The Captain and Fat Elvis beat the Red Sox

Lance Berkman had 2 doubles on his 3 hit night while Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth on the all-time hit list. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 7-2. A.J. Burnett was suffering from back spasms and was scratched for Dustin Moseley at the last minute. Burnett will pitch Tuesday. Josh Beckett struggled from the start. He allowed 7 runs to score in less than 5 innings.

The two pitchers went in different directions from the start of the game. Moseley got a 1-2-3 top of the 1st, and flashed the leather on an athletic play to his right. Meanwhile, Beckett had his typical horizontal movement on his fastball, but the Yankees were hitting it none the less. He allowed 2 hits in the first, and had thrown about 50 pitches by the 2nd inning.

The Yankees got through to Beckett in the 2nd inning. That inning featured 2 runs on 4 consecutive hits, including Lance Berkman‘s 1st extra-base hit as a Yankee. Fat Elvis had 3 hits on the night and has hopefully turned the page on the slump he brought to the Bronx with him.

Mark Teixeira started the 5th inning with a moonshot to right center. Derek Jeter had a 2-run double later that inning. The Yankees plated 5 in total in the 5th, and knocked the Red Sox starter out of the game.

Moseley was solid for the Yankees in the early innings. His stuff wasn’t overpowering, but he had solid control and was efficient. He began to tire, visibly, in the middle innings, but worked out of most trouble. Bill Hall hit a homer off him in the 5th and Joba Chamberlain allowed an inherited run to score in the 7th. No other damage happened en route to the Yankee victory.

Phil Hughes faces off against John Lester today in the final game of the series. The game has an odd, 2pm start time. If the Yankees win the Red Sox will be 8 games out of 1st place, and probably dead to rights on the season. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, took care of the Rays yesterday, helping the Yankees extend their lead to 2.5 games in the division. The Rays have now lost 5 consecutive games.