Talk:New York Yankees/2006 Season

The Second Half: A Day-to-Day Summary
On July 8, the Yankees and Red Sox fell by identical scores of 6-5. The Yankees lost to the Devil Rays at Tropicana Field, blowing an early 5-0 lead. The more dramatic game took place at Comiskey Park II where rookie closer Johnathan papelbon surrendered a game tying home run to World Series MVP Jermane Dye. The game went on for 19 innings before the White Sox beat their Boston counterparts with a bases loaded single by So Tagichi. (Complete MLB.com coverage.)

After the All-Star Game, the Yankees and Red Sox find themselves in a tight race battling hard to for the AL East. The second half also has the Yankees chasing the White Sox for the Wild Card. Following is a day to day summary of how these three teams performed:

July 13-31

 * July 13: The A's win 5-4 in 11 innings on a comback win thanks an error by Mark Loretta. It is the second straight extra inning loss for the Red Sox.  The loss snaps their Fenway win streak at 9.  The Red Sox lead in the AL East shrinks to 2 1/2 games.
 * July 14: The A's clobber the Red Sox behind Barry Zito and an 8-run 8th inning, easily winning 15-3. Meanwhile, the Yankees edged the White Sox 6-5 ending Joe Contreras' win streak, moving to within 1 1/2 games in the AL East.
 * July 15: The Yankees beat up on Mark Buehrle and the White Sox 14-3 for an easy win on FOX. The Red Sox keep pace with a steller pitching performance by Curt Schilling on their way to a 7-0 win.  They remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East.
 * July 16: The Yankees sweep the White Sox, with a 6-4 win as Mariano Rivera picks up his 400th career save. At Fenway, the Red Sox fall to the A's 8-1.  The Yankees move to within 1/2 game behind them in the AL East and 3 games behind the White Sox in the AL Wild Card race.
 * July 17: The Yankees hold off the Seattle Mariners to win 4-2. At Fenway, the Red Sox come back from a 4-run deficit to win 5-4.  They remain a 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees in the AL East.
 * July 18: The Red Sox edge the Royals 1-0 at Fenway behind a stellar performance by Jon Lester. In the Bronx, the Yankees celebrate Joe Torre's 66th birthday by rallying from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the 9th and then winning in the 11th after a rain delay.  Melky Cabrera hits a walk-off home run for the 5-4 Yankee win.  The Yankees remain 1/2 game behind to Red Sox in the AL East.
 * July 19: The Yankees fall 3-2 to the Mariners in the Bronx. The Yankees rally from a 2-0 deficit to tie it in the 7th, but fall behind in the 8th.  Because the Red Sox won 1-0 at Fenway, the Yankees trail them by 1 1/2 games in the AL East.
 * July 20: The Red Sox beat the Rangers 6-4 in a makeup game at Fenway. At Skydome, the Yankees blow a 3-0 lead in 6th inning but manage to go into extra innings tied at 4 against the Blue Jays.  They eventually fall in the 11th inning when Vernon Wells hits a home run to win for the Jays 5-4.  The Yankees are now 2 1/2 games out of the both the AL East and the Wild Card.
 * July 21: The Yankees fall to the Blue Jays 7-3. After digging a 4-0 deficit in the first, Alex Rodriguez brings the Yankees to within 1 with a 3-run home run, but the Yankees are held scoreless after that.  In Seattle, the Red Sox hit five home runs to cruise to a 9-4 victory, putting them 3 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East.
 * July 22: The Yankees win a 5-4 see-saw battle at the Skydome when Derek Jeter draws a bases loaded walk in the 7th. The win allows the Yankees to move to within 2 1/2 games of the Red Sox.  They fall to the Mariners 5-2.  The Yankees also gain ground in the Wild Card and are 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox (who lost to the Rangers 3-1).
 * July 23: The Yankees fall to the Blue Jays 13-5. After scoring 3 runs in the top of the 3rd to go ahead 3-2, the Blue Jays score 8 runs in the bottom half to take command.  The Yankees are 2 1/2 out of the Wild Card after the White Sox beat the Rangers 5-0.  They remain 2 1/2 out of AL East after the Red Sox lost a see-saw battle to the Mariners, 9-8.
 * July 24: The Yankees beat the Rangers 6-2 behind Randy Johnson to move within 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox (who lose 7-4 to the Twins) in the Wild Card race. The Yankees do remain 2 1/2 behind the Red Sox, who clobber the Oakland Athletics 7-3.
 * July 25: The Yankees beat the Rangers 7-3 behind a good performance by Mike Mussina to pull with just a 1/2 game of the Wild Card after the Twins beat the White Sox 4-3. The Yankees remain 2 1/2 games behind the Red Sox after they rout the A's in Oakland 13-5.
 * July 26: The Red Sox fall the the Athletics 5-1 while the White Sox fall to the Twins 7-4. The Twins and White Sox are now tied for the lead in the Wild Card.  The Yankees play later in Texas.
 * July 27
 * Red Sox are off.
 * Yankees are off.