The days of on-field brawls, bullpen invaders and hit batsmen - all the ingredients that have made the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox so volatile and compelling over the years - now seem little more than a faint recollection.
But the Red Sox, last year's world champions, came into Tuesday's game in last place in the American League East with no realistic chance to make the postseason. The Yankees still have designs on playing in October, but it is more hope than expectation.
There was one moment of explosive fury when Brett Gardner flung his bat, slammed his helmet down to the dirt and raged at the home-plate umpire, Tim Timmons. after a disputed third-strike call. But that outburst seemed born of a season's worth of frustration and anguish, not some affront committed by the Bostonians.
The Red Sox players, in fact, may have looked on in sympathy at Gardner's explosion, nodding in understanding as the Yankees' season swirled perilously close to disaster once again. Gardner was ejected for the overt display of anger, and the Yankees lost yet another in a series of critical games, this one by 9-4 to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox powered their way to victory with a three-run home run by Daniel Nava and a pair of bases-empty homers by Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts, hardly the familiar cast of sluggers the Red Sox have brought to bear during the rivalry. But times have changed.
The Yankees entered the final month of the season trailing in the Baltimore Orioles by eight and a half games and four games behind the Detroit Tigers for the second wild card berth. Now there are only 26 games remaining, and for Manager Joe Girardi, they constitute a virtual 26-game playoff series.
He said so while answering a stream of questions before the game about Derek Jeter 's seemingly sacrosanct place in the batting order, summoning the shortstop's legacy as a clutch hitter to explain and defend his lineup. If the Yankees have to go through a virtual playoffs to make the playoffs, he argued, then he wants his playoff-tested players performing in key rolls.
'I consider us to kind of be in playoff mode right now,' he said. 'We obviously need to win games, and throughout his career he's been clutch in the playoffs. He's a hot topic always, just because of who he is. But there are other issues in our lineup that we need to be better, as well.'
The fans, many of whom echo Girardi's faith in Jeter to come through when it matters most, had the chance to express their belief in their captain in the fifth inning when their captain drove in a run on an overturned play.
The Yankees were trailing by 7-2 at the time. There were two outs and the bases were loaded for Jeter after Jacoby Ellsbury lined out to the shortstop Bogaerts, bringing Jeter to the plate.
A career .310 hitter, Jeter was batting a respectable .280 on July 29, respectable especially for a 40-year-old playing almost every day. But in his 20 previous games, he was batting only .188 (16 for 85) with a .205 on-base percentage. He went into Tuesday's game batting .261.
For some, that is reason enough to move him down in the batting order, perhaps all the way to eighth while replacing him in the No. 2 spot with someone like Gardner or Martin Prado. If, as Girardi said, the Yankees are embroiled in a monthlong playoff quest in Jeter's final month of the regular season, then tactical necessities should supersede sentimental considerations, or the fear of offending Jeter.
Girardi noted that several other players in the lineup - he didn't mention any names, but Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran certainly fit the description - were doing just as poorly, and it was unfair to single Jeter out.
'People are talking about moving him,' Girardi said. 'In saying that, you look up and down our numbers and there are a lot of .230s and .240s. So, not so sure why he's the one necessarily picked on. This guy has been a money player his whole career and we need him to be the last month.'
As Jeter strode to the plate the noise level at the Stadium began to swell and expectations rose. Would this become a Jeter moment to be inserted into his legend, a dramatic hit to ignite the Yankees playoff drive?
Jeter swung at the first pitch and hit a weak ground ball to shortstop, put his head down and sprinted to first base as Bogaerts throw entered Mike Napoli's glove. Jeter was originally ruled out, but the Yankees challenged the call and won on appeal, much to the delight of the crowd.
That brought up Gardner, who was batting third. A big hit might have changed the course of the game. There was no Jeter moment and no Gardner moment, either. Just another frustrating moment in a game between a pair of runner ups.
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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