at Yankee Stadium, New York

Tonight (7:05, NESN, WKRO 680): RHP Tim Wakefield (7-8, 3.67 ERA) vs. LHP Andy Pettitte (13-9, 4.17).

Tomorrow (7:05 p.m., NESN, WEEI 850): RHP Paul Byrd (8-11, 4.61) vs. RHP Sidney Ponson (7-4, 4.67).

Thursday (1:05 p.m., NESN, WEEI): LHP Jon Lester (12-5, 3.49) vs. RHP Mike Mussina (16-7, 3.45).

Head to head: The teams have split 12 games this season; they will play at Fenway in the last series of the regular season, Sept. 26-28.

Miscellany: Twelve of the Yankees' remaining 32 games are against Boston and Tampa Bay . . . New York is 20-15 since the All Star break, but 11-11 in August . . . Before Derek Jeter's 0 for 5 Sunday against the Orioles, he had hit in nine straight games, batting .463 during that stretch.

In a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers last night, Grady Sizemore hit home runs number 31 and 32, pushing his season line to a phenomenal .271/.383/.532 mark. Having turned just 26 three weeks ago or so, Sizemore has affirmed that his outstanding 2006 campaign (.290/.375/.533) was no outlier. It seems safe to say that he has arrived as a superstar for years to come.

Of course that he may have reached a new, sustained performance level should strike fear into the rest of the league. Sizemore is already a player of historic significance, as there just have not been many center fielders able to produce, both with the glove and the bat, the way Grady has so early on in his career. He won the 2007 Gold Glove, and defensive statistics show him to have been one of the finest defenders before last season as well. Offensively, well, have a look at the table below.

          From   To   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS+
Griffey   '89 - '93  .303  .375  .520   145 
Lynn      '74 - '78  .303  .372  .498   133
C Cedeno  '70 - '74  .294  .346  .476   131
Sizemore  '04 - '08  .280  .372  .494   126
Wynn      '63 - '67  .254  .336  .4444  125

Over the last fifty years, that's your list of center fielders who have managed a 125 OPS+ or better in their first five seasons. If Sizemore stays healthy and settles into the .375/.520 hitter it appears he is, Sizemore will eventually take his place among the finest center fielders ever to play.