The Yankees and Red Sox are tied for first place, separated by a mere .006. At the end of the day today, however, one of the two will stand alone at the top of the AL East.
On May 11th that's a pretty meaningless distinction with so many games remaining. Nonetheless, this single game in a season of 162 is important because the goal of all teams is to take every series. It is the uniqueness of baseball. Each series represents a challenge and an opportunity towards the attainment of the ultimate goal to win the World Series.
By the time the last out is recorded tonight, you can expect the success (or failure) of six players to play key roles. They are Shawn Chacon, Johnny Damon, David Ortiz, Jon Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, and Tim Wakefield. Overall, Ortiz and his teammates have had the best of Rivera in recent times so it will likely come down to that again. The Yankees can avoid that situation if they get a great pitching performace from Chacon, and Damon does better than the 1 for 11 he has posted thus far in the series. Papelbon and Rivera both pitched in the ninth inning because they needed the work. Tonight they will likely enter the game in meaningful situations with the winner of the three game series on the line.
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