Series Preview: Sox/Stankees

GM1: FRI 7:00 Pettitte (1-0, 1.50) vs. Schilling (2-1, 2.84)
GM2: SAT 3:30 Karstens (NR) vs. Beckett (3-0, 1.50)
GM3: SUN 8:00 Wright (1-0, 5.40) vs. Matsuzaka (1-2, 2.70)

STATS: NYY/BOS
REC: 8-6/9-5
AVG: .283/.249
RUNS: 91/68
HRS: 20/12
ERA: 3.67/2.58

INJURIES:
NYY- LF Matsui (DL), P Pavano (DL), P Mussina (DL), P Wang (DL)

BOS- P Lester (DL)

WHO'S HOT:
NYY :

• A-Rod has 10 homers in the team's first 14 games, second fastest to 10 all time
• Georgie Posada is batting .353 and carrying an 11-game hitting streak into the series
• Bobby Abreu up to his old tricks, batting .345 and had produced multiple hit games in 3 of the last 5 contests

BOS:

• Big Papi has been on a mini-tear of his own; he's had 3 HRs and 6 RBIs in the last 4 games, and since his slow start (.158, 0HRs, 0RBIs after 5 games) he now has 5 HRs, 5-2Bs, 13 RBIs and is batting .288
• J.D.Drew started the season hot (9-game-hitting streak) and despite a 2-game "slump" has continued his torrid ways. His .341 avg. has him 10th in the AL, and having reached base in every game his OBP is an excellent .434, good for 7th in the league
• The entire Boston pitching staff has been above average to start the season, making up for the lack of offensive pop. It's 2.58 ERA is second best in the majors behind the Mets and their 10 quality starts is tied for first.

WHO's NOT:
NYY:

• The entire pitching staff has been less-than-mediocre to start the season even though half the staff has been felled by a variety of injuries already. Still, with an underwhelming 3.57 ERA, a pitiful 4 quality starts, and zero saves, it's obvious where this team is getting its strength from
• Melky Cabrera is defining the term "sophomore slump"; the LF is struggling with a .205 avg. and that's with 3 hits in his last 2 games
• 2B Robinson Cano is off to a slow start, hitting just .268 with no homers and 6 RBIs; last year he stunned the baseball world with a .342 avg. and .890 OPS% from the 8-spot

BOS:

• Cap'n Varitek has now gone beyond slumping and into full-fledged swan dive: he is batting just .189 and has at times looked lost and helpless at the plate. Maybe this will be the series that sparks his game
• The sub-.200 club has these two members lurking at the bottom: 2B Dustin Pedroia and CF Coco Crisp are both languishing at a lowly .167. Coco did have 2 (bunt) hits last night, so maybe he'll get a spark, but Pedroia couldn't even execute a bunt in the 9th inning-ugh!
• Manny is hovering right at .200, but hopefully his homer last night will wake him up in time for this series

All right, let's get this out of the way before we go any further: A-Rod is on a tear.

There, I said it. I don't particularly like to say or admit it, and I have yet to write about the explosive April exploits of Old Blue Lips, but it is what it is, and that is an undeniable fact. He has put up unbelievable numbers to prove that point...

.351 avg, 10 HRs, 20 RBIs, 20 hits, 17 runs, .965 SLG%, .418 OBP% in 14 games played

...but the numbers just begin to tell the story. He has as many homers as his teammates, he is the 2nd fastest to hit 10 HRs, and he is the first player to hit a walk-off grand slam and a walk-off 3-run homer in a month, the latter coming yesterday in a 6-run ninth inning comeback win over Cleveland.

But there are a few simple explanations as to why the pouty prima donna is having such a successful start to this 2007 season.

1.) He is in a contract year. Sort of. At the end of this season Rodriguez can exercise an out clause in his massive, record-setting pact that would allow him to become a "free" agent, and obviously I use that term very loosely. There have already been rampant rumors that he would like to reunite with former manager/mentor Lou Pinella in Chitown, so this could be his swan song in the Bronx

2.) He is so sick of the negative press he gets in New York, and the boos he hears from opening day til the last game of the playoffs that he is having this kind of season knowing he is going to leave at the end of the year, and then he can have the last laugh on the fickle Stankee fans

3.) He's good

That being said, he is single-handedly carrying this squad while the pitching staff is on life support. Three starters are on the DL for New York, and the steady, productive bat of Hideki Matsui has also been missed since he went on the DL earlier this month. Rodriguez has as many homers as the rest of the team combined, and you know what they say about one-man teams.

Not that the loaded Stanks will ever be considered a one-man gang, but right now it is the bat of one man that is holding this team above water until the injured players can return.

Boston, meanwhile, has been winning the exact opposite way- all pitching and a little bit of hitting. The Sox starters have been nails, with the trio of Schilling, Beckett and Wakefield combining for 7 of the team's 9 victories. Matsuzaka has been the victim of poor run support, so his 1-2 record is deceptive. And the bullpen has been solid, anchored by the return of Jon Papelbon (4 saves, 0.00 ERA, 2BB, 11 Ks) and solidified with the return from the DL of Mike Timlin last week.

I'm not even going to dredge up old memories of last August when the Stanks came to town and crushed the Sox in a 5-game sweep that ended their playoff hopes and brought back old memories & hatreds that had been buried following the Sox World Series season. To say that a series in mid-April can carry as much weight as one in the thick of the dog days may be overstating the importance of one series, but this one means more than just who will be atop the AL East in April.

This series is about pride, respect and cleansing recent bad memories from the hearts and minds of RSN.

Oh yeah, and hoping that Judas Demon snaps a stick while crashing into the centerfield wall.

Let the games begin.