The Red Sox are mired in third place and this week lost their most productive player to a season- ending injury — but someone forgot to tell Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
With their archrivals at Yankee Stadium for a four- game weekend series, Cashman said the pressure is on the Bombers to keep the Red Sox at bay.
“It’s big, every game is big,” Cashman said yesterday at the Midtown pub Foley’s, where he was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame. “We’re fighting for a playoff spot. We need to fight off injuries, and we need to win our games. We’re in a cage match. And that includes the Red Sox. They haven’t gone away, and they certainly can close the gap. It’s our job to do everything we possibly can to keep them down.”
The Red Sox’s deficit in the brutal AL East widened from half a game to 7½ games over the course of July, as injuries to All-Star regulars Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz took their toll. With last night’s 6-3 win at the Stadium. Boston cut its deficit to five games. Despite the loss, the Yankees remained a half- game ahead of the Rays, who lost 2-1 to the Blue Jays.
Cashman said the loss of first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was leading the team with 19 home runs and a .975 OPS on Monday when he suffered a torn thumb muscle that required season-ending surgery, may be the most damaging loss of all for the Red Sox.
“It’s a tough one,” Cashman said. “They’re a tough team, but Youkilis is one of those rare players in the game that every time he’s up at the plate scares you to death. That’s a tough loss.”
Nevertheless, Cashman refused to count Boston out.
“At the same time they have Mike Lowell ready to step in, and first day back he hits a home run,” he said. “He’s tough as nails, too. So we’ll just see what happens. That team is not going away. They’re really good.”