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 "I've never been there," Kennedy said. "I'm excited to witness it."
After their seven-game winning streak was snapped Thursday night with a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays, the Yankees turned all their attention toward Boston. They trail the first-place Red Sox by 5 1/2 games in the AL East heading into a big three-game series that begins Friday night.
Roger Clemens threw 40 pitches in a bullpen session Thursday and said he has "no doubt" he'll be able to return from a sore elbow to start the series finale Sunday night. Clemens, who spent 13 seasons with the Red Sox, sounded as though he also expects a playoff matchup between the longtime rivals.
"Boston is a team we're going to see more than these three games," Clemens said. "When you have two teams that are very good at what they do and fighting for the same thing, it always makes for some excitement."
The Yankees lead the wild-card race by 3 1/2 games over Detroit. Last year, a five-game sweep at Fenway Park in August sent them on the way to their ninth consecutive AL East title. Can they pull off another sweep?
"You can never think sweep going into Boston," outfielder Johnny Damon said. "They're too good of a team. But we would not mind. We would love it. We just have to go out there and concentrate on playing well."
In other AL games, it was: Baltimore 3, Los Angeles 0; Seattle 8, Tampa Bay 7; and Oakland 6, Texas 5.
Andy Pettitte traveled Thursday to Boston, where he'll pitch against Red Sox rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka in the series opener.
"The atmosphere in the stadium is second to none," Derek Jeter said.
Before they left Toronto, however, the Yankees and their star sluggers were finally stopped by the Blue Jays. A.J. Burnett pitched eight fantastic innings and Frank Thomas singled home the winning run in the ninth.
"It's disappointing," New York manager Joe Torre said. "They shut us down offensively."
Damon homered for the Yankees and Kennedy allowed one hit in seven-plus innings.
"We know we have something at stake going into Boston. We know we have to play well," Damon said. "There's a lot of things that can happen at Fenway Park. Hopefully, it's good for us and not so good for them."
Making his third career start, Kennedy impressed Torre with his poise and polish.
"Kennedy was remarkable, absolutely remarkable," Torre said. "He was so good, pitch count-wise. What a great start for this kid. He went about his business like he's been in the big leagues for 10 years."
Still, the Blue Jays (73-73) managed to end a five-game skid.
"We needed a win," said Thomas, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Alex Rios opened the bottom of the ninth with a single off Chris Britton (0-1), stole second and scored on Thomas' clean single to center.
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Damon provided a light moment in the sixth, retiring Rios on a fly ball for the final out, then giving the ball to a fan seated in the front row in left. The fan responded by giving Damon a $20 bill. Damon took the money, ran farther down the line, then handed the bill to a young child.
"Hopefully, the fans that hated me have a newfound respect for me," Damon said. "They were on me. I figured I might as well take $20 and give it to a kid, you know? Hopefully he can go out and buy a Yankee hat."
Kennedy left after Gregg Zaun walked to begin the eighth. The right-hander walked four and struck out seven, both season highs, and lowered his ERA to 1.89.
Toronto opened the scoring in the first when Thomas doubled home Russ Adams, who had walked. Kennedy responded by retiring his next 15 batters before Adams drew a two-out walk in the sixth.
"They're a good fastball-hitting team," Kennedy said. "I tried throwing changeups and curveballs, changing their eye levels a little bit with fastballs. That's what I've got to do. I don't throw like Burnett, throw 97, 98 (mph)."
Burnett allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. He has won just once in his past five starts.
Orioles 3, Angels 0
Jon Leicester (2-1) and three relievers combined on a five-hitter, and Scott Moore had two RBIs to help host Baltimore win for only the fourth time in 22 games. John Lackey (16-9) gave up three runs in seven innings.
Mariners 8, Devil Rays 7
At Seattle, Adrian Beltre's go-ahead single with two outs in the eighth capped a five-run rally for the Mariners, who won for just the fourth time in 19 games. They moved within 5 1/2 games of New York in the wild-card race.
Yuniesky Betancourt tied the score with a two-run double off Dan Wheeler (0-4), and Seattle came back from a six-run deficit. Ichiro Suzuki had three hits and two RBIs to help the Mariners overcome a poor start by Jeff Weaver. Ryan Rowland-Smith (1-0) struck out five consecutive batters and worked 2 1-3 scoreless innings for his first major league win. J.J. Putz earned his 38th save.
Athletics 6, Rangers 5
Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer off Kevin Millwood (9-12) and Jack Cust doubled in two runs for host Oakland, which held on after leading 6-0. Chad Gaudin (11-11) earned the win and Huston Street got his 15th save.
[Associated Press]
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