By TERRY NAU

Sports editor 

As you may have heard, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry resumes tonight.
Stoked by the rude behavior of Yankee fans towards Red Sox players at the All-Star game in New York 10 days ago, the Fenway Faithful most decidedly will not be rolling out a welcome mat for the hated pinstripers this evening. And that’s as it should be in this or any other great rivalry. The fans have a right to exercise their opinion, as long as they don’t come running out on the field or otherwise interfere with what the players are trying to accomplish.

Once we get beyond the booing, there should be a great game in store. It starts with the pitching matchup of “Big Game” Josh Beckett vs. New York’s hard-throwing young righthander, Joba Chamberlain.
Beckett pitched Florida to a World Series win over the Yankees in 2003 when he was just 23 years old. Chamberlain, 22, looks like a Beckett clone, capable of striking hitters out with three different nasty pitches. And he seems to have the same determined countenance on the mound that Beckett has shown in the heat of pennant and playoff races over the past five years.
The lid on the Fenway Park pressure cooker may get blown off if one of Chamberlain’s pitches hits a Red Sox batter, or even comes close. Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis had to duck under two high fastballs from Chamberlain that whizzed over his head last August. Ever since then, Chamberlain has been on probation with Boston fans, who will be screaming epithets at the young man until he leaves the mound for good tonight.
The people sitting in the seats will play a huge role in the games this weekend, as they have all season long at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have the best home-field advantage in major league baseball because they sell out a cozy little ballpark that sits the fans closer to the field than anywhere else in the big leagues. Just look at the records – Boston is 36-11 at home and 24-32 on the road.
The Yankees, by comparison, are 33-22 at home and 23-23 on the road. The interesting number there is the total of home games for both teams. Boston has played eight less home games than New York and nine less than first-place Tampa Bay’s 56. That’s going to pay off over the final nine weeks of the season as the Yankees and Rays play those extra road games while Boston is feasting at Fenway.
And if you’re looking down the road, don’t forget the Yankees visit Fenway for the final three games of the regular season. Wouldn’t it be great if they were within a game of one another, just like back in 1949 when the Sox came to New York for two games with a one-game advantage? People write books about those kind of moments.
Because the Yankees have crept within 3.5 games of Tampa and 3 games of Boston (2 in the loss column), this weekend’s series is not a do-or-die showdown for either side. It’s really just a litmus test for where the two teams stand right now.
Consider these areas of concern for both teams:
-- New York’s pitching staff has made amazing progress ever since Chamberlain moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Mariano Rivera has been stellar as a closer, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. But his setup men have been lights out in recent weeks. David Robertson, Edwar Ramirez and Kyle Farnsworth haven’t given up a run in two weeks. Ramirez has retired 29 batters without yielding up even one base hit and Farnie’s streak is at 27. But none of it matters until they do it against Boston.
Same holds true for the Red Sox. These two teams, fairly or not, are judged by how they compete against one another. Justin Masterson came out of the bullpen on Thursday in Seattle and retired 8 batters with just 26 pitches. Can he succeed against Yankee hitters who will lay off that nasty sinker? That’s one of the subplots.
Beckett, who has been a little spotty this season (9-6, 3.98 ERA), will not shrink from the spotlight tonight. It will be more interesting to see how Chamberlain deals with the hostile environment. One could argue this is Joba’s biggest test since the playoffs last October when he melted down in Cleveland while insects called “midges” attached themselves to his face and upper body.
That was a rare loss of composure for Joba, who seems mentally tough enough to take on the role of ace pitcher for the Yankees in future seasons. But can he handle Fenway tonight, at this point in his career? Good question.
Saturday’s matchup brings us Andy Pettitte against Tim Wakefield, two grizzled veterans who will block out the crowds and pitch their games. On Sunday night, we get a mismatch between Boston’s new ace, Jon Lester, and recycled veteran Sidney Ponson, who is 6-1 on the season for Texas and New York. Sidney might be the one Yankee pitcher who can’t handle the combination of a patient Boston lineup and a crowd of screaming fans.
On Monday, these two teams will go their own way. Boston can’t afford a letdown with the league’s best team (the Angels) coming to town. In fact, the Red Sox should be looking for vengeance after their embarrassing performance last weekend in L.A.
The Yankees host Baltimore for three games and then the Angels for three more before going on the road for 31 of their final 52 games this season.
So, really, let’s everyone just calm down and relax, enjoy these games no matter how they turn out, and then get on with the rest of the season. There’s a long way to go between now and October.