Kathy Willens / AP

Joba Chamberlain was not sharp on Thursday, but he managed to wriggle off the hook against Boston.

Smoltz’s ERA is now 8.32. You don’t have to be a student of the game to know this is not good. And when the man who is pitching that pathetically is 42 years old, you don’t have to be one of the inventors of moneyball to know it’s time to pull the plug on this Frankenstein experiment; the monster may be breathing, but he’s not alive — not in any sense that’s relevant to baseball.

With Tim Wakefield injured, the Red Sox don’t have a lot of options pitching-wise. And even with the studs still on their staff, they’ve got to find a way to breathe life into their offense. Otherwise, the worst thing that could happen to Boston in this series and the coming weeks will happen. When this series began, the Yankees’ big goal was to pad their lead in the AL East. With the Red Sox going into a brutal stretch of the schedule against contending teams and the Yankees off on a journey through the league’s bottom-feeders, the potential to put this race away right now is very real.

The Yankees made a down payment on that big-picture goal. And they did it without pitching particularly well. They didn’t have to. The Red Sox who were so nasty and mean and unrelenting early in the year were nowhere to be found Thursday night. They can still come back, but early in the year, they were playing without pressure. Now, the weight of the entire season is riding on their shoulders.

They’d better come up with something, and fast. The Yankees have already accomplished the first goal of ensuring they won’t leave this four-game showdown in second place. And now, with a full head of confidence and an offense that looks unstoppable, they’re eager to make up for the insults inflicted on them earlier in the year.

They’ve already made a pretty good start.

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Tony Gutierrez / AP

More heroics from Hamilton

Josh Hamilton fights off illness to hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Angels win as Pujols HR streak up to 3 games

SEATTLE (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a home run in his third straight game and pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo came through with a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

Headlines

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Saltalamacchia's walkoff HR lifts Red Sox

Red Sox's Valentine calls out Rays' coaches

Teixeira hits 2 HRs as Yankees rout A's

HBT: Santana pitches first shutout in 2 years

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Buehrle, Marlins stay hot, beat Giants

Fielder's 4-hit game lifts Tigers over Twins

Fear of losing Montero leads D-backs to big deal