Sox bounce back as Beckett stymies Stanks

Sox 7, New York 5
WP: Beckett (2-1)
LP: Mussina (1-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Manny, 2 (5); NYY-Cabrera (3)

Maybe Manny screamed BUNKO! every time he hit a round tripper

SUMMARY:
Josh Beckett had his best outing of the season in a game the Sox desperately needed after last night's humiliating defeat, and Manny Ramirez continued his demolition of New York pitching with a two-homer, 3-RBI night as Boston split the two game series in the Bronx.

Superstar: Manny 3-5, 3R, 3BI, 2HR
The Bronx-bred boy ravaged his hometown team once again, slamming the 54th and 55th homers of his career against the team he grew up admiring. He also had 3 hits for the second game in a row and is now batting .343, has 18 RBI, and is just 5 homers away from 500.

The Biggest Loser: Mike Mussina 3IP, 7H, 5ER, 0BB, 2K, 2HR, 2HBP
Not only did Manny hit his 2nd & 3rd homers off him this week, but the regressing veteran has given up 9 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings against Boston over the past 6 days.

RECAP:
Can't really recap this one, because I didn't get to see it.

And of course it had to be the exciting Sox victory I miss, not the travesty of baseball that was last night's abortion of a game.

The story behind it is (are you ready for a good laugh?)...I had to vacate the house tonight because the wife was having the girls over for Bunko.

Not sure what that is, single fellas out there? It's when a bunch of women gather round, drink too many cocktails, tell too many dirty stories and lament about their families all in the guise of playing a meaningless, no-strategy card game.

Okay, you can stop laughing.

Anyway, it wasn't a big deal because they would be done by 9:00-9:30ish, and I had set the DVR to record the game. After taking my son (as a responsible dad I can't expose him to the nonsense) to the batting cages and out to dinner, I would retreat to my den and rewind the game to catch up with what I missed, since it would probably only be in the 4th or 5th inning by then.

Except when I got home the wife had breaking news for me, you know, the kind of news that makes you want to break something.

"Honey, you're not gonna believe this. Right after you left the power went out and the TV and stuff is dead."

After recovering from that sucker punch, I just figured I go reset the breaker and settle for watching the last half of the game.

Nope. "I tried to reset the breaker, but it wouldn't stick" she informs me.

Luckily my son was standing there as well as a couple of Bunko stragglers, so I summoned up all my willpower and didn't toss anything.

Although after checking the score on the computer, I wanted to toss my cookies.

I quickly learned that Beckett was in the midst of handcuffing the cocky sons of bitches from the boogie down, and that Manny had mashed not 1 but 2 dingers off that dickhead Mike Mussina, and that's when the hurt really started to sink in.

All the three TVs with cable boxes were dead, and with the game on Extra Innings, the two with no boxes were about as useful as Eric Gagne in a close game.

From what I "saw" on Game Cast, Boston built a 7-0 lead on Manny's homers, RBI singles by Pedroia and Tek and an RBI double by J.D. Drew, but the Stanks touched Beckett (8IP, 6H, 3ER, 1BB, 5K) for 3 runs in the 5th to slice the lead to 7-3. After giving way to Paps in the 9th, New York tacked on two more against the Boston closer to make a blowout look much closer than it was.

The bad part about following a bunch of dots and stats online is I didn't get to see Kyle Farnsworth nearly decapitate Manny in the 7th, nor did I see Manny's classic irked/amused expression after it happened.

I didn't get to see it, but I probably had a similar look on my face at the time.

After all, how else do you handle missing a great Sox/Stanks contest because of a power surge and a bunch of ladies screaming "BUNKO!"?

RECORD: 10-7
STREAK: W1
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
UP NEXT: Fri vs TEX 7PM @ Fenway Mendoza vs. Matsuzaka

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Stanks outslug Sox in sloppy game in the Bronx

New York 15, Sox 9
WP: Hawkins (1-0)
LP: Tavarez (0-1)
SV: Bruney (1)
HRs: BOS-None; NYY- Abreu (2), A-Rod (4)

This screenshot says all you need to know about the game

SUMMARY:
Another day, another interminable, near unwatchable Sox/Stanks slugfest, this one featuring 24 runs, 30 hits, 9 pitchers and 341 pitches, all contained in a tidy 4 hours and 8 minutes. The Stankees had 4 innings in which they scored at least 3 runs, or once more than they had done it all season prior to tonight.

Ug-ly.

Superstar: Georgie Posada 2-5, 2-2Bs, 2R, 3BI
He might be too sore to catch, but he can still hit, and he burned the Sox twice tonight. His first double in the 5th brought the Stanks back to within one run at 8-7, and his second double provided plenty of insurance, plating 2 in the 8th to push the NY lead from 11-9 to 13-9.

The Biggest Loser: take your pick-

• Clay Buchholz - gave up back-to-back homers in the 1st inning, and that wasn't the worst part of his night. By the time he was finished he had been charged with 8 hits and 7 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, and miraculously he didn't take the loss


• Chien Ming Wang - fresh on the heels of his 2-hit gem last Friday, Wang was gonged to the tune of 8 runs and 9 hits in 4 innings, and he didn't take the loss


• Julian Tavarez - was handed a 2-run lead after the Sox rallied for 6 runs in the 5th, only to revert back to the Julie of old by allowing 4 runs and 3 hits in an inning and a third; he did take the loss


• Mike Timlin - made sure Boston could not stage another 9th inning comeback when he surrendered 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in the 8th. His ERA is now a Fisk-like 27.00.

The list could go on and on, but I guess I'll stop there.

RECAP:
How do you summarize a game like this? I mean without using 4,000 words and 3/4 of them being curses?

I actually missed the first 3 innings because I was at my son's Little League game, which his team won 12-6; by the time I got in the score was 4-3 Stanks, and little did I know the teams were just getting warmed up, or that my son's game would actually be the more entertaining, better played contest I would see this evening.

You've heard of that genre of movies called 'horror porn'? Well the Rivalry has turned into horsehide horror porn, full of disgusting, over-the-top images that make the viewer want to turn their head, only you can't because you are mesmerized by the sickening sights you are seeing in front of you.

Except these major league gross-outs are about 3 times longer than any of the installments of 'Saw' or 'Hostel'.

I can't find the right words to describe what happened, so I'll revert back to an old lazy blogger trick and let the numbers (and bullet points) do the talking:

• The teams combined for 30 hits (Bos-14, NY-16), and 10 players had at least 2 hits apiece


• 17 players scored at least one of the 24 runs with 7 scoring a pair of runs


• 14 batters drove in at least 1 run, and 7 knocked in at least 2 runs


• Boston trailed 3-1 after one inning, tied it at 3 in the 4th, surrendered 4 in the bottom of the 4th to fall behind 7-3, then exploded for 6 in the 5th to take a 9-7 lead


• Not to be outdone, New York countered that 6-spot with 4 of their own in the bottom of the 5th to take an 11-9 lead, then tacked on another 4-run inning to blow the doors off


• Out of the 30 hits, only 10 went for extra bases, and Boston scored all 9 runs without the benefit of a home run


• Jacoby Ellsbury (0-5) was the only starter on either side not to record a hit

It was one of those games that after its over, you can't really remember exactly what happened and when it happened. It comes back to you in bits and pieces, like a bloop single here and an RBI double there, a big hit by Jeter here and a monumental error by Julio Lugo there...

You know, just like the scenes in a horror porn flick. You can't remember exactly what point in the movie the guy got his larynx sliced open with a rusty butcher knife, but you recall it happening at some point in the picture.

Basically that's all I've got to say about this one. I've already snapped at the wife and berated the dog, so now I'm gonna go play a violent video game on the 360 and take some of my frustrations out on a horde of unrelenting alien attackers.

Maybe then I'll rent Turistas and try and forget about this game.

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Series preview: Sox @ Stanks

Red Sox (9-6) @ NY Stankees (8-7)
2 Game series, Yankee Stadium

Game 1 Wed 7PM ESPN
Buchholz (0-1, 3.27) vs. Wang (3-0, 1.23)
Game 2 Thu 7PM
Beckett (1-1, 6.35) vs. Mussina (1-2, 4.15)

What to watch for: see if the Sox (4 straight wins) can keep on rolling
Boston has not lost a game since last Friday, when tonight's starter, Chien Ming Wang, beat them with a complete game 2-hitter. The Sox would love nothing more than to defeat Wang tonight and extend their winning streak to 5 games

Who to watch for: Wang
All eyes will be on the Stankee ace to see if he can duplicate the success he had last week and keep his spectacular start to the 2008 season going.

PREVIEW:
Weren't we just here?

Not here as in new York, but talking about a Sox/Stanks series?

Indeed we were, and thanks to MLB's scheduling buffoons we get a rematch of last weekend's series, in which Boston took 2 of 3 at Fenway, just three days later in the form of a mid-week, 2-game mini series in the Bronx.

My question is, why?

For one thing these 2-gamers suck. They're useless, go by too quick, and don't give an adequate reading of how one team compares to another.

Except for the ones against the Indians. If the Sox played a 100-game series against those chokers, the outcome would be the same 99 times - come from behind victory for Boston.

Thanks to a pair of those in Regressive Field coupled with the last two Boston won against New York, the Sox are riding a 4-game winning streak into the House that Ruth Built (and the city is ready to tear down), and that run has put the them squarely back where they belong: in 1st place in the AL East.

But with all of the teams in the division closely bunched together (last place Tampa Bay is only 2 1/2 games out), the Sox need to keep winning to place some distance between them and the rest of the pack.

And what better way to start than by knocking off their arch enemies and the man who made them look like pony leaguers last weekend, Cheien Ming Wang?

Wang was masterful last Friday at Fenway, allowing just a solo homer by JD Drew and a bunt single by Coco Crisp in defeating Boston 4-1. In three starts this year the righty has allowed just 12 hits and 3 runs in 22 innings, while striking out 11 and walking just 4 batters.

And to think some people question whether or not he should be called an ace?

But there is no reason to think that his fortunes can't change on any given night, and the way Boston has been swinging the bats since that game and the confidence they got from staging two emotional comeback wins in Cleveland says to me that the Sox are ready to end Wang's run and continue their own streak.

Who's with me on this?

Good.

So enjoy the series while it lasts. Tomorrow night we get a classic matchup of a motivated Josh Beckett (a +6.00 ERA just won't cut it for him) and a deteriorating Mike Mussina, so that should be fun. After that the rivals don't play again until the 4th of July weekend in Boston.

By that time Boston should be in full control of the division, while the Stanks are calculating which pitcher they are going to acquire at the trade deadline to make up for letting Johan Santana get away.

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Sox hang on to win 2 of 3 from Stanks

Sox 8, New York 5
WP: Matsuzaka (3-0)
LP: Hughes (0-1)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-None; NYY-Giambi (2)

SUMMARY:
The Sox survived a long and arduous rubber match against the Stanks, hanging on for a close victory after jumping out to a 7-1 lead after three innings. Daisuke Matsuzaka picked up his third win of the season, although he wasn't sharp at all, and 5 Boston batter notched two hits apiece while battering New York wunderkind Phillip Hughes.

Superstar: Sean Casey 2-3, 2B, R, BI
The Mayor continues to prove he could be one of the most invaluable pickups of the offseason for any of the contenders as he rapped two more hits, raising his average to .318, drove in a pair of runs and made a number of nice hustle plays at first base.

The Biggest Loser: Hughes 2IP, 6H, 7R, 6ER, 3BB, 3K, WP
The kid was not hot tonight as the young right hander struggled with his control early and often, resulting in a messy 2 innings of work. he exited the game with his team down 7-1, and he found out the hard way what the Rivalry is really like.

RECAP:
Well, so much for a quick game.

Thanks to an excruciating amount of walks (14) and pitches (336), this game just ended at a few minutes past midnight, and thankfully the Sox pen had enough to save what could have been a horrible loss.

Dice-K again made us wonder when, or if, he will ever completely dominate the league for a long period of time like he is supposed to, yet somehow he was not bad enough to lose it.

I can already tell I am not making coherent sentences, a result of spending the afternoon at Tropicana Field with a stadium full of Little Leaguers, so I think I'm gonna hit the hay and wrap this one in the morning.

In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves. Goodnight.
--------------------------------------
And good morning.

Now that I've put my 8+ hours of baseball Sunday behind me, I feel like I can finally put together a few paragraphs and wrap this game up.

If I could just remember what happened.

The first few innings are pretty clear, but everything gets pretty hazy after that. I remember Boston jumped all over 22-year-old Phil Hughes like a Jack Russell on a fresh leg, scoring three in the first inning on 2 hits, 2 walks, a sac fly, a passed ball and an error, but the fact that the inning took nearly an hour to play was a bad sign of things to come.

After Dice-K (5IP, 5H, 4ER, 6BB, 2K, 116P) managed to toss a fairly quick second inning, he gave a run back in the third when he walked Judas Demon (for the 2nd time) and then after Demon stole second (also for the 2nd time, New York's first two steals of the season) gave up a deep double off the top of the scoreboard to Bobby Abreu to slice the lead to 3-1.

But when Boston drop-kicked Hughes in the bottom of the frame, scoring four more times and sending the kid to the showers before he even had time to get a feel for the mound, it looked as if the game was as good as over.

Except it wasn't nearly over. Not by a longshot.

The rally that got Hughes out of the game began innocently enough, with a walk to hot-hitting JD Drew (0-2, 2BB, 2R), who was hitting in Papi's 3-hole as Tito decided to give Ortiz the night off to clear his head. That pass was followed by a single to deep short by Manny, and when Youk and Casey both lined RBI singles to bulge the lead to 5-1 and drive Hughes from the game, it should have been easy sailing from then on.

Especially after the Sox tacked on two more off rookie reliever Ross Ohlendorf, the first on a wild pitch (the second gift run the Stanks allowed that way in three innings) and the 7th run on a clutch 2-out RBI single to right by Jacoby Ellsbury.

7-1 after three and the game was nearly 2 hours old. Time for Dice-K to bear down and get this game over with, right?

Unfortunately Matsuzaka was in his "every other game I'm good" mode, and since he was terrific in his lat outing, he was contractually obligated to be horrible tonight. As Dice got behind batter after batter and the pitch count piled up, it became quite apparent that this game wasn't going to be a slam dunk win by any means.

Sure enough Dice let New York right back in the game in the 4th when he allowed 2 doubles, a single, a walk, a wild pitch and a sac fly to Demon, and next thing you know it's 10:00, the Stanks had cut the lead to 7-4, and the Sox bullpen was going to have to be called on before Matsuzaka's pitch count reached 200.

This is where I started to lose it, seeing the time and the game drag on and knowing that by the time the game got over I was going to be either bored to death or incredibly upset, neither of which option did my mindset any good.

So to wrap it up quicker than they did, David Aardsma pitched 2 solid innings in relief of Dice, Mike Timlin came in to start the 8th and immediately had a case of deja vu when he surrendered a solo shot to Jason Giambi for the second time in three nights, and Boston put a key insurance run on the board when Ellsbury (1-3, R, BB, 2BI) knocked in Coco with a sac fly that capped the scoring and gave manny Delcarmen some breathing room in the 9th.

Luckily Delcarmen didn't even need it as he fanned A-Rod for the second out and then got Matsui to ground out to mercifully end the series, and at just past midnight eastern Standard time the first Sox/Stanks series of 2008 was in the books.

And just think, they get to play again on Wednesday!

Rest up.

NOTES:
-Papi off: citing the always helpful "mental day off", Tito decided that rather than have Ortiz try to break out of his 3-44 slump against the hated Stanks, he would let him rest and give it a go on Monday against the Tribe. That put Manny in the DH spot and gave the Sox the rare outfield look of Coco in center and Ellsbury in left; the duo combined for 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 RBIs while Manny had a pair of hits and runs and knocked in a run

-Hit parade: five Sox had two hits apiece (Pedroia, Manny, Youk, Casey, Coco), four drove in runs (Ellsbury, Manny, Youk, Casey) and six Sox scored at least one run (Ellsbury, Drew, Manny, Youk, Casey, Coco)

RECORD: 7-6
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
STREAK: W2
UP NEXT: Mon @ CLE, 7PM ESPN Lester vs. Westbrook

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Game Preview: Sox/Stanks Game 3

Phillip Hughes (0-1, 5.00) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, 2.82)
8:00 Fenway ESPN

If the rubber game of this initial Sox/Stanks series of 2008 is anything like the first two, expect to see plenty of solid pitching, timely hitting, poor weather and quickly played contests.

Then again if every game in the history of the rivalry went as expected we wouldn't have so many bleeping nicknames for past pinstriped players.

For two good reasons to expect the unexpected tonight look no further than the two starting pitchers who will get the call tonight. One one side you've got a highly-touted prospect making getting his initiation into the Rivalry, and on the other you've got a guy who has been more up & down than

And the outcome of the series may depend on which pitcher handles the heat of the battle better than the other.

For New York young righty Phillip Hughes will make his first start against Boston in his 16th career start. The 22-year-old has been on a fast track for major league success since the Stanks selected him with the 23rd pick in the 2004 draft, and now that washed up geezers like Randy Johnson and useless paraplegics like Carl Pavano are out of the picture, its Hughes' and fellow phenom Ian Kennedy's time to step up.

Whether he's ready to handle the intensity of Sox/Stanks, even this early in the season, remains to be seen, but the kids gotta get into the thick of it sometime.

Daisuke Matsuzaka may be sporting a 2-0 record and low ERA, but he has been anything but consistent in his second season in the majors after an illustrious career in Japan. Blessed with a variety of pitches and a deceptive delivery, his inability to throw strikes consistently, and pitch late into ballgames as he did in his homeland, has plagued him the entire time he's pitched for Boston.

Case in point: in the season opener in Japan, Dice K tossed 6.2 innings of 2-hit ball, and after shaking off some early jitters, settled down to hold the As to one run and pick up the win on his native soil. But last week against the Tigers he needed 108 pitches to get through 6.2 innings, walked 4 batters and seemed to be on the ropes consistently even though he shut Detroit out.

Thus is the mystery of Dice K. He was a hot commodity that Boston paid dearly for, but 15 wins last year and a, pardon the expression, dicey start this year is not what the Sox brass, or the Nation, had in mind for their $102 million dollar investment.

So let's just say Matsuzaka better get the best of the kid tonight, or the grumblings are going to start that Boston might have been better off investing in kids from the farm like Lester and Buchholz rather than investing in a .500 pitcher from a foreign land.

As for the speed of the game, it starts at 8:00, you've got two pitchers starting who will probably throw a lot of pitchers, Boston's middle relief has been atrocious, and the last two games have been played in under three hours.

In other words, see you 'round midnight.

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Mannny mauls Mussina as Sox defeat Stanks

Sox 4, New York 3
WP: Beckett (1-1)
LP: Beckett (1-2)
SV: Papelbon (4)
HRs: BOS-Manny (2)

SUMMARY:
Manny Ramirez nearly single-handedly defeated his hometown team with a pair of extra base hits and 3 runs batted in, and Jonathan Papelbon weathered a 2+ hour rain delay to strike out Alex Rodriguez with the game on the line as Boston took Game 2 of the series.

Superstar: Manny 2-4, 2R, 3BI
His towering solo shot in the 4th, which hit 3/4 of the way up the Volvo sign atop the Monster, may have been the more memorable blast of the day, but it was his 2out, 2-run double that put the Sox ahead to stay in the 6th that was his more important hit of the afternoon.

The Biggest Loser: David Ortiz 0-4, K, GIDP
Papi's slump has now reached epic proportions (3-44, .070), and it was downright sad to see him ground into a double play on a check swing with two on and nobody out in the first inning.

RECAP:
The first Sox victory over New York in 2008 may have been a long time in the making, but it was well worth the wait.

Well, that's easy for me to say, I was only watching it on TV.

New York had two runners on base with two outs in the 8th, down 4-3, and Tito had just made the call to the pen to bring his closer in to relieve Hideki Okajima and face Alex Rodriguez with the game on the line.

Unfortunately that's right when Mother Nature decided to intervene in what had been a thrilling installment of the Rivalry, and just as Paps was about to take the mound the drizzling skies opened up, the umps called for the tarp, and the game would be halted for over two hours.

No problem for me, as I finished the yard work I had abandoned, cooked a few steaks on the grill, took a shower and watched the end of the third round of the Masters.

The downpour wasn't as enjoyable for the brave souls who chose to stick it out at Fenway to see the game to its conclusion, but at least when play finally resumed 2 hours and 11 minutes later, Paps made those who stuck it out got their money's worth.

When play resumed A-Rod was at the plate with a chance to at least tie the game or put New York in front with a base hit. But Paps would have none of that. He quickly made mincemeat of Rodriguez, needing just three pitches to strike the reigning MVP out, and Papelbon punctuated the moment with his signature primal scream/first pump/crazy glare/ hop-step as he bounced off the field.

It was the moment everyone who braved the delay had been waiting for, and as I said before it was worth the wait.

The game leading up to that point had been just as good, before Mother Nature cast her untimely spell on those of us who had been waiting for a BOS/NY game that didn't involve a New York pitcher completely shutting the Sox offense down.

Instead Josh Beckett (6.2IP, 5H, 3ER, 1BB, 5K) bounced back from a rough first outing with a solid second showing, limiting the Stanks to just four singles and a double over 6+ innings before giving way to Manny Delcarmen after allowing New York to close to 4-3 in the 7th.

Manny Ramirez got the scoring started with a mammoth solo shot in the 4th off Mike Mussina (5.2IP, 8H, 4ER, 0BB, 1K, HR), a ball that would have sailed over Lansdowne if not for the billboard blocking its trajectory.

But New York took the lead two innings later by stringing together a couple of hits mixed in with a sac bunt, a sac fly and a wild pitch, and it started to look like Boston was going to lose another tough one to the boys from the Bronx.

Except another boy from the Bronx would have none of that.

Ramirez, who always does his best hitting against his hometown club, came up with two outs and Jacoby Ellsbury at third and Dustin Pedroia at second and did what his partner in crime Ortiz couldn't do before him- drive in the big runs in a key situation.

Manny laced a double the opposite way to the triangle in right center, easily plating both runners and eliciting a huge ovation from the crowd as he stood on the second base bag and soaked it all in like a victorious politician.

That's the version of Manny being Manny we all love.

The rest, as they say, is history. Beckett came out after New York sliced the deficit to one, and Manny Delcarmen recorded his biggest out of 08 when he struck out Jose Molina with the tying run on second to end the 7th.

After the dramatic, rain-lengthened 8th, Papelbon returned for the 9th and quickly dispatched the three Stankee hitters, striking out Giambi and Posada before getting Robinson Cano to ground out to end it, and a mere five hours after the game started it was over, and the Sox had a big win heading into the series finale tomorrow night on ESPN.

Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates in that one or it could be another long night.

RECORD: 6-6
AL EAST: 1.5 GB
STREAK: W-1
UP NEXT: Sun vs NY 8PM, ESPN Hughes vs. Matsuzaka

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Wang dominates Sox with 2-hit CG gem

New York 4, Sox 1
WP: Wang (3-0)
LP: Timlin (0-1)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Drew (3); NYY-Giambi (1)

SUMMARY:
The first installment of Sox/Stanks 08 brought one of the best pitched games the series has seen in years. Chien Ming Wang and Clay Buchholz battled through rain drops to a 1-1 draw for 6 innings before Boston went to the beleaguered bullpen and saw the game slip away as a rusty Mike Timlin allowed a go-ahead homer by Jason Giambi, while Wang shut down the Sox with a complete game 2-hitter.

Superstar: Wang 9IP, 2H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, HR
One of the best pitching performances the series has ever seen and eerily reminiscent of the 1-hitter Mike Mussina pitched on a Sunday night in Fenway in September 2001. Only a homer that should have been caught and a 9th inning bunt single by Coco Crisp kept Wang from achieving Buchholz-like immortality.

The Biggest Loser: Tito Francona
No, I'm not awarding this honor to Timlin - it's not his fault he just came off the DL and was as rusty as an old nail. It's his manager's fault for sticking a guy who is basically still in spring training mode into a tied, pressure-packed rivalry game, no matter how experienced and ready he was.

And don't even get me started on him using Okajima for just 2 batters before turning to Javier Lopez and David Aardsma.

RECAP:
What a difference a day makes.

Less than 24 hours after one of the sloppiest, ugliest, poorly pitched games in recent memory ended at Fenway when the Sox clubbed the Tigers 12-6 in a 386 pitch, 4-hour marathon, we witnessed a pitcher's duel that was shaping up to be an all-time classic.

Until Tito substituted a tiring Clay Buchholz for a soon-to-be-retiring Mike Timlin to start the 7th inning, turning what looked like a possible extra inning affair into a one man highlight reel.

New York starter Chien Ming Wang won the battle of talented young hurlers tonight by outlasting his greener counterpart and by refusing to allow the Sox hitters an inch of wiggle room when it came to maximizing his pitches.

Wang needed just 93 pitches, 61 of them strikes, to spin his 9-inning masterpiece; by contrast Tim Wakefield threw 108 in his 5 innings of work yesterday, while Tiger starter Nate Robertson tossed 107 in 5 1/3 innings.

That's what I call using your pitches effectively.

For a while it looked like neither pitcher was going to allow a run in this one as both teams put zeroes on the board for the first four innings. In fact there were only 2 baserunners through four - a 1-out single by Hideki Matsui in the second, and when Dustin Pedroia reached on a error by Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the 4th, a play that could just as easily have been ruled a hit (ask Rem Dog.)

But in the 5th both teams broke the scoreless tie. Buchholz (6IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 3K) showed signs of wearing down when he gave up back-to-back walks to Matsui and Georgie Posada to start the inning, then after getting Giambi to strike out, he surrendered an RBI double to Fill-in-the Molina for the first run of the game.

Another walk to Jeter replacement Alberto Gonzalez loaded the bases, and if it weren't for a great defensive play by mayor Casey, who snared a hot liner by Melky Cabrera and then doubled off a clueless Gonzalez to end the inning, the damage could've been a lot worse.

As it turned out the missed opportunity hurt New York when in the bottom of the inning red hot JD Drew (1-3, 8-gm hit streak) blasted a 1-0 offering from Wang over the outstretched glove of right fielder Bobby Abreu and into the Boston bullpen to tie the game at one.

If only Abreu, who had just made two nice grabs on deep drives by Papi and Youk, could have jumped more than 2 inches off the ground, Wang might have been taking a no-hitter into the 9th a-la teammate Mussina in that memorable pre-9/11 game.

Buchholz escaped another jam the next inning when ARod (single) and Matsui (double) put runners on 2nd & 3rd with two outs, but he got Posada to ground out to end the threat, which would also mark the end of his night.

Then Timlin entered to start the 7th, and that would mark the end of the Sox chances to win this game. The veteran reliever, who has been out since late March with a lacerated ring finger, was making his first appearance of the season, and I even remarked to my son "he just came off the DL-this is going to end badly."

Sure enough after working the count to 3-2, Giambi blasted a pitch high and deep over the top of the wall in left center to break the tie, along with the spirits of the rain-drenched Faithful.

Because we knew the way Wang was pitching that if he didn't come out of the game, the Sox weren't going to score again.

He didn't, and they didn't.

A couple of days ago there was a running thread on the excellent baseball blog Bugs & Cranks about whether Wang is a true ace or just an above-average starter on a loaded offensive team.

I think he put an end to that debate tonight.

NOTES:
-Lowell disabled: Boston placed Mike Lowell on the 15 day DL today, and they hope he won't need longer than that to recover from his sprained thumb. Infielder and 2007 Sox minor league player of the year Jed Lowrie was called up to replace Lowell on the roster.

-Corey out of the house: to make room for Timlin on the roster, reliever Bryan Corey (14.54ERA) was released. First Kyle Snyder and now Corey; is this what you call addition by subtraction?

-Ay Papi: Ortiz (0-3) saw his early season slump get even even deeper as his latest 0-fer dropped his average to .077. He has three hits and three RBIs this season, and those game in two games, April 2nd @ Oakland and April 6th in Toronto.

RECORD: 5-6
AL EAST: 1.5 GB
STREAK: L-1
UP NEXT: Sat vs NY, 3:55 FOX Mussina vs. Beckett

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Series Preview: The Stankees are coming (again)

New York Stankees (5-5) at Red Sox (5-5)
3 game series, Fenway Park

Game 1 Fri 705
Wang (2-0, 1.13) vs. Buchholz (0-1, 3.00)
Game 2 Sat 3:30 FOX
Mussina (1-1, 3.09) vs. Beckett (0-1, 9.64)
Game 3 Sun 8:00 ESPN
Hughes (0-1, 5.00) vs. Matsuzaka (2-0, 1.47)

What to watch for: Joe Hardass Giaradi's managerial debut in the series
It's gonna be strange looking over to the visitor's dugout and not seeing the familiar schnoz and droopy gaze of Joe Torre peering out from the brim of his NY cap. Instead we get to find out how the hyped-up, modern manager Girardi, who has seen plenty of these games from a player's perspective, handles the series.

He's already made a buffoon of himself by complaining that the D-Rays were playing too hard in spring training; wonder how he'll take it when a few of his players get hit this weekend. Cause you know they will. Even without Petey around.

Keep an eye on: Sean Casey and Alberto Gonzalez
The Mayor will have a chance to prove what a valuable offseason addition was as he gets the call to start at first base while Youk shifts over to third with Mike Lowell going on the DL; Gonzalez has the unenviable task of filling in for captain Derek Jeter while he is out with bad quads.

Preview:
Call me crazy or take away my RSN membership, but I've got the same feeling about the 90 zillionth installment of The Rivalry as I do about having to wake up extra early on any given morning: "It's too fucking early! Hit the snooze button and let me know when its really time to get up!"

These meetings used to feel like special occasions, games to look forward to and to watch every pitch of every inning to see if the cursed Sox could finally get over on the blessed Stanks.

But over the last 4-5 years, everything has changed. One reason is that Boston has won 2 World Series since the last time New York tasted champagne-drenched postseason success. Another is because of the damn unbalanced schedule MLB has adopted, the teams play each other 18-19 times per season, watering down the freshness of what used to be a rare thing. Throw in a postseason matchup nearly every year and what you get is too much of what was a special thing.

You know the old saying about eating ice cream every day? That's what this series has become.

Maybe my blase attitude has to do with the fact that neither team is looking like beasts of the AL East right now. Both are struggling with injuries to key players, both hold identical mediocre .500 records, and neither one has seemed to find an identity early in the season.

In other words it's hard right now for anyone to have reason to hate either team other than going off that 100 years of hatred thing.

Anyway the teams have the series scheduled, and a rematch next weekend in the Bronx, so we might as well try to enjoy it, right? Who cares if they are looking up at the surprising Orioles in the division now, or that the players opposing fans love to hate, Jeter and Curt Schilling, won't play in the series? It's still Sox vs. Yankees, the fans still hate the other team, and by golly if we have to see them play each other 20+ times a year then I might as well root for the Sox to rip their fucking faces off, right?!

Maybe I am ready for this series after all.

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Game Preview: Stanks at Sox GM3

Clemens (6-6, 4.17) vs. Schilling (8-7, 3.97)
Fenway 8PM ESPN

This regular season finale of the season series with the Stanks will truly be one for the ages.

As in, ages 45 and 40, otherwise known as Mr. Roidger Clemens and Mr. Curt Schilling.

That's right the ultimate game of a long and winding 18-game series has come down to two of the oldest and most decorated lights-out big game pitchers this rivalry has ever seen.

Clemens, the former Sox phenom turned Public Enemy #1 in the Nation, will be making his first regular-season start at Fenway since August 2003 and his first start in his old haunts since an October matchup vs. Pedro Martinez that same season.

The reception will not be kind for the man who has jerked the Sox brass around in two of the last three seasons by leveraging a potential deal with Boston to sign for greater money elsewhere, first in Houston and then this spring with New York.

They'll be a lot of "fuck you too, dickhead!"s flying around Fenway.

This will also be the first time Schilling and Clemens have faced each other since Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, when Schill's D-Backs defeated Clemens and the Stanks 3-2 in a game in which both hurlers turned in herculean efforts. Schilling would go on to win the MVP and then break an 86-year-old curse, while Clemens would go on to string teams along like a 14-year-old girl for the next six years.

Both pitchers have been feeling their age this year, with Schill spending a month on the DL with a shoulder injury and Clemens coming off a two-week hiatus due to an elbow problem. But both will be fired up to get the win in this series finale, a game that might not decide the division title, but one that both teams--and proud pitchers--want badly nonetheless.

Go Sox!

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Boston, Beckett exact sweet revenge on sorry Stanks

Sox 10, New York 1
WP: Beckett (19-6)
LP: Wang (18-7)
HRs: BOS-Hinske (6); NYY-Jeter (10)

How many times you think this play will be favorited on YouTube by the Nation over the next few years?

SUMMARY
Afer suffering a gut-punch of a loss last night, today the Sox punched back. Boston rode the strong pitching of ML wins leader Josh Beckett, another impressive performance from the offesne, and an old-school catcher-crushing by Eric Hinske to knock off New York and push the division lead back to 5 1/2 games.

#1 STUNNERS (*big game, supersized results)

-Josh Beckett 7IP, 3H, ER, 2BB, 7K in a matchup of Cy Young contenders Beckett came out smelling like a rose, holding the explosive Stankee lineup to just three hits, setting down 12 batters in a row at one point including 5 of 6 by strikeout

-Jacoby Ellsbury 2-2, 2R, 3BI the phenom began the game on the bench but ended it circling the bases with a pair of hits and runs scored, a stolen base, a trio of ribbies, and more fanfare and phone numbers than he can shake a stick at

-Eric Hinske 2-4, 2R, BI, 2B, HR there's a reason I like to call this guy Big Hit Hinske, beacuase although he doesn't hit much, when he does connect it's usually for extra bases. Thrown in the fact that he went all Ronnie Lott on Georgie Posada in the sixth, and you've got the makings of a Dirt Dog for life

-Derek Jeter 2-4, R, BI the Stankee captain continues to blister Boston pitching, hitting .382 against them this year, and his first-inning home run was the fifth of his 10 this season that he has hit against the Sox.

-Big Papi 3-3, 2BI, 2BB, 2B if he's hurtin then don't let him heal. Ortiz continues to tear the cover off the ball, raising his average to .326 and his OBP to a scalding AL-leading .440 with this perfect performance

PAN's FAUNS (*ditto)

-Chien Ming Wang 5.2IP, 9H, 5ER, 3BB, 3K not exactly the effort you were expecting from the Stankee ace and co-leader in wins, but the wanger's sinker wasn't sinking, Boston eleveated the ball and worked the counts, and Chien can say ciao to the Cy Young now

-Judas Demon 0-4, K one day after sparking his club with another four hit game against his former mates, Demon came up empty when his team needed him most. Nice going, dickhead.

-ARod 0-3, 2K one day after recording the game-winning RBI in the NY comeback win, ARod came up empty when his team needed him most. Way to go, dickwad.

-Tek 0-5, 2K, 8LOB I hate to include the captain here, especially in a win, but his 0-5 showing included stranding 8 men on base, seven when he ended three innings, and striking out with a man on in the seventh and to lead off the eighth. Not good.

RECAP
A long time ago a wise coaching legend uttered the saying that the low of losing felt much worse than the high of winning.

In some respects I can see where that would be true, because even though the Sox took care of business today and dispatched with the Stankees in convincing fashion, running their divison lead back to a comfy 5 1/2 games with 13 left to play, I still found myself looking back to last night's epic meltdown and muttering "if only they had hung on to win that game..."

The divison race would be all but over today and those smarmy, smug pinstriped cockroaches would be getting ready to print their Wild Card-embossed ducats instead of hoping for a replay of 1978.

But that's how us diehards have been conditioned to behave with this club, one that teases us more than Hayden Panettiere in a cheerleader uniform yet always keeps us coming back for more.

And today I think I figured out why: because the high experienced when the Sox win, especially a big game against their hated rivals, feels much better than the low of losing, probably because there has been so much losing that it renders these sublime victories all the more enjoyable.

Okay, I'm doing being psuedo-philosophical now--how 'bout that upside down ass-kicking we laid on those losers today!

The game began under typical sunny-yet-chilly September skies but things turned black for the Faithful in a hurry when Dane Cook threw out the first pitch and then Derek Jeter shot Josh Beckett's 10th pitch of the game into the blacked-out seats in center for an early 1-0 New York lead.

And for a brief but bitter moment all you could hear in the entire Park was Stankee lovers cheering over the silence of the sullen Sox fans. I know, it gives me cold chills too.

When Beckett followed that miscue with walks to ARod and Posada, the mood quickly shifted from cautiously optimistic to "why the fuck does this always happen to us, can't we ever catch a fucking break?" in the blink of an eye.

But Becks got Hideki Matsui to ground out to second on the first pitch he saw, and little did we know that would be the last threat New York would mount against the tough-as-leather Boston ace until his final inning of the day.

The Boston batters wasted no time in getting that run right back when Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz singled off Wang in the bottom of the first, and when Mike Lowell ripped a drive off the left field box seats to drive in the tying run, not only did he notch his career-high-tying 105th RBI but he gave the Sox a much needed shot in the arm after Beckett's shaky start.

Both top-flite hurlers settled in and retired a combined 11 out of the next 12 batters before Wang inexplicably walked Ortiz, Lowell and Drew with two outs in the third to load the bases for Jason Varitek.

If you read above you already know what happened--Tek popped out to Robinson Cano at second to end the threat, and for the 357th time this season the sox came up empty in a bases loaded situation.

Ten more batters went down in succession, including a specatacular sequence when Beckett struck out Posada, Matsui and Giambi in the fourth inning, but that string would be broken up by a play that changed the complexion of the game.

Still smarting from the head-hunting exploits on Kevin Youkilis by both Joba Chamberlain and Scott Proctor this season, and nursing a bandage on his forearm for a recent HBP, the last thing anyone on the Boston side wanted to see was Youk get plunked again.

So when wang nailed Youk on the wrist so hard it looked and sounded as if the ball had hit the knob of the bat with one out in the fifth, let's just say the already tight & tense emotions in this series went to a ho...nuva...level.

Youk would have to leave the game and will presumably have to miss some time despite x-rays showing no signs of a break, but that bit of a bummer for Boston would turn out to be a major source of joy for the Nation in the very near future.

Like as soon as Jacoby Ellsbury began stretching at first base to pinch-run for Youk.

The speedster wasted no time doing something that Youk can only dream of--going from first to third on a single by Ortiz--and after Lowell lined out to Jeter at short, Ellsbury coasted home on a clutch two-out RBI single by J.D. Drew to give Boston a lead it would never relinquish.

Yes, you read that right, a clutch two-out hit by J.D. Drew ended up being the game-winning RBI for Boston.

It was that kind of day.

Reinvigorated by the prescense of the magnetic rookie and the resurgence of the previously fossilized Drew, the Sox would drop the hammer on Wang and the Stanks both literally and figuratively in the bottom of the sixth.

Eric Hinske, who started the game in left but ended up at first after Youk left, began the inning with a double off the Monster, and then Coco moved him to third when he lined a single into left center to set up runners at the corners with no outs.

Wang got Julio Lugo to fly out to shallow center field, and after Coco stole second base uncontested, Pedroia (1-5, 2R) bounced a grounder to second that should have scored the run from third base.

Except Cano decided to fire home to try and nail the sluggish Hinske, and although the throw got to Posada in plenty of time, the momentum of Hinske's mass plus his pigskin mentality caused an enormous collision at home plate as Hinske barrelled over the Stankee backstop in a play reminiscent of Pete Rose's crushing Ray Fosse in the 1970 All Star Game in both force of impact and lingering after effects.

As a dazed and confused Posada dragged himself back to battle, Boston made sure there would be no comeback today when Ellsbury singled to left to drive in Coco and pPapi doubled to deep center to plate Pedroia, and when Ellsbury motored all the way around from first, eluded a groggy Posada's tag and scored the Sox fifth run of the game, something told me there would be no repeat of yesterday's collapse.

Proof was provided in the top of the seventh when Beckett ran into his first spot of trouble since the first when he "accidently" pegged Giambi with a pitch with two outs in the inning, prompting a warning from both benches and a wry smile from Joe Torre, and then Cano reached on a bloop single to center that gave New york runners at first and third with one last hope to salvage another comeback.

But Beckett got Melky Cabrera to strike out on four pitches, and soon after that the game would get out of hand, in a good way.

Boston put it away in the seventh when four New York relievers combined to allow four runs on two hits and four walks, the highlight being a two-run single by Ellsbury (this guy can do no wrong right now) that ran the score to 8-1 to officially put the game out of reach.

Fittingly Hinske would close out the scoring when he blasted a solo homer off someone named Scott Ohlendohf with one out in the ninth, and by the time Bryan Corey got the Ball Stealer to ground into a double play to end the affair, the concentration of the Nation turned to Sunday night, as a decision had to be made as to which event was going to garner full screen statues on the PIP, Rocket/Schilling or Brady/Tomlinson.

Seems like the Sox provided an answer for that dilemma tonight.

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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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Series Preview: Stanks @ Sox

NY Stankees (83-63) at Red Sox (89-58)
Three game series Fenway Park
Standings: BOS up by 5 1/2 games over NY

Probable Starting Pitchers:
GM1 Fri 705 ESPN Pettitte (13-8) vs. Matsuzaka (14-12)
It's put up or shut up time for Dice-K, who after showing flashes of brilliance this season has fallen flat on his innocent-looking face the last month (1-4 record, ERA over 9.50). To get off the schneid, he will have to beat New York's second-best starter; Pettitte has won seven of his last eight decisions, and Clemens' ball boy has carried the shaky staff through the roughest stretch of the season.

GM2 Sat 355 FOX Wang (18-6) vs. Beckett (18-6)
What can you say about this one except that it is a battle of the team aces, it could decide the Cy Young race, and whichever team loses tonight, the other starter will have the weight of the team on his shoulders in this start. No pressure, fellas!

GM3 Sun 800 ESPN Clemens (6-6) vs. Schilling (8-7)
This one shapes up to be a classic matchup--about four years ago. Now it looks like an ad for male enhancement products.

When 45-year-old Roidger Clemens takes the Fenway mound opposite 40-year old Schilling on Sunday Night Baseball, not only will these two grizzled champion warhorses be relegated to secondary ace status on their own teams, they will probably be the secondary viewing choice of most of the Nation with the Pats taking on the Chargers in Foxborough at the same time.

Season Series: NY leads, 8-7

Preview:
The Stanks roll into Fenway for this final regular season matchup with the Sox as one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past three months.

Since ending May with a record of 22-29 New York has ripped off a 60-34 mark to take a commanding 3 1/2 game lead in the Wild card standings while slicing a 14 1/2 game deficit behind Boston to a steady 5-7 games for the past month.

Boston, meanwhile, has cooled considerably since its torrid 36-16 jaunt through the season's first two months, posting a down-to-Earth record of 53-45 from June 1st until now, a record that includes a lot of heartbreaking losses, sloppy pitching and lack of timely hitting.

Hitting hasn't been the problem for New York, which leads the majors in runs scored, batting average and on base percentage, but that's to be expected when you have the probable MVP of the league mashing 52 homers and 140 ribbies for you.

For a change Boston will enjoy being the hunted and not the hunter in this season series finale. The Sox have been in first place for most of the season, and despite that diminished AL East advantage, they still control their own destiny as far as the division title goes: keep winning, and it's theirs for the first time since '95.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time dissecting this thing--we all know what's at stake and what has happened in the past and what needs to be done. Win 2 of 3 in this series and the East is all but theirs. Lose a couple or three and the race is going to come right down to the wire, and with consecutive series sweeps under New York's belt, the specter of 1978 will be hanging over the Hub like a thick, depressing fog.

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Sox/Stanks: Countdown to Armageddon

Best saying ever-- it's true when they win, and it's true when they lose.

T(-) six hours till the beginning of the end for the Stanks.

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Sox/Stanks: The Final Series

Bring it on, bitches!

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Oh *bleepin* Cano: Stanks sweep Sox

New York 5, Sox 0
WP: Wang (16-6)
LP: Schilling (8-6)
HRs: NYY-Cano, 2 (16)

SUMMARY
The punchless Sox closed out this horrible series in the Bronx with a limp performance in another demoralizing loss. For the second game in a row Boston did not register a hit through the first five innings, and little Robbie Cano provided all the offense New York would need with a pair of solo home runs off Curt Schilling.

#1 STUNNER Cano 2-3, 2R, 2BI, 2HR
The solid second sacker led off the third & fifth innings with near-identical opposite field homers to left center, the first one popping off the top of the wall and the second landing just a few feet further, but each one packed the punch of a blow from Chuck Liddell.

PAN's FAUN the whole Boston ballclub
You can't lay the blame for this putrid performance on just one player--every member of the team had a hand in producing (another) one of the most embarrassing series in Sox/Stanks history.

RECAP
Remember when I stated earlier that things could most definitely get worse for the Sox in this series finale?

Guess what?

They most certainly did.

In a three game series that eerily parallelled the infamous five-game Boston Massacre II of last August, the Red Sox rolled over like Mike Vick's cousin and played three terrible, uninspiring, unemotional baseball games and in the process invited every bit of incisive scrutiny that is sure to come their way in the coming weeks.

That's what happens when a team that had just scored a record amount of runs in a four game series comes into New York for a potential put-away series with the reeling Stanks, manages just 3 runs and 13 hits in three games, and sees all three of its best starting pitchers get tooled by the much-maligned New York staff.

The only real differences between 2006's weekend to forget and this year's mid-week meltdown is the amount of games, both series length (5-3) and in the standings.

In '06 Boston led New York by 3 1/2 games going into that series, then saw that advantage morph into a 1 1/2 game deficit when the dust settled around the Commonwealth.

But this year the Sox sat on an eight-game bulge entering this one, and the short series ensured there would be no changes atop the AL East leader board when it was over, sweep or no.

We'll call it the Mini Massacre, 2007.

An overcast day in the Apple mirrored Boston's play and the mood of its Nation as the players took the field for the first midweek non-holiday day game in the Rivalry since ...(are you ready for it?)...the Bucky Dent Game, Oct 2nd of 1978.

You can thank Michael bleepin Kay for that tasty nugget.

The sweep was nearly a foregone conclusion when the pitching matchups were announced: Boston would send its battle-scarred soldier Curt Schilling, still recovering from a shoulder injury he may never shake, out to compete with the cornerstone of the next generation New York pitching staff, Chien Ming Wang.

Although Schill (7IP, 6H, 2ER, 1BB, 4K, 2HR) certainly pitched admirably, holding the potent New York lineup at bay save for one pesky second baseman, in a game like this, with a big series and personal & team pride on the line, allowing a pair of home runs to a light-hitting middle infielder just isn't gonna cut it.

He almost needed to, say, hold the other team hitless for like six innings, like he did in Oakland so many moons ago and the last two Stankee starters would do in consecutive games.

That's right after racking up 52 hits in four games against the White Sox, or roughly 1 /1/2 hits per inning, Boston batters were held hitless in the fist six frames of each of the last two games, and only managed to record a hit in 10 of the 36 innings played in the series.

Never led. Tied twice. Trailed in 33 of 36 innings.

Much like the last two games the way this one started out had all the earmarks of another heartbreaker.

While Wang (7IP, 1H, 4BB, 5K) set Boston down in order in the first including Papi swinging at strike three to end it, Derek Jeter (4-4, R) signaled the call to arms when he muscled a one-out single to center field in the bottom of the inning.

Schill would get out of the inning by striking out Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, but when Jason Giambi prevented a couple of runners from getting on base by channelling J.T Snow in the second, the proceedings quickly took an ominous turn.

Youk, batting in Manny's four spot, led off the inning with a walk, bringing up Boston's most consistent, clutch hitter this season, Mike Lowell.

But Wang got Mike to ground out sharply to Rodriguez, who flipped to Cano to get Youk at second, then Cano flipped to first to try and turn the twin killing.

Cano's throw went wide of the bag but Giambi laid his body prone to the ground while keeping his foot touching first base and managed to stretch for the out, bringing a rousing ovation from the crowd and gushing praise for Michael someone please hit me in the face with a shovel Kay:

"Jason Giambi, all leather and grace these last two days...his glove is a many splendid thing"

Take that however you will.

Three pitches later Boston's whipping boy J.D. Drew grounded to short, and this time Jete's throw sailed wide right of first, so Giambi snagged it out of midair and applied a swipe tag to Drew as he ran by.

I guess getting let off the hook by Bud Selig after admitting he used 'roids has got him playing like a kid again.

Wang worked around a leadoff walk to Tek in the third, but in the bottom of the inning Schilling would make the first of his two mistakes to Cano on the day, as he hit the first pitch he saw from Schilling off the top of the outfield wall for the first run of the game and the first nail in the Red Sox coffin.

Melky Cabrera and Jeter followed with singles in the inning but Schilling held the fort, and while Boston kept getting men on base via the walk they couldn't get any kind of rally going against the stingy Wang.

In the fifth inning Cano repeated his performance from the third, this time taking Schill's third offering and planting it over the wall in nearly the same exact spot as the first one, and even though the score was only 2-0 in the 5th, it might as well have been 200-0 the way Boston was playing in this one.

A wacky seventh inning brought Boston its first hit of the game but also symbolized the three days of frustration that team has suffered through this week.

Youkilis (0-1, 3BB) led off the inning with a grounder to Jeter who again threw wide right of first, but this time Giambi couldn't make the tag as Youk ducked under his glove, and when Lowell followed with a single to right the Sox had their first real threat of the day and a chance to salvage a game.

Either that or they could fold quicker than a Tarantino double feature and implode faster than the Kingdome.

Drew, who has really taken the J.D. Boo thing to a ho nuva level with his pitiful performance in this series, steeped in against Wang and on a 2-2 count hit a sharp grounder to A-Rod, who fumbled for a moment, lunged for Youk as he ran by and then fired to first to get Drew.

After initially calling Youk safe despite a healthy swerve to avoid old Blue Lips' tag, Torre came out and got the blue shirts to converge and discuss whether or not Youkilis had run out of the baseline during his second dodging move of the inning.

No sooner did I turn to my son and say they're gonna rule him out and Tito is going to come out and get ejected did the ump give the close fisted 'out' signal, Tito ran out on the field, and after a few minutes of warming up, got tossed amid a flurry of "F"-bombs.

Well, I said, there's no way this can get any worse, right?

C'mon, you know better than that.

Joba Chamberlain, a.k.a The Second Coming in New York, came in and pitched a scoreless eighth, although Pedroia did lace a two-out double off him, and then New York piled on the the bottom of the inning as millions of TV sets across the nation flicked off simultaneously.

Hideki Okajima, who hadn't pitched since Game 1 of last Friday's doubleheader in Chicago, got Demon (0-4) to fly out to start the frame, but then Jeter dropped his fourth hit of the day into center, setting up the final bit of embarrassment for Boston before they got out of dodge.

Abreu worked a lengthy at bat around numerous pickoff throws to first, then as jetr took off Abreu drove a double into deep center to score the Stankees' captain all the way from first to make for the ever popular insurance run, but still the worst was yet to come.

Rodrguez was intentionally walked, and with Matsui at the plate Torre got aggressive and had both runners steal. Varitek's throw handcuffed Lowell and trickled down the left field line, and as Abreu and A-Rod raced around to score, I clicked the TV off and went out to pull some weeds and beckon heat exhaustion rather than watch another second of this steaming pile of crap of a series.

Later I learned that Chamberlain indoctrinated himself into the Hall of Hate by throwing two consecutive pitches over Youk's bald dome, earning him an immediate ejection, but what did it matter?

Boston just got punked worse than any Ashton Kutcher D-lister and now must fight to keep its division lead with the entire baseball world waiting for them to cave in.

It's gonna be a long two weeks before the rematch at Fenway.

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