INSIDE THE AL: RIVALRY HAS ROLE REVERSAL.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

CLEVELAND - While Pedro Martinez was shutting out the potent Texas Rangers at Fenway Park on Friday night, Kevin Brown left his start at Yankee Stadium after the sixth inning, repaired to the clubhouse and lost a one-punch fight with a wall, breaking his left hand.

Is there a more appropriate snapshot to the current state of this rivalry? The Red Sox are rolling. The Yankees are gripping.

Once the owners of a 10 1/2-game lead, George Steinbrenner's $183-million machine saw its advantage whittled down to 2 1/2, thanks in part to his own club's deficiencies and a surge by the Red Sox.

The state of both teams was on stunning display this week. While the Yankees absorbed a worst-ever 22-0 loss to Cleveland in the Bronx, the Sox rapped out 44 hits in sweeping a three-game series with the Angels.

While the Sox put together a 10-game winning streak that ended Saturday, capping a 16-1 run by stepping on contending teams like the Angels and Rangers, the Yankees were struggling with also-rans Baltimore and Cleveland.

And the bravado is back at Fenway Park.

``I have never doubted that we could win this division,'' said Boston reliever Mike Timlin. ``You don't set out to win the wild card. You set out to win the division.''

The Yankees have never blown a division lead of six games or larger, but then again, the current state of their pitching staff seems to set them up for failure against a suddenly consistent club like Boston. They'd be in serious trouble without the rebirth of Orlando Hernandez (10-6, 2.62 ERA), because Mike Mussina hasn't been very good and Javier Vazquez (4.62 ERA) has not lived up to expectations.

The Yankees didn't get into the Curt Schilling derby, opting instead to acquire Vazquez, but Schilling has gone 17-6 for Boston to drop himself into the Cy Young Award derby.

The 22-0 thrashing prompted Steinbrenner to adorn Yankee Stadium with inspirational messages during batting practice Wednesday and Thursday, and later released a statement that touched on, among other things, the resiliency of New Yorkers in the wake of 9/11.

Then, Brown went and punched a wall, meaning one of the Yankees' few viable starters now will have a broken glove hand.

Brown's meltdown will surely become part of Red Sox lore should they overtake the Yankees, whom they play six times this month. But for one of the few times this season, Boston can revel in its own accomplishments rather than take joy in the failure of their rivals.

A 20-12 finish would ensure the Sox their first 100-win season since 1946. It might ensure them their most improbable division title, too.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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