"The greatest rivalry in all of sports"

The sell-out crowds are there, and there's always the tension of two evenly matched teams running neck and neck for most of the season, but the heat of the rivalry isn't what it was just a few years ago. Maybe it's the turnover of players on both teams. Maybe it's the sheer number of games the two teams play against one another that naturally takes some of the intensity away. Intensity which couldn't otherwise be sustained.

Still, it's always an unpredictable series where something weird invariably happens. Last night it was Melky Cabrera, the latest version of the Yankees' "youth movement," stealing home from first base. Yes, you read that right.

Beckett's start was a disaster from the beginning. He walked the leadoff man, Johnny Damon, and after Melky Cabrera reached on a fielder's choice, Beckett bounced a pitch in the dirt.

Normally, that would not have amounted to much. But Cabrera ran and made it safely to second as catcher Jason Varitek's throw bounced into the outfield. The Red Sox were using a shift with Giambi batting, leaving third base uncovered, so Cabrera kept going.

When Álex González fired a relay throw to the middle of the infield, Cabrera said he realized no one was covering home. Varitek had scrambled up the line to cover third, and Cabrera beat him down the line to the plate, scoring from first on a wild pitch and an error.

"The way we got that first run today, that may never happen again," Mussina said. "That was just pure youth and speed and recklessness. That's why we play these games: to see something new every day."

Another thing you don't see every day, the Red Sox included a pitcher named Van Buren follwed by Riske.