Once again Boston brought out the best in the Yankees.

The Bombers turned solid pitching, timely hitting and terrific defense into a 4-3 victory in the Bronx on Wednesday night.  The Yanks have won two in a row and now stand in a "virtual" tie with the Mariners for the lead in the wild card race.  They have also cut the BoSox lead in the AL East to six games.

The Good:

Roger Clemens.  Clemens wasn't brilliant, but he followed up his buddy Pettitte's gutsy win on Tuesday night with one of his own.  The Rocket had a no-hitter going for 5 1/3 innings, but it wasn't as easy as that for the veteran right-hander.  He walked five and weaved in and out of trouble almost all night.  Still, the old man continued to kick Father Time in the nuts with another quality effort.  Clemens improved to 6-5 on the season with this: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 2 K, 1 hit batsman, 1 HR.

Melky Cabrera.  The Melk-Man helped the Yanks draw first blood with a two out, RBI-single in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.  It's night's like these when you can picture Melky as the Yankee center fielder for the next 10 years.  Whatever "it" is, the kid's got it.  Cabrera finished 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Johnny Damon.  Johnny on the spot burned his former team for the second straight night.  His clutch two out, two-run single in the second pushed the Yankee lead to 3-0.  This is the Johnny Damon the Yankees have been looking for the whole season.  Better late than never.  Damon finished 1 for 5 with 2 big ribbies.

The Bad:

Kyle Farnsworth.  You knew it was coming, right?  Farnsworth gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Youkilis in the eighth that cut the Yankee lead to 4-3.  It was the first time in seven appearances that Farnsworth had given up a run.  It may have made the game a bit more interesting and forced the Yanks to bring in Mariano Rivera in the eighth, but if Farnsworth can go seven of eight appearances without giving up a run, the Yankees should be sitting pretty.  Farnsworth's night: .2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.

The Ugly:

Snap decision.  This is sort of off subject (sort of), but I have to say that I was wrong about ESPN's mini-series The Bronx is Burning.  I kinda ripped into this thing when it first came out and watched only for the camp value.  But I have to admit, as the weeks worn on, I began to like it.  It isn't without its flaws, but John Turturro and Oliver Platt are terrific and it showed me things I didn't know about the '77 season.  Did you know George Brett and Graig Nettles got into a fight at third base during the ALCS and both guys weren't thrown out of the game?  Or suspended?  Or that Billy Martin brought in Sparky Lyle during the fourth inning of Game 4 of that series?  Good stuff.

The Yankees go for the sweep on Thursday afternoon and will give the assignment to Chien-Ming Wang.  Wang has had a bumpy month, but he was great in his last start against the Tigers and has a 3-1 record during August.  He'll go against Red Sox resident loudmouth Curt Schilling.  It will be Schilling's fourth start against the Yanks this season -- so far, he's 0-1 with an ERA of 7.00.

Keep the good vibes going, Wanger.