G27: Red Sox 4, Tigers 3

I was feeling way too nervous with Keith Foulke on the mound in the ninth inning last night. The potential winning run was standing at the plate, but it was only Ramon Martinez and the calendar said May 4. So why was my heart racing?

Martinez popped up down the right field line and Jay Payton zipped over to make a nice running basket catch and the win was secured. Tim Wakefield pitched seven innings, "scattering" 10 hits -- five of them in the fifth inning! Mike Timlin threw a perfect eighth, helped by an amazing play by Edgar Renteria, going to the hole (after shading the batter, Rondell White, towards second base) and firing a perfect throw to first. In the ninth, Foulke allowed a two-out single, but got the save.

Kevin Youkilis continues to tear it up at the plate. The Sox are 4-1 since he was recalled. Subbing for Bill Mueller, Yook walked once and singled twice, that base hit driving in Payton with the eighth inning run that made the difference. Johnny Damon collected three more hits and Mark Bellhorn singled twice and walked.

Manny Ramirez continues to look absolutely lost in this series, batting only 2-for-11 -- and that includes two starts against left-handed pitchers. He may get his first day off today.



No, George Steinbrenner did not demand the head of Brian Cashman. ... Well, not yet.

The Yankees lost to the Devil Rays yet again, 11-8. Starter Sean Henn threw 72 pitches and recorded only seven outs, Robinson Cano's throwing error led to two runs. New York has lost six of its last eight games and is six games under .500 for the first time since July 19, 1995.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

Was it rock bottom? For now it was. But as the Yankees have shown all across this most dyspeptic spring, they keep re-inventing the definition of rock bottom.

"Sooner or later," Joe Torre said, "something has to happen. Something has to change."

That's what fuels the Yankees now, a raw belief based on past circumstance. This is nonsense, of course, since the Yankees haven't looked this wretched this often since Stump Merrill was monitoring Don Mattingly's grooming habits. Every day they arrive at the ballpark, cloaked in the belief that things can't get any worse.

Except it keeps getting worse.

Bronson Arroyo / Jason Johnson at 1:00.