Bobby Valentine and Joe Girardi did not see eye-to-eye on the end of Thursday's game between the Red Sox and Yankees. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — There was some anticipation from the time that Bobby Valentine was hired that the dynamic of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry could be different. The notion gained steam when Valentine, at the winter meetings, said simply, “I hate the Yankees.”

Still, it would have been hard to imagine that the proverbial pot would be stirred in a spring training exhibition game that ended in a 4-4 tie on Thursday night. Nonetheless, on a night when former Red Sox manager Terry Francona was in JetBlue Park as an ESPN analyst, Valentine engaged in his first controversy with his new rivals in the Northeast.

Valentine expressed his displeasure with the Yankees for ending an exhibition game after nine innings in a 4-4 tie. He suggested that New York had the necessary pitching to keep playing, and offered a few digs at Yankees counterpart Joe Girardi.

After the Sox tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a successful suicide squeeze, Valentine sent right-hander Clayton Mortensen to the mound for the top of the 10th. However, after Mortensen (who has yet to give up a run this spring in three appearances spanning six innings, striking out seven and walking two) warmed up, the Yankees filed out of their dugout and towards their bus back to Tampa Bay.

Valentine was asked about the squeeze bunt by outfielder Jason Repko, which he complimented, but without further prompting, he began to vent about the Yankees’ unilateral decision to end the game.

“It was regretful that Mortensen warmed up though and then we were told they weren’t going to play extra innings. I don’t think that was very courteous,” said Valentine. “They had plenty of pitching. Probably too long of a ride. They could have known that going in.

“The umpire came over and said we couldn’t play. I don’t care about not playing. It’s just, why do I have to warm up my pitcher who’s trying to make a team come in in a tie game against the Yankees and maybe help him make a team and instead he has to walk off the mound and take a shower? That’s just not very courteous.” Read the rest of this entry »

Not a lot for Jorge Posada to be smiling or laughing about right now.

It’s Red Sox-Yankees so that means more fans yelling at one another, slugfests, nine-inning games that turn into four-hour marathons and of course, controversy about Jorge Posada and his decreasing role with the Yankees.

Prior to the series finale with the Red Sox, longtime Yankees catcher-turned-designated hitter seemed resigned to his fate with the team he helped lead to five World Series titles since 1996, and four as a starting catcher since 1998.

His latest dissatisfaction came when Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to use the newly-added Eric Chavez as the DH against Red Sox ace Josh Beckett. Chavez is finally healthy and ready to contribute and Posada is the odd man out.

So, you figured New York reporters would rush to Posada’s locker in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway to get his response. He didn’t disappoint.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” Posada said Sunday afternoon when asked by reporters about riding the bench. “It’s very disappointing. You want to be out there,” Posada said. “But right now it’s about winning ballgames. He told me he wants to put the best lineup out there.”

The benching lies in the stats, as Posada is just 1-for-13 in his last 13 at-bats against the right-hander since homering off of him last year. Posada made headlines earlier in the year when he reportedly told the Yankees he had no interest in starting a game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium before his wife tweeted that his back was acting up and that “Jorge loves being a Yankee more than anything.”

Posada is batting just .230 this season with nine homers and 28 RBIs but all of his homers and all but three RBIs have come against right-handed pitching, making Sunday’s move noteworthy.

Some perspective here. When you bench a switch-hitter batting just .230 – including an abysmal .105 against lefties – no one really bats an eye. But this is no ordinary switch-hitter and obviously, no ordinary franchise.

Posada has been the Yankees primary catcher since 1998, arguably the greatest season club history as they won 114 games and the first of three straight World Series titles. He has been on five All-Star teams over his 16-year career. He is the only big league catcher to ever have hit .330 or better with 40 doubles, 20 home runs, and 90 RBIs in a single season.

Posada and Yogi Berra are the only Yankees catchers to hit 30 home runs in a season. Since 2000, Posada has had more runs batted in, home runs, and hits than any other catcher in baseball. Following off-season knee surgery, he was moved to designated hitter for the 2011 season by Girardi. Now it appears, even that role is diminishing.

But more than anything, Posada’s legacy is that of being one of the “Core Four” Yankees, along with Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte.

That group won four World Series titles between 1998 and 2009 and that’s why any news of Posada still matters.

Terry Francona

Red Sox manager Terry Francona joined The Big Show Wednesday afternoon to talk about the status of his team. To hear the interview, go to The Big Show audio on demand page.

The Red Sox have heated up and finally pushed their record over .500, but Francona is hesitant to put too much stock in the past week.

“I think you’ve got to be a little careful and use some perspective,” he said. “You can break it down into so many different things. Whether it was the 0-6 start or the 2-11 start. Or you can turn around and go, well, OK, after the 2-11 start, we’ve got the second-best record in baseball.

“So, that’s why I guess I always come back to our record is what it is, and that’s what we go by. You get too caught up in how things have gone the last four or five days, and that’s no good. It’s a long grind.”

On the negative side, John Lackey was placed on the disabled list after struggling on the mound and then making a comment to the media about how things in his life have not been going well. Asked if Lackey was given time off in part for off-field reasons, Francona insisted that’s not the case.

“Obviously, I was aware of that [comment],” Francona said. “And obviously, I was aware of it before. But when someone says something publicly, then you have to deal with it more publicly, I guess is the way to answer that. But no, this was completely elbow-related.

“I think the one thing that Lack felt like was when he got to the mound, it was sort of a refuge for him. Maybe not always the best refuge, because it wasn’t going as well as he wanted. As the week progressed, we knew we were going to get him checked out. It was a pretty big gray area. So, we kept him on his schedule. And then when we got all the facts, then we sat down. and we knew we had a plan in place if we weren’t going to pitch him, but once we started talking, and we talked more, and then we talked to Lack, we decided to take it out of his hands.

“I think if it was in September, we would have let him pitch through it. But because it’s May, and again, after talking to the medical people, I don’t think letting him pitch through it was going to help him get better and get to the point where we want him to get. So, we kind of took it out of his hands. That’s just the way it is.”

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NEW YORK — Naturally, the Yankees suggested that it was not a panic move, even though it represented a complete reversal in the span of 48 hours. On Friday, New York decided that it was in their best interests to skip Phil Hughes‘ scheduled Sunday start against the Red Sox to keep him rested and healthy with the playoffs losing. Two losses to the Red Sox later, the Yankees reversed course and decided that Hughes — and not scheduled fill-in Dustin Moseley — would take the ball.

The change did not affect the Red Sox significantly. The team, said manager Terry Francona, kept the same lineup that would have faced Moseley. Even so, the decision by the Yankees suggests that they continue to view the Red Sox as a threat to their postseason ambitions. With New York’s lead in the wild card down to 5 1/2 games, the Yankees decided they needed to do what they could to increase the chances of winning on Sunday.

Rest took a back seat to the need to win. A pair of Sox victories — the latest in a stretch that has seen the Yankees go 6-13 — has tightened the collective collar in the Bronx.

“They’re in a situation where they have to win games. The pressure is on them. It doesn’t surprise me that they’re going to throw Hughes,” said Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie. “It’s good to put somebody in that position, see how they react.”

On Friday, Bill Hall said that the Sox were not looking to be spoilers, and that they instead wanted to run the table on the rest of the regular season to try to make a run at a playoff spot. The move to start Hughes (17-8, 4.31) would suggest that the Yankees are concerned about the possibility of just such an ambitious goal coming to fruition.

“It just shows we’re doing our job, and that we’re doing what we came here to do, which is win. We’re just looking to finish it off today, run out the rest of the year and see what happens,” said Hall. “If we start thinking that’s cool, that means we think the job is over. The job is not over.

“I think [the Yankees] thought that [the Red Sox were a threat] coming in, but at the same time, they thought they had a big enough lead that they could start resting some people. The reality is that didn’t happen, so now they’ve got to turn the page back.”

The Yankees insisted that their outlook had not changed, and instead that they are simply still trying to accomplish the same goals with which they’ve been concerned all along.

“We need to win games,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “We’re still trying to win our division. We’re still trying to get into the playoffs. We’re still trying to get home field advantage and we’re going to go with Hughsie.”

Even so, the move — about which Girardi informed Francona at approximately 4 p.m. — suggested that, at the least, the Yankees were striking a defensive posture; at worst, they are panicking about he possibility of a collapse. And that development is, at the least, intriguing as Hughes — who was informed on Saturday night that he would start on Sunday — readies to face Daisuke Matsuzaka.

OTHER PREGAME NOTES:

–Mike Lowell should be available as a pinch-hitter on Sunday night, and with the Sox facing some left-handed starters in Chicago against the White Sox, manager Terry Francona anticipates that Lowell will be in the lineup at some point (or points) during the White Sox series.

–Clay Buchholz left at about 5 p.m. to fly to Chicago. Francona said the Sox encourage the starter for the first game of a series to fly ahead, and that he was pleased that the right-hander would be able to go to sleep by about midnight. The rest of the team is scheduled to land after 5 a.m.

FoxSports’ Ken Rosenthal made a guest appearance on the D&H Show on Thursday afternoon to talk about Game 1 of the World Series, a 6-1 Phillies win over the Yankees, and his prediction for how Pedro Martinez will fare in tonight’s Game 2 match-up.

Click here to listen to the full audio and read below for some highlights.

That was quite a performance by Cliff Lee last night, wasn’t it?

That was one of the great performances that I’ve ever seen in person and how he carved up the Yankees, how they had no chance, how he came to be — as [Fox broadcasters] Tim McCarver and Joe Buck said — performing as if he was getting his work in for Spring Training. The whole package was just frankly unreal.

How did you see the series playing out before Game 1? What your take? What was your prediction?

I picked the Yankees in 6. And, obviously, now you look at it and if they lose tonight they are in trouble. I have a hard time believing that Pedro is going to hold them down the way that Lee held them down. And I will say this, that the difference tonight is Charlie Manuel can go to the bullpen whenever he wants to. If Pedro is stinking it up — and I’m not saying he will — but if that scenario takes place, you got J. A. Happ, you got Joe Blanton, you have a group of relievers who haven’t pitched in eight days. So, they can practically turn this into a bullpen game and I will not be surprised if they do if they need to.

I don’t agree with Manuel pitching Pedro in Game 2…having said that, the drama for tonight is off the charts.

Well, I don’t think Manuel is thinking about that but I’m with you. I can’t recall the last time exactly when I was this excited to go to the ballpark. And it’s not just because of Pedro, although he is a huge part of that, it is because the Yankees lost Game 1 and they’re in a situation tonight where they definitely need to win and the Phillies are not like the Angels, they’re not like the Twins, they’re not like any other team really. They can stand up to the Yankees and it’s going to be really great theater tonight and very interesting to watch.

What’s your take on [Pedro] saying he’s the most influential player to perform in Yankee Stadium?

I think what he meant, and I don’t want to put any words in his mouth, is that he influenced the most emotion. Certainly he has influenced quite a bit of emotion. I don’t know that even Pedro would say he is a more influential person than Babe Ruth or any of the other Yankee greats. But, that press conference yesterday was absolutely fascinating. I know people in Boston are well aware of this; Pedro is not just one if the greatest pitchers in history, but one of the most intelligent players I’ve come across, one of the most well-spoken, and that thing yesterday was just a tour de force. And he had some points he wanted to make, and he got them out there about the New York media, about the confrontation with [Don] Zimmer. There are very, very, very few players I can count on one hand who can have that kind of press conference and speak so eloquently on a number of issues whether you agree with him or not.

Where would you put him [on the all-time great pitchers]?

He’s right there at the top. And we’re talking right now about Pedro in his prime in this discussion that we are having. In that aspect, yeah, I don’t know anybody better. Certainly [Roger] Clemens had his moments, Randy Johnson had his moments, there are a whole host of pitchers, [John] Smoltz. You can go right down the line. Roy Halladay for that matter. In terms of electricity, sheer stuff, and the ability to win, he dominated.  Pedro was the guy. I remember one year, I can’t recall which season it was exactly, it might have been 1999, but it was an MVP-type year. I remember writing a column, “Hey, he should be the MVP,” because not only does he impact the one game he pitches, but he impacts the other four because he saves the bullpen and he has this mystique about him. He was and to some degree he still is a transcendent figure. People have their opinions about him and that’s fine. He’s certainly angered people over the years, but he was absolutely brilliant in his prime. There aren’t many pitchers who I would get as excited about seeing.

I have more questions about the other starting pitcher tonight. A.J. Burnett has more to prove than Pedro does.

That’s fair and even if the atmosphere will be charged tonight, and it will be charged, he is going to be that much more tested because he is an emotional guy, he does get pumped up and carried away at times and he really actually has pitched very well in the postseason. You could even make the case in the last start he should have been out of the game before he was. Yeah, I see what you are saying, but my question is how is Pedro’s stuff going to match-up against the Yankees? Not only an American League line-up, but the DH, the highest scoring team in the majors, a team that generally abuses guys with that kind of stuff.  He has to know how, if his breaking ball is good, that will be an advantage. The other thing that we don’t know is how tight are the Yankees going to be? If they are tight and if they are stretching a little bit at the plate, then it plays right into Pedro’s hands.

Are the Phillies built like an American League team?

They’re not quite that, but they’re pretty darn good. [Pedro] Feliz and [Carlos] Ruiz are not great offensive players at their position. Ruiz, the catcher, has certainly had a good postseason, done a lot of really good things, a lot of big hits. When [Jimmy] Rollins and [Shane] Victorino are going, and they haven’t always been going this season — especially Rollins, they’re very dynamic. One of the huge differences already in this series is Rollins and Victorino vs. [Chone] Figgins and whoever batted second for the Angels in that series, mostly [Bobby] Abreu. That was a huge thing that the Yankees shut down the Angels’ 1-2 guys and they didn’t do that last night.

Is Charlie Manuel an old school guy?

That is totally accurate. What is inaccurate is the perception of him because of the way he speaks, because he is from North Carolina not West Virginia, is that he is dumb. Anyone who knows him or been around him for any length of time knows he isn’t dumb. He might not speak as polished as some people and whatever, but it bothers me when he went to Philadelphia for the first time [after] they hired him and the people of Philadelphia were all over [him] because of his accent. As if that city or any city for that matter was full of Nobel Prize winners walking the streets. Hey, he is a regular guy who has overcome a lot physically, being in Japan, all kinds of things happened to this guy and the proof is on that field every day. Look at that team, look how they played for him. And, yeah, they’re talented, no question about it, but there are other talented teams that don’t play as well as the Phillies do.

What are the offensive problems going on right now with guys like Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher? What’s going on with them?

I’m not sure with Teixeira. Swisher in the previous series was rushing a bit and just not himself. Teixeira actually in the final two games had kind of come around a little bit. Remember, he had the big bases-clearing triple and a couple of hits in the Game 6 as well. I’m not convinced his problems last night was totally Cliff Lee. Last night, Cliff Lee held Teixeira and A-Rod 0-for-8 with 5 K’s. That’s impressive and I want to see more tonight before I make any judgments.

Any predictions tonight for Pedro?

I think more like 4 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 5 runs. I love Pedro and I was warned last night by a member of the Phillies offense not to bet against this guy and we all know why. He’s brilliant out there and has got the heart of a lion, but I just think the Yankees are going to get him.

Were you buying [Manuel's] explanation for pitching Pedro tonight in Yankee Stadium.

Very simple. Pedro is pitching better than Cole Hamels, so you want Pedro on the mound instead of Cole Hamels. Also, and it hasn’t been talked about that much, Cole Hamels has been very inconsistent all season, you know that. He has been better at home: 3.75 at home ERA, 4.99 on the road. That means something to me and the idea of splitting the left-handers, there is some merit in that because you don’t give the switch-hitters a chance to get comfortable. They’re going left, right, left obviously pacing left, right, left. At the same time, if Pedro goes  2 2/3 tonight, we are going to see J. Happ and it’s going to switch all the switch-hitters around anyway. So, I understood it, it’s a bit of a questionable move , but Cole Hamels has really been an iffy guy all season long, especially in the postseason.

Who wins the managing match-up in you eyes, Manuel or Girardi?

I don’t know. They’re both guys that will leave themselves open for a lot of second guessing and this series will probably end up a second-guesser’s delight. They’re opposites. Charlie goes by his instincts, Joe Girardi goes by information from scouts, from numbers, and yet they still do things that make people scratch their heads and that’s the beauty of baseball.

What did you think of Girardi’s moves out of the bullpen last night?

Well, he has a problem. His problem is that he has so many young relievers that he can’t really put much trust in any of them. None of them are performing that well. So, I didn’t mind [Phil] Hughes starting off the inning. In fact, I said in the broadcast that Hughes is more comfortable in the wind-up or at least didn’t rush that much. I thought maybe that would help him, but obviously that didn’t make a difference. The [Damaso] Marte move was the right move, I didn’t mind David Robertson coming in. You could have had [Phil] Coke pitch to [Raul] Ibanez. It was one of those games where they weren’t beating Cliff Lee no matter what and the disturbing thing is that his relievers are simply not performing.

Johnny Damon sounded more hopeful than optimistic. Funny to hear from a veteran on a Yankee team that was in sole possession of first place in the A.L. East, heading into Fenway Park before Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox.

Then the Yankees, behind their $82.5 million dollar pitcher A.J. Burnett, went out and lost for a sixth straight time this season to Boston. They are a stunning 0-6 this season against the Red Sox. Even the most optimistic of Red Sox fans could not have imagined this. What gives?

“We’re definitely not happy about that,” Damon said. “We understand it’s baseball. They’ve taken it to us so far this year. We have 13 more against them this season. Hopefully, we’ll mix in a win sometime soon and a lot more as the season progresses.” Read the rest of this entry »