Bronx, N.Y., September 24, 2010 — The Yankee losing streak reached three games in the Bronx Friday night, and the magic number to clinch a spot in the playoffs remained hovering where it had been before the game, at three. And the team and their fans were left to absorb the sobering news that if the 2010 Yankees were going to win 100 games, their task was clearly laid out for them. Once they suffered their 62nd loss in a 10-8 defeat to the visiting Boston Red Sox, they simply need to win their eight remaining games.

Unexpectedly, the returning Andy Pettitte experienced a stinker in this one. Reached for a three-run homer in the second and a two-run double and a two-run single in the fourth, Andy was removed by Joe Girardi down 7-1 with one out in the latter frame. But he did throw 75 pitches, a consistent number in terms of how he needs to build up his stamina if he is to start effectively in the coming playoffs. Pettitte had the high 80s fastball working that anchors his innings, but he threw very few decent cutters, and the killer curve that has largely been a hallmark of his 11-2 (now 11-3) season was hardly to be seen.

Still, Andy is a veteran, and he knew this night what Job One was. He was just below .500 in his first-pitch strike rate (9 out of 20), but regardless of the 10 hits the Sox stroked against him, he continued to come after them. He managed a second-inning strike out, but walked no one, and two of the four three-ball counts he faced came in the fourth inning when everything unraveled. He had surrendered a three-run home run one pitch after Nick Swisher dropped a Mike Lowell knuckling liner in the second, and Boston reached him for three singles to start the top of the fourth, with only Lowell’s being well struck. Robbie Cano then made a stellar catch after a long run on Bill Hall’s foul fly to short right, but Darnell McDonald doubled down the left field line on a ball many thought was foul, and Andy was through. Marco Scutaro and J.D. Drew followed with singles, and Girardi replaced the veteran southpaw with Jonathan Albaladejo.

Even through the struggles, Andy’s 46/29 strikes/balls ratio was good, and many of the hits blooped in, but the fact that he got just four swings and misses among the 35 times the Sox swung bespoke the missing curve that could have kept them off balance. The selection of Albaladejo brought immediate dividends, as he coaxed a 4-6-3 to close the frame on his second pitch. And he got two quick outs to start the fifth, before walking Lowell with two down, a reminder of the way he could not find the zone two days earlier in the forgettable marathon rain-delayed loss to Tampa. The bullpen performed poorly that night, and now with Lowell on first, the Yankee righty experienced much the same experience Pettitte had in the second. A Jed Lowrie bouncer deflected off Mark Teixeira’s glove for an infield hit, and Hall lifted a 3-1 fastball deep to left for a home run and a 10-1 Boston lead.

The one Yanks tally was a Curtis Granderson home run off Josh Beckett in the home third, but the Yanks started coming after the Boston righty in the fifth, when Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez reached him for back-to-back homers to close it to 10-3. Then in the sixth, Derek Jeter reached on a two-out walk, and Nick Swisher got the home team to 10-5 with a two-run blast that sent Beckett to the showers. But despite falling behind Red Sox righty Scott Atkinson 0-2, Teixeira walked as well, and A-Rod delivered a majestic bomb to left for a 10-7 score.

Sergio Mitre held the Sox at bay by retiring six of eight in the sixth and seventh, and Kerry Wood and Boone Logan shut the visitors down from there around one walk. On the one hand, it was surprising strategy that Joe used two pen cogs down 10-7 late, when he refused to throw any of the best options when the Yanks returned from Wednesday’s rain delay down just 1-0. But who could blame him this night with his offense showing such life, and it was a small victory when Tex and A-Rod reached Jonathan Papelbon for a home run and walk, respectively, with two down in the ninth, improbably bringing the tying run to the plate. Robbie Cano battled as Alex took second, but he struck out to end the game at 10-8, Sox.

But there was life in the Stadium Friday night, spirit and hope and a positive vibe that helped keep a surprisingly robust percentage of the roughly 49,500 paying fans around in a game where their team had fallen behind 10-1.  The upper deck reverberated with sounds evocative of a 2-1 war late as Cano battled Papelbon, and the whole Palace had the feel of a place where victory wasn’t hoped for, it was expected.

And this coming off three weeks of playing 6-11, and finally dropping to second place in the AL East once this game ended. On September 24, 1869, the fledgling United States of America was rocked by one of its earliest financial crises, a panic caused by unscrupulous investors trying to corner the gold market, on a day that would come to be known as Black Friday. But despite all the gloom and doom from three straight defeats and a loss of the Yankees’ perch atop the game, the Stadium rocked with a resilient crowd ready to celebrate the better days that are surely coming.

A month from now maybe we’ll be calling this Faithful Festive Friday

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!