.

Kyle Lohse goes for Philly against the comebacking Pedro Martinez who’s looked sharp so far in winning his first two starts today. The final game of the series will see Adam Eaton oppose Oliver Perez in a southpaw battle.

-In the NL Central, the Cubs defeated fading St. Louis 5-3 to pull a game and a half up on the Brewers whose comeback try fell short in a 6-5 home defeat to the Reds.

Daryle Ward’s pinch hit bases clearing double in the ninth proved pivotal because the Cards hit a pair of homers to try a comeback of their own off Ryan Dempster before Bobby Howry came into get the final out and save the game.

It was St. Louis’ eighth loss in a row dropping them six out with a couple of weeks to go. They really have freefalled. So it looks like it’s a two-team race in the Central between Chicago and Milwaukee. Last year, 83 wins was enough for the Cardinals to take the division and then stun the baseball world winning it all. Maybe 82 will be enough this time around.

-There are two big college football games we’ll be keeping a close eye on as Tennessee visits defending national champ Florida while No.1 ranked USC battles Nebraska. It should be an exciting football Saturday.