Yankees, Red Sox lock up on FOX .
With the American League East title hanging in the balance, the Yankees and Red Sox lock up on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx in one of the final five meetings of the season between the two rivals in FOX's Saturday Game of the Week.
The season has been one of ups and downs for both teams. Boston took six of seven games from New York in April, but the Yankees stormed back to grab a 10 1/2-game lead over the Sox in August.
Just when it seemed like the Yankees had their seventh straight division crown all sewn up, the Boston won 20 of 22 games, cutting into the lead and setting up a dramatic stretch run.
"I bet you they're very worried about us," said Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. "They know we've got our hitting doing well and our pitching doing well. Their pitching is not doing too good."
New York won 9 of 11 games entering the weekend, getting themselves tuned up for the crucial series.
"You have a lead for a reason," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "You can afford the luxury of losing games, not that you ever say to yourself that you're allowed to lose two out of three. Our mentality is to add to the lead, but the way Boston played while we played .500, we realized we were lucky to have a lead."
Jon Lieber takes on the Red Sox for the third time this season, looking for his first decision against Boston. Lieber has a 4.91 ERA in his two starts, allowing six runs over 11 innings. The right-hander has won four of his last five decisions, showing some consistency as he completes his recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery.
Derek Lowe toes the rubber for Boston, looking for his sixth win in his last seven decisions. Lowe has faced the Yankees four times in 2004, going 2-2 with a 7.08 ERA. That record includes a 1-1 mark and 5.73 ERA at Yankee Stadium.
"I've always been of the school -- and the majority doesn't agree with me -- that the second game is the momentum game," said Torre.
Whichever team loses out in the division will likely earn a trip to the playoffs via the Wild Card, but the Yankees aren't going to be satisfied with backing into the postseason.
"We assumed at the beginning, going into Spring Training, that it would come down to this," said Yankees captain Derek Jeter. "It's easy for people to look at the last few weeks and say we never expected this, but over 162 games, things find a way to even themselves out.
"I don't know what they think, but we're not trying to get to the postseason," added Jeter. "We're trying to win the division."
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