Screw-jobs for June 11th 2009

I bet on the New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are 8-0 against the New York Yankees. J.D. Drew hit an RBI single to spark an eighth-inning rally, then scored the go-ahead run on Mike Lowell's fly ball to help the Red Sox beat New York 4-3. It's the first time the Red Sox have opened the season with eight straight wins against their New York rivals since they helped christen the brand-new Fenway Park by winning the first 14 matchups against the Highlanders in 1912.

Takashi Saito (1-0) earned his first AL victory with four outs of scoreless relief.

The Yankees did not lead against Boston at any time in the previous four games. That has happened only eight times in the 107-year-old rivalry, the last in 1974.

This was Brad Penny's first game of the season where he did not give up a run.

I bet the Chicago Cubs against the Houston Astros

Geoff Blum singled to down the right-field line off Jose Ascanio in the 13th inning on Thursday to score Hunter Pence and lift the Astros to a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. The third baseman is the first Houston player with winning hits in back-to-back games since Derek Bell did it on July 20-21, 1996, against Atlanta.

I bet the Detroit Red Wings against the Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh was 1-5 in Detroit this year and last until this game.

The Penguins are the first team since the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Cup after trailing the series 3-2.

They are the first to take Game 7 on the road after the home team won the first six games, since the 1971 Montreal Canadiens.

Uncharacteristic mistakes by the experience-laden Red Wings led to both Pittsburgh goals.

Detroit had been 11-1 at home in the playoffs.

The last road team to win Game 7 of the championship round in any major league was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.