Game preview: Stanks @ Sox, GM2

Wang (18-6) vs. Beckett (18-6)
Fenway 355 FOX

Not much needs to be said about this one. The fragile state of the Red Sox Nation is riding on the broad shoulders of ace Josh Beckett, who will also have the Cy Young award on the line in this pressure-packed early Autumn showdown.

Trouble is Becks will be opposed by New York's Cy candidate, Chien Ming Wang, who in addition to brandishing an identical record to Boston's top starter has also been the glue that has held the brittle New York pitching staff together most of the season.

After last night's catastrophic collapse the entire Boston organization and fanbase will be praying that the man who has carried the team, pitching wise, to the Eastern division lead will be able to once again come through with a win that might end up saving this season from slipping into the category of infamy.

If not, well there's plenty of football on this weekend, and that Pats/Chargers showdown will become Must See TV for many.

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Bombers bitchslap Bosox with 8th inning comeback

Stanks 8, Sox 7
WP: Bruney (3-1)
LP: Papelbon (1-3)
SV: Rivera (27)
HRs: NYY-Giambi (14), Cano (17)

Vinnie Chase didn't need to bring Drama to the game, there was enough to go around at chilly Fenway tonight

SUMMARY
I'm not quite sure where to begin with this latest humiliating defeat suffered at the hands of baseball's version of evil incarnate.

Boston was cruising along with a 7-2 lead heading into the eighth inning, and then the wheels didn't just fall off, the whole friggin' vehicle exploded. Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon surrendered six runs on seven consecutive Stankee hits, and in the blink of an eye a potential pennant-clinching win turned into another bloody, beyond-the-point-of-comprehension defeat at the hands of the band of palmetto bugs from the Bronx.

#1 STUNNER Judas Demon 4-6, 1R, 1BI, 2-2Bs
Once again the former Sox savior twisted his $13 million dollar knife in the hearts of his old mates & fans. As soon as the hairless rat led off the contest with a squibber that eluded Dice-K and resulted in him reaching base, I had that "here we go again" feeling. Unfortunately with these dicks that feeling is rarely wrong.

PAN's FAUN(s) Oki & Paps 1 1/3 innings, 6H, 6R, BB, 2K, 2HRs
Not in a million years would anyone believe this game would go down the way it did--with the New York hitters battering Boston's two best relievers like a relentless summer storm, pounding Oki for three extra base hits including two homers, then pouncing on Papelbon as soon as he uncustomarily entered the game with no outs in the eighth.

RECAP
Just when you think you've seen it all when it comes to these two bitter rivals, you witness something that you've never seen before.

And as has been the case for most of the second half of this season, scratch that most of the last century except for one magical year, the end result was not something Red Sox fans wanted to see.

The New York Stankees continued their torrid march to whatever it is they are striving for--redemption? recognition? respect?--by stomping on the hearts & souls of the Sox and the Nation by scoring an improbable comeback win in what turned out to be the second longest nine inning game in baseball history.

At 4 hours and 43 minutes that's what I call a slow torture.

Making matters much worse was the fact that the night which ended on such a down note started out looking like the Sox would win its first game against these assclowns since June 2nd.

Boston, playing with a lineup that included late-addition Jacoby Ellsbury in center due to a hip bruise on Coco Crisp and Bobby Kielty in left due to the continued unavailability of manny Ramirez, jumped on steady Stankees starter Andy Pettitte for a run in the second, another in the third and then hung a three spot on the lurch-like lefty in the fourth.

The first run scored of the game courtesy of Mr. Ellsbury, who is fast becoming the Brad Pitt of the Boston scene; his seeing-eye single past the second baseman plated Kevin Youkilis, who had led off the inning with a single and made it to third on a Varitek walk and Kielty groundout.

After Daisuke Matsuzaka (5.2IP, 4H, 2ER, 5BB, 7K, HBP) recorded a rare 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, Boston scratched another run of Pettitte in the bottom of the inning, but it could have been even more.

David Ortiz (2-4, R) led off the frame with a towering double high off the Monster, and when Mike Lowell followed with a hard single up the middle, DeMarlo Hale decided to send the big fella despite his achy shoulders, balky knee and propensity to get thrown out an any base every time he attempts to take an extra one.

Centerfielder Melky Cabrera, making manager Joe Torre look like a genius for not letting chicken-armed Judas Demon occupy his old haunt for this series, threw a seed to Georgie Posada at the dish and Papi was nailed by a New York mile, one of the first signs that not all would go well for the hometown team tonight.

Borton bounced right back when Youk (2-4, R, BI) walked and then New York suffered ofrom one of their many mental and psychial gaffes when J.D. Drew slammed a ball to first that got through Giambi and trickled into shallow right, allowing Lowell to score and setting up runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs.

But Pettitte (4IP, 9H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 5K) got Tek to strike out swinging, and what could have been a big inning turned out to be another in a long line of missed scoring opportunitites that have plagues this club the entire second half of this season.

New York finally took advantage of Matsuzaka's wildness in the fourth when Posada led off the inning with a double over Ellsbury's head in center and Hideki Matsui, facing his countryman and former Japan League opponent, ripped a triple over Drew's head and around the rightfield corner to score Posada and get the Stanks right back in the game.

But I don't think anybody was expecting the highest scoring team in the majors to get shutout tonight.

Following that damage Dice-K walked Melky Cabrera to get himself in more trouble, but he got Cano to K and induced Cabrera to ground into a double play to escape further damage.

The Sox would take advantage of that turn of events when they scored a trio of runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth.

Kilety began the inning with a double past ARod down the third base line, then Ellsbury, who has hit in all 12 games since his Sept. 1st callup, blooped a single into center field to set up a 1st and 3rd, no out situation for Lugo.

The error-prone SS (he made his 19th E earlier in the game) struck out swinging, but during the at bat pickoff artist Pettitte semed to have Ellsbury nailed leaning off first and when he threw over there it looked as iff Ellsbury was a dead duck.

But Ellsbury took off for second base and beat the thrown from Giambi there. And the legend continues to grow.

That play proved huge when Dustin Pedroia (1-5, R, 2BI) responded with a scorching single into centerfield which scored Kielty and Ellsbury and made the score 4-1 Boston, and when Papi and Lowell both followed with singles, the last a bounder off the mound that allowed Pedroia to score, it looked like this was going to be a celebratory night in the Fens for sure.

When New York chased Matsuzaka from the game after he loaded the bases on a double and two walks in the sixth, he was still eligible or the win as Mike Timlin could escape the bases loaded, two-out jam.

The veteran reliever got Demon to hit a hopper back up the middle that went over Timlin's head and by the time it finally landed Demon had his second infield hit of the night and New York has its second run, but when Timlin got Derek Jeter (1-6, R, BI, E) to strike out swinging to end the inning, the mood was celebratory as the Sox were just nine outs from bringing this victory home.

Boston added to the lead with a pair of runs off reliever Jose Veras in the sixth on RBI singles by Youk and Drew (2-5, BI) to pad the lead even more, but then the fact that Dice couldn't make it out of the sixth and Gagne's ineffectiveness forced Tito to use his bullpen in an unconventional way, a turn of events that would soon come back to bite Boston in the ass. Hard.

Javier Lopez and Hideki Okajima combined to work a scoreless seventh, and after Boston went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, New York put together one of those innings that will make this game an instant entrant for the Stankeeography treatment.

The inning got off to an ominous start when Giambi blasted a solo shot off Okajima to open the frame, the first longball Oki had allowed to a lefty all season, but one batter later that total would double when Cano (-5, R, Bi) crushed an Oki offering high and deep to straightaway centerfield for back-to-back jacks that made the score 7-4 Boston.

No biggie, right?

Unforyunately, wrong.

Okajima then walked the nine hitter Cabrera to bring up Demon who promptly lashed a double to the gap in left center to set up a 1st & 3rd, no outs situation and forced Tito to do something he has rarely ever had to do before: bring Papelbon in for the six out save.

From the get-go you could sense that something was...wrong with the situation, bringing in your lights-out closer who hadn't allowed a run in his last 16 appearances and who had been coddled more than a newborn since his shoulder injury last September, and Jeter confirmed the suspicions when he blooped Paps' first pitch into right field for an RBI hit that made the score a scary 7-5.

Needless to say the mood in the Nation got considerably darker.

Things went from dark to depressing in a hurry from there as Abreu crushed a Papelbon fastball to the Wall to score both Demon and Jeter aand tied the game at seven, and before you could say "what the fuck just happened", ARod drilled a single to right to score Abreu, who had advaanced to third on another Lugo error on the relay throw the play before, and suddenly, silently the Stanks had somehow stolen the lead and the life out from under the Boston ballclub.

Other things happened from there, like Papelbon getting out of the innning, Boston getting a coule of runners on base yet leaving them helplessly starnded there as usual, but things really ended right then and there.

Once again New York had to come to Fenway late in the season and crushed the hopes of a confident Boston team, and once again they had treated a do-or-die game like a stickball contest at the local playground.

And once again with a division title at stake and pride, dignity and an ever-eroding confidence at stake the Sox caved in like Mike Vick's cousins. Some of the more ignominious standars established tonight include:

-the second longest 9-inning game in ML history, behind one of the BMII maulings from last August

-the first time Boston had blown a lead since April of 2005

-the first time New York had overcome a 5-run deficit to win on the road since May of 2004

-the first time Papelbon had allowed three consecutive hits in his career

-one of the most embarrassing, deflating, and demoralizing losses in the long and mostly miserable history of the Rivalry for Boston

And so another chapter was added to the Boston/New York tome, a weighty volume that seems to become more and more weighted to the side of Evil with every passing year.

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Sox Drawer: Welcome to the Dog Days

As the Sox slump in sunny LA, the Stanks have made the AL East officially a two team race--again
With the month of August barely a week old the one thing that nearly every baseball fan has predicted from the beginning of the season has come true: Boston and New York will duke it out over the final two months of the season to decide which team is the real Beast of the East.

New York's recent hot streak (the Stanks have won 20 of 27 games since the break and are averaging an incredible 7.8 RPG) combined with Boston's recent struggles (15-11 since the break) have every member of RSN hearkening back to the Summer of '78, when the Sox enjoyed a sizable lead late in the season only to see their pennant hopes go up in flames thanks to a 1-game playoff and Mr. Bucky Bleepin' Dent.

So the big question lingering over everyone's head like a 6,000lb. rally monkey is, will the Stanks catch the Sox/will the Sox tank the division yet again?

The way things are going right now the answer would appear to be 'yes'. But look closer and we realize that the outcome is not set in stone. While Boston has been playing playoff contenders like Seattle and the Angles, the Stanks have feasted on the likes of Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Toronto.

True Boston has played some of those teams as well since the break, but the point is wait until New York has to play some tough teams and they come back to Earth a bit. As long as Boston can maintain its current pace, New York would have to continue this blistering pace for the rest of the month just to keep up.

We will all find out soon enough when the two heated rivals hook up in the Bronx in three weeks.

Who knows which team will be in first place then.

Wily Mo wants to be traded
The Globe's Gordon Edes reported yesterday that Wily Mo Pena had been placed on waivers after the Sox failed to deal him before the trade deadline, and after clearing the waiver wire he can now be dealt to any team that wants him.

Following last night's game in Anaheim, Pena went on to say that he definitely wants to be traded so he can play every day. Problem is, with a .223 average, 5 homers and horrendous defense, who the hell is gonna want a guy who's promise has been overshadowed by his performance?

Unfortunately for him he's on the wrong team at the wrong time. A club sporting one of the greatest hitters of all time, one of the game's best defensive center fielders in the game, and an overpaid bust who still plays terrific D isn't exactly the best team to try and break into a starting outfield position.

Here's hoping the affable man child finds a home soon and blossoms into a solid major leaguer.

Maybe the D-Rays can pick him up.

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A-Rod's antics liven up drab series

Hold everything, everybody, there's a major news flash coming out of New York City. Are you sitting down? Good, 'cause here it comes:

A-Rod is being accused of doing something cheap & dirty during a game against the Sox!

Go ahead, call your shrink and try to find out how something like this could happen, how could a man of such high moral fiber and solid mental character stoop so low as to throw an elbow at Dustin Pedroia's groin after sliding into second base late in the Sox 7-3 win over the Stanks last night?

I mean would a guy who has no history of behavior of this nature whatsoever do something as despicable...wait a minute, something's coming back to me now...oh yeah, WHAT ABOUT THIS:

Let's get a couple of things straight, outraged members of RSN and furios defenders of the "baseball the way it's meant to be played" card:

1. It was by any measure, a cheap play; not a good, hard slide as if he was trying to take him out type of thing, but a clear cheap shot. The play was over. A-Rod was past the base and went out of his way to throw a little chicken wing towards Pedroia's groin area, then got up and scurried away like he didn't mean to do it. Typical A-Rod, go for the johnson and run


2. Nobody should be surprised or care. In A-Rod's twisted little mind he thinks he was doing something to fire up his team, to prove that he's a "win at all costs" player who is willing to do the little things to show that he's a real gamer. In the mind of this Red Sox fan, he looked like the pathetic little purple-lipped wuss that he is, feebly attempting a half-hearted cheap shot with his team trailing Boston in the game, the standings and the national passtime's popularity contest.


3. We should all be thanking Rodriguez. Let's face it, with a double-digit deficit and one team clearly better than the other, this edition of Sox v. Stankees had become as stale as an American Karaoke results show. The latest little hissy fit from the Queen of all Prissiness has interjected some much-needed adrenaline back into the rivalry, and you can bet with Curt Schilling taking the mound tonight, this little incident could soon turn into something as glorious as this:

Overheard before the first pitch to Rodriguez tonight:

Schill: "Hey Alex, let's see how this bruise looks in HD"

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It's one game, so what?!

I'm still trying to figure out if this particular Sox/Stankees series carries as much, less, or the same weight as it would if both teams were running neck & neck for the AL East lead, which is normally the case when they have hooked up at this point in the season for the last decade or so.

Because the huge lead that the Sox enjoy over the Bronx Bummers (9.5 games) has thrown the regular aura usually surrounding a BOS/NY series off kilter.

On the one hand you've got the contingent that hearkens back to 1978, when the Stanks overcame a 14 1/2 game deficit to win the AL East in a playoff when, well you all know what happened. This "glass half full" crew can't help but think, "hey, they came back from a larger deficit that season, why not do it again? And if they're gonna do it again, why not start now, in May, instead of waiting until July or August?"

Therefore one win like last night's 6-2 Stankee victory becomes the stepping stone, the potential first building block for New York to climb back into the race.

Fine. Have your hopes and dreams, Stankee lovers, because the fall from that lofty perch of hope & hand-wringing could be a long & painful one, and I would love to see that happen.

On the other side you've got a slew of people-fans, reporters, TV sports personalities -exclaiming that the season is over for New York, they should just try for the Wild Card and see where the chips fall and get comfortable with the knowledge that their reign of 11 straight division titles is all but over.

In fact Curt Schilling's favorite columnist, Dan Shaughnessy, wrote that very sentiment in this morning's Globe, conceding that the Stanks have basically no chance of catching the Sox and therefore should concentrate on the WC and/or the possibility of a postseason-less October.

Writing that John Smoltz looked at the situation this weekend and stated "I don't think they (Sox) can be caught," Shaughnessy concurred by saying "he's probably right."

Now I may not know much (I'm a blogger, after all, how much can I know?), but I do know that that kind of thinking can be hazardous to one's health.

As bad as the Stankees have looked and as snake bitten as they appear to be this season, and as terrific as Boston has played despite prolonged slumps key players, this season is a LONG way from over.

I mean it's only freaking May- of course the Sox could blow a 9 1/2 game lead with four months to play, especially with 11 games remaining with the Feeble Empire. With the long, storied, and too often sad (for the Sox) history between these two teams, would anyone really be even remotely surprised if something as catastrophic like that were to happen?

I know I wouldn't.

But the Sox are such a talented, cohesive and selfless group of hard workers and over achievers that I do find it hard to believe that this team would fold like the 1978 crew, a team that spawned the "25 men & 25 taxis" era of Sox history.

Put it this way, if Rick Burleson had cut off Jim Rice's throw to third base like Lugo did to Manny last night, I don't think Jim Ed would have laughed it off with a "move out of the way" motion as Manny did.

What I'm trying to say is that I am just taking this season one game at a time. Tired & cliched, I know, but never has that old baseball adage ever been more appropriate. It puts everything into perspective, like last night's loss wasn't any more painful than a loss to the Jays or Orioles, or any less painful than the 14-0 beatdown by the Braves.

It's was just another game, one in which one team may have wanted it more than the other because one team needed it more than the other.

All I care about is that for once it's my team that doesn't need it more.

Enjoy the rest of the series, Stankee fans. Don't foget to keep checking the owner's box to see if your savoir, the Rocket, is staring down on his flock below.

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Wake gets rocked, Wang comes up big in NY win

New York 6, Sox 2
WP: Wang (3-3)
LP: Wakefield (4-5)
HRs: NYY-Rodriguez (18), Giambi (6)

RECAP:
Tim Wakefield was awful, Chien Ming Wang frustrated the Boston hitters by pitching out of numerous jams and the Stanks got homers from A-Rod and Giambi to defeat the Sox for just the second time in seven meetings this season.

HERO: Wang 6.1IP, 7H, 2ER, 3BBs, 5Ks
The gangly righty stymied the Sox hitters all night with a variety of off-speed pitches combined with his devastating sinker, which the Boston batters beat into the turf for eight groundball outs.

GOAT: Wake 5IP, 9H, 6ER, 5BBs, 2Ks, 2HRs
The Stankees have suddenly become the knuckleballer's kryptonite; in the last two years covering nine starts, Wakefield is a miserable 1-7 with a 6.00 ERA vs. the Bummers.

In two starts against them this year, Wakefield is 0-2 and in 10.1 innings has allowed 14 hits, 9 earned runs, 3 homers and a staggering 11 walks-yikes!

SUMMARY:
For some reason when Tim Wakefield steps onto the field against the Stankees he turns into Tim from Wakefield, looking like an average Joe Schmo trying to throw a crazy pitch to a bunch of professional hitters who don't swing at the bad ones and sit on the fat ones, waiting to pummel those high rollers far into the night sky.

And because of this sudden lack of ability to contain his team's arch enemy, Wakefield has now fallen into "let's try to set up the rotation so he doesn't have to face New York" status.

You may have noticed the stats I mentioned above, regarding how Wakefield has fared against New York since May of 2005, but I dug a little deeper and realized the numbers are downright scary when Wake pitches against New York:

-9 starts, 58IP, 49 hits, 38 earned runs, 33 walks, 42Ks, 12 homers all add up to a 1-7 record with a 5.90 ERA

The Stanks wasted no time jumping on Wakefield tonight, too, as Judas Demon (3-4, R, 2SBs) led off with a single and one out later Alex Rodriguez hit his third homer in the last three days, a titanic 2-run shot that landed behind the concrete pathway in leftfield. That blast gave New York a 2-0 lead after one and served notice that despite the disparity in records, or more likely because of it, the Stanks were coming out to win this series.

The Bombers added two more runs in the second inning, first when noted user of "the stuff", Jason Giambi, hit a right field third-deck moonshot with one out, and then after Cano doubled and Judas Demon singled again eter singled in Cano for a 4-0 New York lead.

As the Stanks were spanking Wakefield's pitches all over the yard, Boston was getting on base vs. Wang but couldn't get the big 2-out hit it needed to break the seal and close the gap. The Sox left two men on in the first inning and the bases loaded in the second and had nothing to show for it. Boston finally broke through against Wang in the 5th, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Youk (2-5, 14gm hit streak) and Papi to cut the lead to 4-1.

Unfortunately Wake gave the run right back in the bottom of the inning when he surrendered a single to Abreu, a walk to Giambi and then a triple to Cano (2-4, R, 2BI) that cleared the bases and, with the way the Sox were missing scoring opportunities, made the 6-1 gap seem almost unreachable.

The Sox cut the deficit to four runs in the 7th when Youk doubled, Lugo walked and Papi hit a sac fly to score Youkilis to cut the score to 6-2. That score got Wang to exit the game, but Brian Bruney came on to fan Manny looking to end the inning.

Boston had one more chance to make a game of it in the 8th, when they loaded the bases again with two outs on a walk, error and a hit batter, but Scott Proctor got Lugo to ground out to second and Cano made a nice play to end the threat and effectively end the game.

So the Stanks cut the margin in the East to 9 1/2 games and must feel pretty confident with the way their offense came alive and the way their pitching lines up for the rest of the series.

The best thing Boston has going for them right now is that Wakefield doesn't have to pitch again this series.

NOTES:

-The Stanks were aggressive from the get-go tonight, stealing four bases and taking big leads, using the hit & run and generally wreaking havoc on the bases

-Although Mirabelli had a rough go behind the dish, he did nail A-Rod trying to steal third with one out and two on in the third inning

-Youk's career high hitting streak was extended to 14 games with his 5th inning double; Lowell's streak ended at 10 games (0-4)

-Manny did register a hit (1-5), but he looked foolish & lost on most of his at bats, swinging at the first pitch every time and striking out twice; he did have a nice rolling catch in the 7th, though, robbing Cano of a hit

-Manny (13 games) and Papi (12) are in extended homerless droughts and the two have combined to hit just five homers in May

-J.D. Drew's hitting nightmare continues: the rightfielder was 0-5, left four men on base, and ended four innings, including the 9th; he's now batting .244-UGH!

-The Stanks made two errors, one by Jeter (8) and one by the Bruney (1)

-Mattappan Manny Delcarmen made his '07 debut and pitched a 1-2-3 7th

-J.C. Romero got into a jam by loading the bases on walks in the 6th but escaped without allowing a run; Pineiro actually pitched a scoreless 8th

-A-Rod's homer was his 6th off Wakefield, the most he has allowed to any batter

QUOTES:

-"We won two in a row. We haven't done this in a while. It's not something we usually trumpet, but we haven't done this a lot."-Joe Torre.

'Nuff said.

RECORD: 30-14

AL EAST: Up 9.5 gms on NYY

UP NEXT: @ NYY Tue 7P NESN

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Series Preview: Sox @ Stanks

Boston (30-13) at New York (19-23)
AL EAST: Sox up 10.5 on Stanks

STATS (AL Rank) BOS/NYY
AVG: .277 (1st)/ .276 (2nd)
ERA: 3.44 (t2nd)/ 4.58 (11th)
RUNS: 232 (2nd)/ 217 (5th)
HRs: 46 (6th)/ 47th (5th)

Pitching Matchups:
Game 1 Mon 7P ESPN HD
Wakefield (4-4, 2.41) vs. Wang (2-3, 4.54)
Game 2 Tues 7P, NESN HD
Tavarez (2-4, 5.59) vs. Mussina (2-2, 5.64)
Game 3 Wed 7P ESPN HD
Schilling (4-1, 3.57) vs. Pettitte (2-3, 2.83)

KEY PLAYERS:

• A-Rod: .311/17/41- it's official: he's Mr. April (.254/3/7 in May)
• Jeter: .365/26R/24BI-has hit in 21 of last 22 gms (36-88, .409)
• Abreu: .243/2/22-OBP almost 100 pts below career avg (.410-.320)
• Posada: .382/6/25- Georgie leads the American League in batting
• Giambi: .268/5/18- recent 'roid reference may get him cut
• Matsui: .295/3/20-power #s down since return from DL
• Demon: .256/24R/15BI-he's been banged up, blah blah blah

Last meeting: Sox took two of three in the Bronx Apr 27-29

I'm not sure if it's just me, located down here in the RSN South branch but there seems to be absolutely no hype for this series whatsoever. I mean, even ESPN, the megawatt hype machine that is broadcasting 2 of the 3 contests, is barely advertising this series, and I can't figure out why.

Is it because the Stankees are more banged up than than the guy who hit on Meadow Soprano?

Or because after being declared as having the greatest month in the history of the game, A(pril)-Rod has fallen to earth faster than SkyLab?

Or perhaps it's because the bumbling, stumbling Stankees, who have dealt with enough insults and injury to fill an entire season worth of Scrubs, are just too sorry & pathetic an organization right now for anyone to give a crap about this series one way or the other.

I'm going to have to go with all of the above because the same feeling just isn't there with this 3-gamer about to get underway in the Big Apple. Perhaps it also has to do with the fact that even if the Stanks somehow managed to sweep the Sox, they would still trail the East leaders by 7 1/2 games, and with another series scheduled in Boston for the first weekend of June, any damage done now could be easily repaired in Fenway, presumably with Josh Beckett back in the rotation.

The latest round of humiliation for the Stanks came this weekend in their interleague series with the rival Mets. The boys from Queens took 2-of-3 from their Bronx brethren and knocked another Stakee starter out of the rotation in the process when Darrell Rasner was injured on a ground ball by Endy Chavez on Saturday; he broke his finger an will need at least three months to recover.

Rasner joins Carl Pavano, Phil Hughes and Jeff Karstens as Stankee starters who are gone for the foreseeable future, and the ones who aren't hurt are pitching like they are. Mussina's ERA is two runs higher than his career average, Pettitte has allowed 56 hits and 21 walks in 57.1 innings, Chien Ming Wang has not regained his pre-injury form yet, and Kei Igawa, their prized $46 million Japanese import, is down in Tampa working on his mechanics with the A-leaguers.

Throw in the fact that Judas Demon is playing like a $13 mil/year octogenarian outfielder, Jason Giambi has opened his mouth and stuck his steroided foot in it again, national columnists are calling for Joe Torre's head, and the entire Stankee organization & fan base is waiting with baited breath for Roger Clemens to recycle up and ride in to save the season, and what you've got is one sorry bunch of sonafabitches residing in the house that Ruth built.

Just for shits and giggles, I hope the Sox sweep those sorry sonafabitches!

Go Sox! Sweep the Stanks!

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Series Recap: Sox/Stanks

Sox win series, 2 games-1
GM 1: BOS 11-4
GM2: NYY 3-1
GM 3: BOS 7-4

-STATS: BOS/NYY
RUNS: 19/ 11
AVG: .276/ .214
HITS: 29/ 21
HRs: 5/ 3
BP ERA: 0.93/ 5.51

The second Sox/Stanks series of 2007 was another productive one for the Boston offense and this time an excellent one for the Sox pitchers, unlike last weekend's sloppy slugfests.

Boston ended the month in style, taking 2-out-of-3 in New York to retain its comfy division lead while pushing the Stanks further down the AL East food chain, into the sub-hell that lurks below the D-Rays permanent residence.

A couple of players stayed hot (Cora, Lowell) or warmed up (Lugo, Youk) in this 3-gamer, while others remained icy-cold (Tek, Pedroia) or showed some signs of thawing out (Manny.) Here's a look at how the numbers shook out for the series.

Three-game Composite Box Score:

• Lugo: 5-13 (.385), 3R, 4RBI, 2B, HR, 2BB, 2SB
• Youk: 5-13 (.385), 3R, 3RBI, HR, 3BB
• Papi: 4-11 (.364), 3R, 3RBI, 3BB, K, HR
• Manny: 3-11 (.273), R, 2RBI, HR, 3BB, 3K
• Drew: 0-9, 4Ks
• Lowell: 3-10 (.300), R, 2B, 2RBI, 3BB, 2K, 2E
• Tek: 2-8 (.250), R, 2BB, 2K, E
• Coco: 4-12 (.333), 3R, RBI, 3B, 2K, SB
• Pedroia: 1-6 (.167) , 2R, 2B, BB, K
• Cora: 2-5 (.400), 2R, 3B, HR, 3RBI
• Hinske: 0-5
• Willy Mo: 0-0
• 'Belli: 0-2, BB, 2K

As you can see this team is so deep that not everybody has to be clicking on all cylinders to keep the machine humming along; when guys like Manny & Drew are scuffling, others like Cora, Youk and Lugo are there to pick them up.

The pitching in this series was much improved from the previous weekend in Fenway, where the Boston staff allowed almost as many runs (17) as the Sox scored (21). This time the Boston hurlers held the Stanks potent lineup in check, giving up only 11 runs in 3 games and shutting down some of the Stankees' more prolific hitters.

Let's take a look at the composite linescores of the pitchers, and also what they did to some of the New York batters:

• Dice-K: 6IP, 5H, 4ER, 4BB, 7K, W
• Wakefield: 5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 6BB, 3K
• Tavarez: 5IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HR, W
• Okijima: 3IP, 2H, 5K
• Timlin: 2IP, 3H, ER, 2K, HR
• Paps: 1IP, H, K, SV
• Romero: 1IP, BB, K
• Snyder: 1IP, H, K
• Pineiro: 1IP, BB, K
• Donnelly: 2/3IP, H, BB

Demon- 1-11 (.090); Jeter- 7-14 (.500), HR; Abreu-1-12 (.083); A-Rod-2-11 (.181); Giambi- 4-9 (.444); Posada- 2-9 (.222), HR; Cano- 0-11, 4K; Matsui- 1-10 (.100)

The numbers don't lie in this case. Boston pitching was exceptional, especially not-so-secret-weapon Hideki Okijima, who continues to baffle righties & lefties with his yakker, and Papelbon, who has yet to allow a run this season. That's in stark contrast to New York's closer Mariano Rivera, who looks like he's ready to take up residence in the Shady Acres retirement community, although he did get New York's first save of the season in Game 2.

Other interesting notes include Mike Lowell making 2 errors to take over the major league lead with eight, Mr. April cooling off to the point that he had no homers and no RBI in the series, and Alex Cora basically carrying a neon sign flashing "PLAY ME" after another weekend of heroics vs. the Stanks.

All in all an excellent way to end the first month of the season, by taking 5-6 from the hated Empire and sitting atop the AL East.

Five more months and 12 more games vs. NY to go before we can start popping that playoff bubbly again, though.

But at least they're off to a good start.

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No 'Sweep II', but 5 out of 6 ain't bad

Sox 7, New York 4

WP: Tavarez (1-2)
LP: Wang (0-2)
SV: Papelbon (8)
HRs: BOS: Papi (7), Cora (2), Manny (3); NYY- Ball Stealer (2), Jeter (2)

Look closely, Alex; you should be able to see a starting job in the near future

SUMMARY:
Another game, another come-from-behind Sox victory over the sinking ship known as the New York Stankees.

Boston trailed 3-2 after Doug Mientkiewicz hit a 3-run homer into the right field seats off Julian Tavarez in the 3rd inning. But just like they did in their 4 previous wins over New York, the Sox hitters pecked away at the Stankee starter, then hammered away at the fledgling bullpen, leading to another satisfying comeback win over the hated Stanks.

HEROES:

1. Cora: 2-4, 2R, 3RBI, 3B, HR- his 2-run shot in the 5th game Boston the lead it wouldn't relinquish and his triple in the 7th off Scott Proctor unofficially brought an end to the Dustin Pedroia Experiment


2. Manny: 2-4, 1R, 2RBI, HR- after being robbed of extra bases by Bobby Abreu in the 6th, ManRam teed off on Sean Henn for a 2-run blast in the 8th that put the game away, 7-3


3. Tavarez: 5IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HR- not exactly Cy Young stats, but he held the dangerous Stankee lineup to 3 runs in 5 innings and held the fort until the offense could get to the NY pen
   

GOATS:

1. Wang: 6IP, 6H, 4ER, 3BB, 1K, 2HRs- I know he just got off the DL last week, but when Doug Freaking Mientkiewicz hits a 3-run jack to give your team a lead, you don't blow that rare gift from the heavens


2. Matsui: 0-4, K, 5 LOB- another recent DL member who is struggling to find a groove; his DP in the 4th, when NY had men on 1st & 2nd with no outs and a 1-run lead, really came back to haunt them


3. Judas Demon: 0-4, K- the $13 million dollar man went 2-11 with 2R, 2BB, 3Ks and 2 RBI in the series; supposedly he's got back problems; I guess carrying around all that blood money takes its toll
   

SUMMARY:
After experiencing a mild blip in the aura surrounding the 2007 edition of Sox v. Stankees yesterday, things got back to normal today as Boston completed a stunning 5-out-of-6 blitzkrieg of the Stanks with yet another come-from-behind win.

From the Red Sox perspective you have to know things are going your way when your worst starter-who is headed back to the bullpen in a matter of days-shuts down New York's potent lineup, and on the flip side things couldn't be any worse for the Stanks when its best starter from a year ago can't keep little Alex Cora from going deep and crushing the spirit of an Empire.

The day started off looking like the Sox would have an easy time winning the last game of this split weekend, 6-game series. David Ortiz, who had been in a power drought, took care of that problem with a majestic, towering drive into the third deck in right off Chien-Ming Wang with two outs in the first for a quick 1-0 Boston lead. In the third Coco (1-3, 2R) led off with a triple and Cora got him home on a groundout to make it 2-0, and RSN had to start thinking maybe the Sox could take one game without having to stage a comeback.

Not so fast my friend. Any thoughts of a quick, painless win were wiped away with one swing of a Stankee bat in the bottom of the third, and wouldn't you know it was old friend Dougie the Ball Stealer Mientkiewiecz who did the damage to his old mates. Tavarez walked Posada & Cano to start the frame, then after a botched bunt led to a passed ball by Varitek, Ball Stealer swung at a 3-2 offering from Julie and parked it in the rightfield seats for a 3-2 New York lead.

Did I mention he was batting .142 with 1 homer? Friggin' ex-players will do it to ya every time.

Not to worry though, because this is Sox/Stanks '07, where the Boston comeback is all but guaranteed. And wouldn't you know it was that diminutive dynamic duo of Coco & Cora (they sound like a pair of mini-Shelties for cryin' out loud) would be the ones to get the game back into Boston's hands.

In the top of the 5th Crisp was hit as he was attempting to bunt, and with visions of another Coco injury dancing in our heads, Cora came up to face Wang. The little guy has hit 4 homers in the past 3 years and has 32 career longballs in 9+ years in the bigs. But for a Punch & Judy hitter he sure didn't waste any time jumping on a 2-0 offering from Wang, sending a drive into the stands for yet another back-breaking, lead-taking homer for Boston.

For all intents & purposes the game was over right there, but since they had to play a few more innings, why not tack on some more runs? Wang left after six innings as much from the humiliation as from a blister on his hand, and when Scott Proctor made his daily appearance out of the New York bully, the Sox batters eyes had to light up. And wouldn't you know it Cora was right in the middle of the next scoring play, too.

He sent a drive high off the rightfield wall, over an outstretched but out-of-position Bobby Abreu's glove, and raced into 3rd with a triple. Lugo hit a sac fly to score the all-important insurance run, 5-3, but Manny would then make like Aflac, providing all the insurance the team would need with a 2-run bomb off of Sean Henn in the 8th; it was his 50th career jack against the Stanks, putting him into some rare company (more later) and putting enough distance between the two teams to ensure there would be no come-from-behind win for NY.

That's because Boston now has two weapons in the pen- Papelbon & Okijima. The Japanese lefty with the devastating curveball is suddenly one of the best parts of this team, and if he's not careful he might begin to overshadow his more famous countrymen. Oki came on in the 6th and struck out Abreu & Giambi, then got Matsui to ground out with a man on to end the inning, and he retired Posada and pinch-hitter Josh Phelps on strikeouts in the 7th before exiting.

After Timlin allowed a homer to Jeter in the 8th, Paps came on in the 9th and despite allowing a leadoff double to Giambi, got three quick outs from there to complete the satisfying near-sweep.

So that's all we get to see of New York for a while, until a rare mid-week, 3-game set at the end of May.

By that time who knows where both teams will be.

All I do know is that there is a definite atmosphere change about this series this season. I think it's called the smell of success.

NOTES:

-Slumping J.D. Drew got the day off; Eric Hinske started in his place and went 0-4

-Papi's homer was his 23rd vs. New York, a great feat but still less than half of Manny's total against them. Oh, and the players ManRam joined in the 'Over 50 HRs vs. NY' club? Guys named Foxx, Williams, Greenberg & Yaz; ever heard of 'em?

-Oki has 17 Ks in 12.2 innings and a 0.71 ERA; Papelbon has 15 Ks in 9.1, an ERA of 0.00 and has allowed 2 hits all season; pretty nice 1-2 punch, huh?

-Mike Lowell's hit streak ended at 14 games, but Derek Jeter extended his to 17 games with the homer

-A-Rod did get 2 hits, but he grounded into a DP to kill a potential rally in the 8th and is in a 3-18 (.167) slide with no homers or RBI in his last 5 games; looks like Mr. April is about to turn nto Mr. May (day)

QUOTES:

-"I think today was one of the very, very important starts for me. I felt it was like the last start of my life."- Tavarez; we can only hope so, Julie.

RECORD: 16-8

AL EAST: Up 4 gms on TOR

UP NEXT: Off Mon; Tue vs. OAK

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Game Preview: Sox @ Stanks

GM 3 1PM
Tavarez (0-2, 8.36) vs. Wang (0-1, 6.14)

The Stanks finally got on the BOS/NY scoreboard yesterday afternoon with their 3-1 victory over Boston, breaking a 4-game losing streak against their AL East counterparts and a 7-game skid overall.

And despite the fact that the Stanks are still staggered by injuries and ineffectiveness on its pitching staff, Jeff Karstens the latest to join the wounded with the broken leg he suffered yesterday, the Bronx boys have a good shot at putting up a 2-game winning streak after today's game.

That's because the Sox will start its worst pitcher today, Gascan Tavarez, probably (hopefully) for the last time as Jon Lester is set to come off the DL this week.

Tavarez was been an emergency solution in the rotation when Lester wasn't going to be ready to start the season with the big club and pas decided to head back to the pen. So to his credit, Julie has held the line while Lester rehabbed from chemotherapy treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Unfortunately the only way Tavarez can hold the line is by allowing 8 1/2 runs per 9 innings, more than 1 hit/inning, and nearly 1 run for every inning he has pitched (14.1IP, 13R)

New York will counter with recently recovered Chien-Ming Wang. The ace of last year's staff, when he posted a 19-6 record, just came off the DL last week after suffering a hamstring injury in spring training. He made his first start last Tuesday down here in Tampa Bay and allowed 9 hits and 4 runs in 6.1 innings, picking up the loss in a 6-4 Rays win.

Boston wants this game in order to prevent New York from gaining any kind of momentum or feeling of confidence against them. New York obviously wants to establish some kind of continuity, and would also like its most reliable starter from a year ago to regain his form and become the leader that this rotation so desperately needs right now.

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The Empire (finally) strikes back

New York 3, Sox 1

WP: Igawa (2-1)
LP: Wakefield (2-3)
SV: Rivera (1)
HRs: NYY-Posada (2)

Geez, these guys act like they just won the World Series for cryin' out loud (which they haven't done since 2000)

SUMMARY:
It was a pretty straightforward game in the Bronx today, for a change.

Both Tim Wakefield and Kei Igawa (who replaced an injured Jeff Karstens) pitched excellent ballgames, the only real damage being a Georgie Posada 2-run shot off Wake in the 4th; although both teams added a run later, that was the deciding blow in this strangely uneventful game.

HEROES:

1. Igawa: 6IP, 2H, 4BB, 6K- pressed into action when starter Karstens went out after just 6 pitches, the other Japanese pitcher to garner attention in the off season finally came through for New York. His performance not only saved the day, it might have saved their season


2. Posada: 1-2, 2R, 2RBI, 2BB- other than Jeter, who had 3 hits, Georgie had the best day on offense for New York. His homer was a momentum-swinger, and he also scored the 3rd NY run after drawing a leadoff walk in the 6th


3. Rivera: 1IP, 1H, 1st SV- one day after an obituary was being written for his career (by your truly at least) the grizzled vet came in and got the job done for his team. He even sawed off a couple of bats for old times sake, but Tek still singled with his busted stick
   

GOATS:

1. J.D. Drew: 0-4, 2Ks, 5LOB- it's taken nearly a month but the new RF is officially in a slump, and his performance today was downright depressing


2. Big Papi: 0-3, BB, 3LOB, 2GIDP- ditto for Papi regarding the slump as the big man grounded into two rally-killing DPs and fouled out to first before walking in his last AB


3. A-Rod: 0-4, 2Ks, E, 8LOB- all I can say is it's a good thing for him that NY won or the Bronx boo birds would have been back on his case quicker than you can say "fairweather fans"

KEY MOMENT: Top 8th, 2on, 0 out
With Youk (single) and Papi (walk) aboard, Boston had a legitimate chance to pull another come-from-behind rabbit out of its hat.

But then Manny struck out looking, Drew dribbled into a fielder's choice, and after Lowell got an RBI single to break the shutout, Coco struck out looking and a golden comeback opportunity went by the wayside.

RECAP:
Before anyone heads down to the Kazim or the Skyway, let's put today's loss to the Stanks into proper perspective:

• Boston still enjoys a 4-game lead in the AL East


• New York is still in last place in the East, 5 1/2 out & percentage pts behind the Rays


• this had to be one of the most painless New York losses in recent memory

I mean seriously, as far as Sox/Stankees games go this one was as mild as it gets: there were no stomach-turning theatrics, no last-second heart stoppers, no brawls, no records, and no monumental shifting of the seismic plate in the American League.

Nope it was just a plain old run-of-the-mill loss, one in which two pitchers gave it their all, one guy hit a big home run, and the team that was really desperate for a win came up with one when it needed it most.

Oh yeah, and a guy broke his leg. But other than that, nothing.

The fact that the most interesting play of the game may have come on the first pitch says a lot about the "quality" of the "action" today. Before the very-Dodger-like late-arriving crowd was even situated in their seats Julio Lugo lead off the game with a wicked liner directly off Karsten's right leg below the knee.

The ball ricocheted off his leg, and the rookie righty writhed on the turf in pain as Lugo scooted down to first, while everyone else awaited the result of the ugly hit to Karstens. At first he appeared to shake it off, and after testing it he gamely attempted to keep going. But after five more pitches the Stankees' staff had seen enough and pulled him from the game before further damage was done.

Good thing, too. Turns out the kid has a broken leg, and although according to the team doctor he won't need surgery and will return sometime this season, you have to think he will miss a minimum of 6-8 weeks. Either way the untimely, freak injury is yet another blow to the battle-fatigued New York starting staff.

But as I like to say, one man's pain is another man's gain, and embattled Japanese (former) starter Kei Igawa took his chance to show his bosses something and ran with it. The lesser known of the two Japanese starters who got "posted" last winter (the other obviously being Dice-K for any bubble boys out there), Igawa came to the Bronx with a high price tag ($46 mil) but lower expectations than his fellow countryman.

Unfortunately Kei had failed to meet even the minimum requirements. Because in any country, 24 hits in 20.2 innings, 18 earned runs allowed, 9 walks, 5 homers and a 12.60 ERA in 4 starts isn't worth $46 million. Yet that's what the 27-year-old lefty had given the Stanks this season, and for his efforts he was banished to the pen.

But like a Japanese Phoenix rising from the Pacific, Igawa came on in relief of his injured teammate and put the entire Big Apple on his back. He immediately got out of trouble in the 1st when he got Papi to GIDP after Youk had followed Lugo's hit with a single, then struck out Drew with 2 on to end the inning, and you could almost see New York's fortunes start to change.

Igawa and Wakefield (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 6BB, 3K) were dancing in and out of mini-jams all day, but it was a quick strike in the bottom of the 4th that changed the tide for the 7-consecutive loss Stanks. After Hideki Matsui walked with one out, Posada delivered on a knuckler inside and deposited it into the upper deck in right for a monkey-lifting 2-0 lead.

Not that New York could feel safe with a measly 2-run lead. Not after it had blown leads in each of the last four losses to Boston, including the memorable 6-2 edge that disintegrated during a 5-run 8th and resulted in a 7-6 win for the Sox last Friday. But for some reason today felt different.

Maybe it was the idea that if you kick a dog so many times when its down, eventually it will jump up and bite you. And the Stanks had been playing the part of an unwanted Setter for over a week now.

That's why when Rivera strode out from the pen, his familiar anthem "Enter Sandman" blaring from the loudspeakers, towing his unholy 12.15 ERA behind him, you just knew this time he was going to get the job done.

New York needed this one too much.

Fortunately for Sox fans, we didn't.

NOTES:

-As I mentioned above, Drew and Papi are in full-blown slumps now: J.D. is batting .129 (4-31) with 1 RBI in his last 8 games as his average has dropped from .346 to .278; and while Ortiz is getting base hits, he hasn't homered and has only 4 RBI in his last 7 contests and doesn't appear to be seeing the ball very well (a lot of check swings)

-Manny also continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel; another hitless day (0-2, 2BB, 2K) dropped his average to .188, and speaking of not seeing the ball well, his frozen caveman impersonation on that strikeout by Farnsworth in the 8th was horrendous

-Youk and Lowell both grabbed 2 hits, but Lowell made two more errors, giving him 8 for the season-yikes.

-Coco was ejected for arguing about the call on his strikeout to end the 8th. In his defense, the ball was outside. Against him- no need to slam the hat & bat. Maybe the new cornrows were too tight

-Speaking of frozen caveman, a gimpy Judas Demon took the DH spot today and went 1-4 with a walk. He's now batting .242

-New York left 25 men on base; Boston's count was low for a change-9

-Jeter's hitting streak reached 16 games, and Lowell now has a 14 gamer

QUOTES:

-"This is a huge win for us. We needed a close game to win. We needed a number of people to do a job, and they did."-Torre, nicely summing up the importance of the victory

-"We've had a lot of stuff happen. You couldn't print what was going through my head, or what was coming out of my mouth."-GM Brian Cashman on the Karsten's injury

-"He was all right. Nothing special. He was throwing a lot of hittable pitches, but we were just not hitting it."-Ortiz on Igawa. Way to give credit where credit is due, Papi

-"I would have been frustrated, too. Did you see the pitch? Tough, tough."-Tito on the pitch that got Coco ejected

RECORD: 15-8

AL EAST: Up 4 on TOR/BAL

UP NEXT: Sun @ NYY 1P

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Game Preview: Sox @ Stanks

GM 2 3:55PM FOX HD
Wakefield (2-2, 2.08) vs. Karstens (0-1, 14.54)

I just got back from my son's Little League game. The good news is his team won, 10-9, thanks to a four run 9th inning, and he picked up the win by striking out the side in the top half of the inning.

The bad news is his team is the Yankees, and the team we beat was the Red Sox.

Let's hope that spectacular win wasn't a bad omen for this game.

But the way the Sox own the Stanks (the real teams) right now, I don't think a parade of black cats, 1000 broken mirrors and walking under a 400-ft ladder could derail what is quickly turning into an embarrassing (for NY) ownership of one team over the other.

Much like last season's 5-game Boston Massacre II sweep of the Sox in August deflated Boston's dreams of contending for a playoff spot, with a victory today the Sox could have a similarly demoralizing 5-game sweep of the Stanks.

Sure it's early, but when you beat another team into the ground enough times, it starts to get into their heads no matter what time of the year it is.

Tim Wakefield will take the mound today, and although he had a shaky outing last time out (8H, 3ER in a 7-3 loss to TOR), he still has been one of Boston's most consistent starters, posting a 2.08 ERA and not allowing any drop off after the Big Three (Schill-Beckett-Matsuzaka).

New York will try to stop the 7-game blood loss by sending Jeff Karstens back to the mound. Last time out the Sox roughed him up to the tune of 9 hits and 7 ERs in just 4.1 innings of work in a 7-5 Boston win last Saturday.

But whomever New York sends out there has been treated like a pinata by the Boston batters, and it will take a monumental effort by Karstens & the horrid NY bully to stop the avalanche of Red sweeping over the Bronx boys right now.


Go Sox!
Sweep II

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And the beat goes on; Sox crush Stanks again

Sox 11, New York 4

WP: Dice-K (3-2)
LP: Pettitte (1-1)
HRs: BOS-Lugo (1), Youk (2)

R.O.I.? The Sox are paying Lugo $8 mil a year to have games like he did tonight

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox continued its 2007 Feast o' Stankee Pitching with another bludgeoning of the New York staff, this time in the Bronx.

Daisuke Matsuzaka survived a rough 4th inning to register the win, Julio Lugo and Kevin Youkilis homered to power a 13-hit attack and the Sox pushed New York's losing streak to seven games with this laffer over the Bronx Bummers.

HEROES:

1. Julio Lugo: 3-4, 3R, 3RBI, 2BBs, 2SBs, E, DP, HR- he began the game with a groundout but tore it up after that; singled & scored on Youk's homer in the 3rd; homered in the 6th to give Boston breathing room at 6-4; doubled in the 8th to make it even more comfy at 7-4; and his bases loaded walk in the 9th made it a laugher, 9-4
2. Dice-K: 6IP, 5H, 4ER, 4BB, 7K- he was dominant at times (7 strikouts) and dubious (3 straight walks in the 4th) others, yet he stayed focused despite that one rough patch and found a way to win in his Yankee Stadium debut
3. Boston batters: four guys had at least 2 hits (Lugo, Youk, Papi, Coco), three had at least 2 ribbies (Lugo, Youk, Papi), five knocked in at least 1 run and seven Sox scored runs

GOATS:

1. Stankee pitchers: six hurlers, 13 hits, 11 earned runs, 25-minute innings, 4+hour games and 197 pitches: these are your 2007 New York Stankees ladies & gentlemen
2. Bobby Abreu: 0-5, 2Ks, GIDP, 7 LOB- the career .300 hitter is now batting .262 and is in the midst of a horrendous 2-26 slide with 11 Ks during the 7-game losing streak
3. Robinson Cano: with his 0-4, 3-strikeout, 5 men left on base performance the man named after Jackie more resembled another Robinson- Crusoe, as in lost.

RECAP:
Another Sox/Stankees game, another Boston come-from-behind blowout win. So far that has been the pattern in 2007 as Boston has won all four meetings by an average score of 8-5 while outhitting New York 50-36.

The main difference, as it has been all year for both teams, was the pitching. Boston's starter, Dice-K, was making his big league debut in the hallowed stadium, yet he pitched like a seasoned veteran of the big stage. He had one bad inning- the 4th- when he walked 3 batters in a row and gave up 3 bloop hits which led to all four of New York's runs, but he overcame that troubling frame to right the ship and keep his team in the game.

His New York counterpart however, Andy Pettitte, who became a World Series hero in this very stadium, couldn't duplicate Matsuzaka's poise under pressure. Staked to a 4-2 lead after his team's 4th inning uprising, the lefty immediately gave it back in a wild inning-the 5th- of his own.

Lugo got it started with a 1-out walk, stole second, then Youk singled him to third. Ortiz followed with yet another opposite-field single that scored Lugo, and after Manny walked to load the bases and J.D. Drew struck out, Pettitte walked Mike Lowell to force in the tying run. Papi would then "scamper" in and score the go-ahead run on a Pettitte wild pitch (should've been a passed ball on Georgie), and before anyone even knew what happened Boston was well on its way to yet another come-from-behind win over the devastated Stanks.

But not before they rubbed some salt on the wounds, just for good measure. Lugo's homer & double made it 7-4 after 8, but things went from bad to worse in the 9th as New York was just trying to close it out and get the hell outta there. Joe Torre brought in seldom-seen but often-hit Mariano Rivera for some much-needed work (after all, the club doesn't have a save yet this season and has had very few opportunities to get one), but his outing ended up being a sad sight for the legion of Stankee fans worldwide.

The former dominating closer looked like a shell of his former self. He allowed 3 hits, a walk and 4 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning, and when Torre pulled him in favor of Mike Myers you could almost sense the end of an era was happening right before your eyes.

I tell ya if I didn't hate this friggin' team with every fabric of my being I might have almost felt sorry for the guy.

The way the Stanks are playing right now, sorry is the only word that comes to mind though.

NOTES:

-Drew (0-5) was the only starter not to record a hit; he is now in a 7-31 skid that has dropped his average from .375 to .293 (guess I missed him in my 'who's not hot' preview)

-Mike Lowell's 9th inning single extended his hitting streak to 13 games

-Cap'n Tek did get a hit, a walk and scored a run, but he struck out 2 more times; that makes 9 Ks in his last 14 ABs

-Jeter extended his hit streak to 15 games, although it was delayed when he had the day off Thursday to recover from various bruises

-A-Rod had a very quiet night: 0-3 with a walk and a run and a strikeout

-Ball Stealer had a rough night as well; he fell into the camera well chasing a fly ball and went 0-4 with 2 Ks, both looking. Plus he had the nerve to dispute both calls- idiot, you're batting .142, sit down and shut up

-Boston left a ton of men on base again (18), but the Stanks topped that with 22 ducks left on the pond

-the losing streak is New York's longest since 2000. The team record is an unlucky 13 games in a row back in, appropriately enough, 1913

QUOTES:

-"We're just not a good baseball team right now." -Jason Giambi, a.k.a. Captain Obvious

-"It's as frustrating as you can get. It's embarrassing is what it is."-Pettitte, ditto

-"If I got into all the things that happened in the fourth inning, it would be a very long story. So to keep a long story short, I think there are technically a few things I need to work on."-Dice-K summing up his performance

-"It's good for us to beat them."- Lugo, fully comprehending the scope of the rivalry

RECORD: 15-7

AL EAST: Up 4 gms on TOR, 6 1/2 on NY

UP NEXT: SAT @ NYY 3:30 on FOX HD

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