Game 16: Yankees win 15-9

In what will go down as one of the craziest games of the year, the Yankees and Red Sox combined by 24 runs and 30 hits. The Yankees' bats were able to come out on top, however, as they won 15-9 Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium to even the season series at two games apiece.

The Red Sox took the lead in the first inning against Chien-Ming Wang. Dustin Pedroia walked and then scored on a Manny Ramirez double.

New York was able to respond with some power in the bottom half of the first against Clay Buchholz. Derek Jeter walked with one out and then scored on a Bobby Abreu home to into the right field bleachers. Alex Rodriguez then homered into the Red Sox bullpen to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. The home run, the 522nd of his career, puts him ahead of Ted Williams and Willie McCovey.

The Red Sox were able to tie the score with runs in the second and fourth. The Yankees seemingly gave Wang enough breathing room, scoring four runs in the fourth inning. Chad Moeller had an RBI double, Jeter drove in two runs with the bases loaded and Melky Cabrera scored on a wild pitch.

Buchholz was done after 3 2-3 innings. He gave up seven earned runs on eight hits, while striking out two and walking one.

However, the Red Sox scored six in the top of the fifth to take a 9-7 lead, forcing Wang to leave early. In total, Wang pitched four innings, allowing eight earned runs and nine hits. Wang gave up five-straight hits to start the fifth before being taken out. He was replaced by Ross Ohlendorf who was charged with one earned run in one inning.

The wildness didn't end there. The Yankees scored four in the bottom of the fifth to take an 11-9 lead against Julian Tavarez (0-1). Jorge Posada doubled in Hideki Matsui. Robinson Cano also had an RBI single and Cabrera's ground out into a fielder's choice yielded two runs.

Tavarez gave up four runs (three earned runs) and three hits in 1 1-3 innings.

They added four more runs in the eighth inning on successive two-run doubles by Posada and Jason Giambi against Mike Timlin. He has given up six earned runs in 2 1-3 innings this season since coming off of the disabled list.

LaTroy Hawkins (1-0) pitched two terrific innings out of the bullpen in his first appearance wearing No. 22. He struck out two and only allowed one hit. Billy Traber actually got David Ortiz to pop out, doing what a lefty specialist should be able to do. Brian Bruney pitched the final 1 2-3 innings, allowing two hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. He was rewarded his first save of the year, as the Yankees were able to avoid using Mariano Rivera for the third-consecutive night.

Jeter, Rodriguez, Matsui, Posada and Giambi all had two hits each, and Moeller had three hits. All of the Yankees' starters had at least one hit. The only Yankee starter without an RBI was Matsui.

With this victory, the Yankees have won three games in a row and improve to 9-7, while the Red Sox fall to 9-7. Mike Mussina and Josh Beckett will start tomorrow night's game to close out the two-game series.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)