EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

BOSTON - Defensive indifference? How about rivalry indifference?

Or at least that's what it was until the ninth inning, with the New York Yankees burying the Red Sox by six runs. That's when Yankees reliever Scott Proctor woke up a sleepy Fenway Park by drilling Kevin Youkilis with one out and nobody on.

It, apparently, was in response to Sox lefty reliever Javier Lopez hitting Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano in the eighth inning.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Youkilis. "What happened on the field, stays on the field. It's all over. I'm thinking about tomorrow."

Of course, nobody believes him. Red Sox manager Terry Francona was vague when asked if he considered the "situation" as being over, only to say "it's dangerous" when a pitcher goes near a player's head with a pitch.

The Red Sox added two runs to close it to 9-5, but in the end it was a lackluster couple of hours in the middle, marking the sixth time in seven meetings the famed Red Sox-Yankees rivalry never materialized. All six of those snoozers were decided by three or more runs.

Where have all of those games gone which ended with the tying run in scoring position, with closers Mariano Rivera and Jonathan Papelbon on the mound?

By the end of the fifth inning, and the Yankees leading, 9-3, at least one-third of the park had called it a night.

The fifth, sixth and seventh hitters in the Yankees lineup - Jorge Posada, Cano and Bobby Abreu - each had two hits with Posada collecting three RBIs and Cano two RBIs.

One recent trend that continued last night was Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. It wasn't knuckling ... again.

By the time Wakefield was yanked with two outs in the fourth inning, he had allowed eight runs, all earned, on five hits and a whopping six walks. The Yankees clubbed him for six runs and nine hits over five innings 11 days ago in the Bronx. Worse, over his last four outings he has allowed 23 runs and 28 hits in 222/3 innings.

"After the first inning, I never felt good out there," said Wakefield. "I stunk it out tonight. I'm embarrassed."

With an 0-3 record and earned run average over 10.00 against the Yankees this season, compared to 5-3 and 2.50 against all other opponents, Wakefield says those numbers don't mean anything.

"I've had stretches like this before in my career," said Wakefield, who drops to 5-6. "The Yankees are no different than anyone else."

The key moment of the game occurred in the third inning when the Sox appeared to have Chien-Ming Wang within one pitch of being taken out. With the score tied at 3-3 and men on second and third and two outs, Youkilis, one of the game's hottest hitters, grounded out to short. A walk or hit would have brought David Ortiz to the plate, but it never happened.

Wang, who also worked out of a first-inning, bases-loaded jam, ended up getting the win (4-4) while throwing 112 pitches in less than six innings of work.

Momentum, though, starts and ends with starting pitching and the Red Sox send out Curt Schilling (5-2, 3.68 ERA) today at 3:55 p.m. against Mike Mussina (2-3, 5.86) while undefeated Josh Beckett (8-0, 2.65) goes against Andy Pettitte (3-4, 2.51) in the finale on Sunday night.

Guidry: '78 Sox were best I faced

While the 1967 Red Sox were honored before last night's game, former New York Yankees ace Ron Guidry, the team's new pitching coach, was waxing on poetic on the 1978 Red Sox. The Yankees beat that team in a playoff game before winning the World Series.

"That was the best lineup I ever went up against," said Guidry before last night's game.

"First, you had (Rick) Burleson and (Jerry) Remy. You couldn't strike those guys out," he said. "Then it was Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, (Carlton) Fisk, Dewy Evans, Carl Yastrzemski, Butch Hobson. ... Oh, yeah, and George Scott. That lineup was incredible. You had to be on your A-game when you faced them. Let's just say if I threw 120 pitches, I had to work hard to put all 120 of them in great spots."

Guidry said the 1978 season was not only special because of his individual achievements (25-3, 1.74 ERA) and the great playoff game won by the Yankees, 5-4, but the fact that they finished off the Royals (3-1) and Dodgers (4-2) to win the World Series.

"That playoff game was incredible," said Guidry. "But it wouldn't have meant as much if we didn't win the World Series."

As for the 1978 Sox, Guidry says they will always be in his memory bank.

"If they beat us in the playoff game, then they probably win the World Series," said Guidry. "That was a great team."

Pedroia hottest hitter ... in baseball

That's right, nobody is hotter in Major League Baseball than Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Including his three hits last night, Pedroia's batting average since May 5 is a whopping .468 (29 for 62). Kevin Youkilis, who extended his hitting streak to 23 games last night, is on Pedroia's tail, hitting .404 (46 for 114) since May 1.

Pedroia's hitting streak is now at 11 games.

Clemens not allowed at Fenway

If you're wondering why there was no Roger Clemens sighting this weekend, there is a reason for it. And it has nothing to do with fear.

Clemens can't be with the team because of Major League Baseball rules.

Clemens is not yet on the 40-man roster, and thus he can't be with the major league club. He is expected to be added on Sunday night or Monday morning, allowing him to join the team in Chicago.

The guess here is Clemens will fly to Chicago on Sunday to rest in preparation of his much-ballyhooed start.

Mr. October: Hard work will get Yankees back

New York Yankees consultant Reggie Jackson, a Hall of Famer, says the Yankees can turn it around sooner rather than later. And he offers a simple reason.

"Work hard," said Jackson. "That's all we have to do. We have the talent. Work hard and good things will happen. I'm sure of it."

By the numbers

0 - Hits by Mike Lowell, whose home Fenway hitting streak was stopped at 22 games.

2 - Ejections for Yankees manager Joe Torre this season after being tossed in the fifth inning.

2 - Runs scored by the Yankees on a wild pitch and passed ball in the fourth inning.

3 - Double plays grounded into by the Red Sox.

3:53 - Length of the game.

6 - Runs allowed by the Red Sox in the fourth inning last night, the most they've allowed in an inning this season.

11 - Consecutive games Dustin Pedroia has had a hit, a career-high.

22 - Members of the 1967 pennant-winning Red Sox team who were honored before last night's game, including Haverhill native Mike Ryan.

23 - Runs allowed by last night's starter, Tim Wakefield, over his last 222/3 innings.

2,500 - Innings Tim Wakefield has pitched in his career after last night's outing.