On paper, it's a quick, two-game set between 2nd and 4th place teams in the AL East.

But on the field, it's the biggest rivalry in all of sports. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox never play a quick, simple baseball game.

Boston and New York refuse to let fans watch without a feeling of uncertainty that the game can change in any minute. Or any hour, that is, considering these games are all taking at least 3 and a half hours to finish.

Tuesday night's finale of a two-game series at Yankee Stadium was no different.

The night before, the Red Sox came back from a deficit and had a 2-run lead in the 9th inning. Jonathan Papelbon proceeded to blow the lead on a 2-run home run by Alex Rodriguez, and then quickly lost the game on a walk-off shot by Yankee LF Marcus Thames.

On Tuesday, an hour-long rain delay stalled the opening of the ballgame and set-up for an interesting environment. After the game started, it seemed to drag on and on, and eventually would not end until after midnight despite starting before 8:30.

Along the way, it was a crazy game. The Yanks got off to a 5-0 lead in the 5th inning off Josh Beckett before the Sox decided to pull their starter. But it was no ordinary bullpen change. The Red Sox claimed that Beckett was hurt and was taken out for emergency injury leave, enabling their reliever to take as much time as he needed to warm up.

Manny Delcarmen came into the game for Boston in the 5th, took awhile to warm up, and the game continued smoothly. However, Yankees manager Joe Girardi was not pleased that Delcarmen got to stall the action. He didn't think Beckett was seriously injured, and he wasn't even aware that he was hurt.

"They signaled to the bullpen before they announced to the umpire that he was hurt," Girardi said. "You’re supposed to get eight warmup pitches when you make a pitching change, and if he’s physically hurt, you take the trainer and tell the umpire that he’s hurt."

So, apparently this was enough of an infraction of the "rules" that Girardi decided to protest the game. He notified an umpire that he didn't think the pitching change was within the rules, and he will be protesting to the MLB league office.

Good luck with that, Joe.

Anyway, the game continued. The Yankees took a 5-1 lead into the 8th inning and sent lights out set-up man Joba Chamberlain to the mound. But on this night, he was not sharp at all. That tends to be a trend with the bullpens when these two teams play each other.

Chamberlain gave up 4 runs in the 8th inning to allow Boston to tie the game at 5-5. A terrible outing by Joba, and a typical resilient Red Sox comeback. Kevin Youkilis had a big 2-RBI single, and four solid hits contributed to the comeback effort.

Boston wasn't done getting to the Yankee bullpen. Mariano Rivera came into the game in the 9th inning with the score tied, 5-5. Yankee fans know how Rivera has occasionally struggled in the past in non-save situations, but it was the smart by-the-book move to make with no potential opportunity to close the game at home in a tie game after the 8th inning.

Of course, Rivera proceeds to give up 2 runs on a Jeremy Hermida RBI double, and the Red Sox took a 7-5 lead into the 9th. The big play of the inning was a costly error by Marcus Thames on a routine fly ball, which enabled two Red Sox to move into scoring position for Hermida.

Papelbon comes into the game in the bottom of the 9th with a 2-run lead, and Alex Rodriguez at the plate to lead off the inning. Uh-oh, deja vu for the Red Sox closer.

Not exactly, but Rodriguez reached on a bad error by SS Marco Scutaro. A-Rod stole second base immediately, and Robinson Cano came through with an RBI double to make the score 7-6.

Cano was bunted over to third, giving Marcus Thames the opportunity to be the hero again, with a runner on 3rd and 1 out in a 7-6 ballgame. Thames walked, which was a productive at-bat. But there would be no hero for the Yankees as the inning continued.

An infield ground out enabled pinch-runner Ramiro Pena to move to second base, but Cano did not score. It was still 7-6 now, with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs for the Yankees. How could it end in any other way? It had to be this dramatic.

Randy Winn was the man at the plate, and he worked a long, solid at-bat to a 3-2 count. But Papelbon threw smoke on the full count and struck him out swinging, and the Red Sox hung on for a 7-6 victory.

So, there you have it. Not much analysis of this one, but just wanted to take you on the roller coaster ride that was Yanks-Sox, yet again. Every game is dramatic, and it's never too late for a comeback.

Can't wait till next time. Big win for Boston today to even their record at 20-20 and allow their closer to survive the 9th inning this time, even though it was by the skin of his teeth.