BOSTON -- This is probably not what those who paid top dollar to ticket scalpers for the first night of the Jeter-palooza had in mind.
The Boston Red Sox started seven rookies for the third straight game. The New York Yankees started a lineup with names known only to those who can recite Yankees hagiography by heart: Pirela, Perez, Cervelli, Young, Murphy, Romine, Ryan, Richardson and the exquisitely dubbed Zelous Wheeler.
Even Sox owner John W. Henry was left to marvel at the anonymity of the talent on display Friday night at Fenway Park.
"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Henry tweeted.
Well, sure. In March in Jet Blue Park and Legends Field, to name two locales. But rare for a September matchup between the two longtime powerhouses in the AL East, who, for the first time since 1993, will both be idle in October.
The sellout crowd of 37,605 broke out in periodic chants of "Je-ter, Je-ter," but manager Joe Girardi had announced before the game that Yankees captain Derek Jeter would not be playing Friday. The crowd resorted to booing in the ninth inning at every batter who popped out of the Yankees lineup without a No. 2 on his back, but Girardi held to his word.
"I don't know if I could have played tonight even if I wanted to," an exhausted Jeter said Friday afternoon.
The Yankees managed to win the "B" game without him 3-2. They scored a couple runs off rookie knuckleballer Steven Wright in the third, two passed balls charged to catcher Dan Butler and a throwing error by second baseman Mookie Betts all contributing to Yankees runners spinning around the bases.
The inning before, Bryce Brentz had singled home an unearned run off lefty Chris Capuano to give Wright a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth, the Yankees made it 3-1 when Wheeler's sacrifice fly scored John Ryan Murphy, who had opened the inning with a double off Matt Barnes.
Rusney Castillo countered with a home run in the seventh, crushing the first pitch thrown by reliever Shawn Kelley, but that closed out the scoring.
Jeter says he will serve as designated hitter the next two days. The Sox were not offering refunds Friday night. The scalpers, meanwhile, could be seen high-fiving up and down Yawkey Way.
