Yanks have work to do, but Sox have more

Two for the price of one here at Yankee Stadium Saturday, no small thing when you consider the prices.

That's right. Those in attendance got both a baseball game and a horror show.

"That's baseball, man," Freddy Garcia said after he helped lead the Yankees to a 9-1 spanking of the moribund Red Sox. "You've got to play 27 outs, nine innings.

"In spring training, everybody talked about the Red Sox. They were going to clinch before spring training started. You know, you've got to play baseball. That's all I can say."

The Yankees have their own work to do in these final days. Even after wrapping up home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs Saturday, they must determine their Division Series Game 3 starter and fill out their roster. Garcia (six shutout innings) and Jesus Montero (single, double, homer, four RBIs) boosted their candidacies the most.

But the Yankees are human beings, after all, and Garcia can't be the only one finding a degree of joy in their rivals' misfortune. He's just more honest than most.

"I'm not concerned with what I see in them," said Derek Jeter, whose three-run homer off Jon Lester in the second inning gave the Yankees a 6-0 lead.

SEE PHOTOSGreat moments in New York-Boston rivalry

"You've got to keep in mind that everybody that's playing doesn't necessarily stink. The other teams are good," Curtis Granderson advised. "So you've got other players out there that are still trying to play well. It's still baseball, and that's what it comes down to."

Fair enough; the Yankees, owners of the best record in the American League, fielded their "A'' team, and they're rolling right now, having won four of five in their final regular-season homestand.

But the Red Sox? Good Lord. They played like a team immersed in a potentially historic plummet. Like a club that now has gone 5-17 in September.

The buildup to Jeter's homer stood out. With one out and Yankees on first and second, Andruw Jones hit a ball in the hole to Red Sox shortstop Marco Scutaro, who looked at third base. Mike Aviles wasn't quite at the bag to get lead runner Robinson Cano, and by the time Scutaro threw to second, Nick Swisher beat the throw.

After Montero's single drove in the game's first run and kept the bases loaded, Russell Martin hit a sinking line drive to leftfield that Carl Crawford couldn't quite glove with a slide, bringing in Swisher and Jones. Jeter followed with the homer.

"Sometimes we need plays to be made," Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Good teams take advantage of it. They did."

Lester, who is supposed to be one of the Red Sox's two most reliable pitchers along with Josh Beckett, now has a 10.54 ERA in his last three starts.

"I've been getting my ---- kicked," he told reporters. " . . . It's not a good time to be going through this stretch.'' He added: "I'm not tired. I'm not hurt. There's nothing wrong with me. It's nothing physical. I just stink, and if I had the answer, it wouldn't be happening.''

Boston's wild-card lead over Tampa Bay dropped to 11/2 games Saturday night, creating a potential scenario of the Rays and Sox being tied after Sunday's games.

Those hoping for a Red Sox turnaround must face the reality that Boston looks to the dreadful duo of Tim Wakefield and John Lackey to stop the bleeding in Sunday's day-night doubleheader. Even with the Yankees likely to start half of their regulars in each contest, that doesn't bode well for the Sawx.

"We all want to win. Now it's up to us to go win," Francona said. "We know what's in front of us."

So do the Yankees, and if they're not curious about the fate of the Red Sox . . . that just wouldn't be normal, right?