This is Looking Mighty Bad

One of my favorite parts of any game is when a pitcher intentionally walks someone to get to the next batter, and said next batter RBIs. Usually, Ortiz is IBBed and Manny upsets the pitcher, but last night we saw Manny walked to get to Varitek. And the satisfaction was sweet when Tek brought in Crisp.

But a 2-run Vernon Wells homer 5 minutes later kind of killed that satisfied moment. A Troy Glaus homerun immediately after that definitely killed the joy. And Wells had to go and hit another HR his next ab. Glaus feasted on Beckett too, hitting another HR later on. Yes, Beckett gave up FOUR homeruns last night. Eek. He was Not Good.

Trot Nixon hit a solo homer, unfortunately no one got on before him (okay, Lowell). A wild pitch and bases loaded walk got the Sox 2 more runs, to get to 7-5.

WEEI guys told me Riske was warming in the 'pen and I just instinctively yelled, "NO!" It was the 8th inning - Crisp grounds out, Youkilis singles, Ortiz singles, Manny struck out (and on his birthday, too), and Varitek struck out on 3 pitches. They could have won there, and blowing that inning was the reason why they lost.

If Toronto sweeps Boston, the world will end.

Looks like Clemens is staying in Houston. That's too bad, because we could really use a good pitcher. Especially now that Wells is on the DL again.

And no more DiNardo, it seems, because David Pauley is pitching tonight. The kid has never pitched in Triple-A even, he's jumping from Double to the Majors. It sure is going to be interesting!

Clement Gets Knocked Around Again

4th inning and the Sox were down 6-0. Wasn't looking good, but slowly the score became more agreeable... 6-1 (Coco Crisp homerun) ...6-3 (Manny HR with Ortiz on) ...6-6 (Varitek HR with Loretta and Ortiz on)!

Tied in the 8th. I saw David Riske was coming in and resigned myself to the fact that we were going to be losing at the end of the inning. And we were, as he gave up a run. Coco made a great catch to get the second out, Foulke came in with 2 men on and got the third out with one pitch.

Then we lost. 7-6.

Clement himself called this outing "disastrous," as he left the game down 6-0 after 3 1/3 innings. He feels "disappointed to the point that it's embarrassing...I feel like I let the team down." Well, yeah.

Here's my suggestion: Lose the goatee?/ball of hair thing growing on your chin and see if it helps. Can't hurt to try.

And David Wells will not be pitching tomorrow but it doesn't look like he'll be on the DL again.

My Cortisol Levels Were Through the Roof

Coco Crisp's first at-bat: He got a standing ovation, and he grounded out to the shortstop. He said he definitely enjoyed the ovation, but he's such a shy guy he didn't know what to do. He went 1-for-5 with an RBI, but it was a crucial RBI because the Sox won 5-4.

Wily Mo Pena is on the DL with "left wrist woes." That isn't good news. Timlin is also on the 15-day DL with a right shoulder strain, retroactive to May 26.

Wakefield pitched 8 fantastic innings of shutout baseball. Who expected that? Seanez came in to pitch the 9th and could only get 2 outs on 35 pitches before Tavarez came in to bail him out (but it took him a long while). Seanez gave Tavarez the great gift of bases loaded, then Tavarez got the guy to strike out but a run scored anyway because of a passed ball. And Mirabelli didn't have any passed balls with Wakefield (figure that one out). At this point I was wishing Francona hadn't said Papelbon definitely wouldn't pitch today. So Tavarez walks in another run to make it 5-2. The crowd was yelling "We want Papelbon," which is awesome. THEN TAVAREZ WALKED IN ANOTHER RUN TO MAKE IT 5-3. 5 walks so far this inning. Wakefield was probably pretty mad right about then, he finally pitched a good game and the bullpen was about to blow it. Then Crawford singled and Willie Harris threw Gathright out at home! It was so nerve-wracking, you have no idea (unless you watched it, of course). I was screaming and freaking out and they finally got the out and it was pure relief. Willie Harris, you are the man.

Relievers threw 54 pitches in the 9th. Wakefield threw 108 the whole game. YEAH.

WEEI Quote of the Day: "I didn't know he had that kind of ups." - on Youkilis' 9th inning catch, which turned out to be pretty important.

Schilling Gets His 200th Win; Coco Is Back Today

George Steinbrenner must have yelled and screamed and threatened because the Yankees won 15-4 last night.

J.T. Snow got to play last night, but Youkilis' bat wasn't missed - he played left field and Manny got the day off. Loretta was 3-for-5 and Mike Lowell was a surprising 0-for-4.

Curt Schilling allowed 4 runs last night, Foulke came in to pitch the 8th and allowed zero runs, and when the Sox were up 6-4 and it was going into the 9th, it was a done deal. No way would Papelbon lose the game. 18-for-18. And Schilling won his 200th career game!

The latest on David Wells: "An MRI exam taken Saturday on the right knee of David Wells confirmed the initial diagnosis Friday of a deep bone bruise. The southpaw has not yet been scratched from his next start, Wednesday in Toronto. 'I think there's an outside chance he could make his next start,' Francona said. 'We're still holding out a little bit of hope. I think there's a little bit better chance his start gets pushed back a couple of days, which is still not the worst thing in the world and then there's a chance he can't do that. But I think we need to at least give him the opportunity.'"

AND Coco Crisp will be in the lineup today! So excited about this, and I'll be even more excited if he gets right back into things and goes 4-for-4.

David Wells Has Really Bad Luck

So David Wells made his return last night, and he was doing a pretty good job (only gave up one run), and then...it happened. He got hit. He got hit in the same previously injured knee in the 5th inning and left the game. It doesn't seem fair, to be on the DL for so long then get injured in your very first game back. No, it's really not fair. Worst luck ever. OH GOD MORE DINARDO!! Please be okay, Wells! They're saying it's a deep contusion of the right knee, doesn't appear to be major damage. I hope he will pitch again soon, because DiNardo is almost a guaranteed loss.

David Ortiz hit a 3-run double that came about 8 feet away from going over the wall. That's the David Ortiz we know and love.

Mike Lowell hit his first Fenway homerun as a Bostonian. Put us up 5-1. We sure did get a lot more than we expected with Lowell. He also hit his league-leading 22nd double and scored on a Trot Nixon single.

Tavarez came in and gave up 2 runs, he did fine. But when Foulke came in, I heard a "Way back! Way back! That ball is....foul! That was too close for comfort." Then he struck him out, so it was all good.

Gabe Kapler is working his way back. Don't be suprised if you see him soon.

Papelbon came in to get Seanez out of trouble and got his 17th save in the process.

And the Yankees lost to the worst team in baseball. The Royals snapped a 13-game losing streak with the win.

We have a 7-1 and a 16-for-16

David Ortiz started the game with an RBI-single. 0-for no more. He then hit one through the hole in the shift, perfectly placed. For his next act, he tagged and ran as fast as he could to third with a head-first dive to finish it off.

Varitek and Loretta had RBI singles, and Youkilis struck out but got to first (and Nixon scored) on a wild throw.

Foulke pitched a scoreless 7th, then Timlin came in and had a rough go of the 8th. He got an out, then three singles in a row scored a run, and then the second out. Francona sent in Papelbon, a good decision as he's been keeping some guys in a bit too long lately. And the man struck him out. As you may have expected. And now he is 16-for-16 in save opportunities, and he's only given up one run.

But Boston NEEDS to work on this left on base thing. Tonight, they left thirty-five men on. That is a ridiculous number, especially considering they only got 4 runs.

Beckett is now 7-1. Schilling and Beckett, where would we be without you?

David Wells is making his first appearance in a long time tonight. I am really hoping he has good stuff, really really really hoping.

If Only People Would Stop Hitting Clement

8th inning. Down by two. Wily Mo gets on because of an error. Nixon out. Gonzalez hit a single that got Pena to third. Loretta had an 0-2 count and worked a walk, and on the 4th ball Farnsworth threw it away and Pena didn't go home. I don't know why. Then Ortiz struck out with bases loaded. It was awful. Ortiz was 0-for-5 last night with 4 strikeouts.

Scoring was all over the place last night. Here's how it went:
Red Sox 2-0
Red Sox 2-1
Yankees 3-2
Yankees 4-2
Tie 4-4
Red Sox 5-4
Tie 5-5
Yankees 6-5
Yankees 8-5
Yankees 8-6

Manny had 2 homeruns and went 3-for-4, he's pretty hot lately. Too bad Ortiz can't be too, because that would be beautiful. And Manny ran home though the third base coach wanted to hold him, and he scored. Why are all of Boston's third base coaches always wrong?

Foulke pitched the 9th and it went 1-2-3. Nice to see him have an easy time out there.

Clement pitched 4 1/3 innings. Seriously, that's not good. He gave up all 8 runs. He got hit again, so I guess that can kind of be used as an excuse, because he did give up some runs right after it happened. But I wish we still had Arroyo, who is 6-2 by the way. What's up with Clement? I am so not impressed with him thus far, and only having two really good pitchers isn't going to get the job done this year.

I know they still would have lost, but...WHY DIDN'T WILY MO GO HOME?!

Wakefield, I'm Getting Mad

A leadoff homerun by Johnny Damon wasn't the way I wanted last night's game to start, and it probably wasn't what Wakefield was picturing either.

Boston lost the game 7-5, but they did try to overcome New York's lead towards the end of the game. Mirabelli had three passed balls in one inning (one let A-Rod get on base despite a strikeout, another let him score), then had an RBI single his next at-bat. Manny's 3-run homerun and RBI single just weren't enough to catch up to NY.

Wakefield is 3-6 now. He really needs to start doing something different, because his stuff now is NOT working.

Clement pitches tonight. I really hope we get the good Clement, because if Randy Johnson pitches like he's been pitching, it could be an easy win for the Sox (and I don't want any close games).

Wily Mo Pena should be back tonight, and Coco Crisp is scheduled to come back Monday! I cannot wait to see Crisp back in the lineup and Youkilis continue to be a threat towards the bottom of the order.

Keith Foulke is Lucky He Has a Good Team

Johnny Damon RBI single. Whatev. Hope he enjoyed it because the Yankees lost 9-5. Keith Foulke gave up 2 homeruns and two doubles in the 9th. It's a good thing he had such a huge lead (it was 9-1 when he came in the game), because he was pretty bad.

After Damon's run...
David Ortiz 2-RBI single!
Manny Ramirez 2-run homerun!

A new Yankee was called up to pitch last night in the 8th, named Colter Bean. And it went: Walk, Mike Lowell with ANOTHER double (even though he was kind of out at second), sac fly, RBI single (from Cora!), double play.

Curt Schilling pitched a fantastic game, throwing 8 innings and giving up just one run. He had some great stuff and didn't struggle at all. In his 8 innings, he only let the leadoff runner get on twice, then got them out on double plays.

Did you know that the Yankees cannot: wear jeans on flights, listen to music in the clubhouse, have hair below the neck, or bring golf clubs on a road trip. I didn't know about any of that (except the hair) and that is a little bit insane.

Bronson Arroyo took care of the Brewers, pitching 7 innings and allowing 1 run. I think I used to like the Brewers a little. Eh.

The Red Sox will be on ESPN Wednesday night, and ESPN2 on Thursday night. Finally, some Red Sox coverage instead of teams I already get around here.

At least Ortiz Can DH Now

Lenny DiNardo is a brave man for taking on the role of starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but he just isn't ready yet.

Trot Nixon made a great leaping catch on the warning track to rob Jimmy Rollins of a hit (triple material), then he RBIed the first run of the game. Then came the bad.

Abreu hit a 2-RBI triple, and Wily Mo fell in center field


as he was getting the ball. No outs at this point. A single scored Abreu, another single put a runner at third, this is ugly, another RBI single, why is DiNardo pitching in Major League Baseball, 5 straight hits after a leadoff walk, Abe Alvarez is in to replace DiNardo. Alvarez immediately got a fly out and a double play. He should have come in about 2 runs ago, when it was still 2-1.

Youkilis homerun, Ryan Howard HR, Lowell HR. All solo, until Abreu had to hit a 3-run homerun to make the score 8-3. They kept scoring too, as did the Sox, with a final score of 10-5.

Not the best effort.

Yankees tonight. Fenway. 7 pm. Schilling vs. Wang. Let's hope this game will be the 7th win for Curt Schilling.

Beckett Can Hit!

Wily Mo Pena got Boston's first hit, but it didn't come until the third inning. So then the Gonz hit a double play ball. I thought he was supposed to be doing better. That is not better.

Later, Beckett hit an RBI single! Gonzalez scored because of an error that allowed him to get on base. So fast forward a couple batters, and we have David Ortiz up with bases loaded and one out. He hit it awfully deep, but not THAT deep, so only Beckett scored on an Ortiz SF. Manny was walked, and Trot Nixon got some RBIs for himself and sent Youkilis and Loretta home.

As if Beckett hitting a single wasn't enough to impress, he then hit a homerun. I couldn't believe it either, but I most certainly enjoyed it!

Immediately after that spectacular homerun, Youkilis hit a triple. Goodbye, Phillies pitcher, thanks for Beckett's HR.

Alex Gonzalez hit a homerun. That's what I was talking about when I said the Gonz was doing better lately. Ignore that silly GIDP action.

Then some Philadelphian hit a 3-run HR to get the score to 8-4. Tavarez pitched the 8th, 2 men got on, but he worked his way out of it and didn't let anyone score. It was a tense few moments.

Timlin came in to pitch the 9th and handled the three batters easily. Final score was Boston 8, Philadelphia 4. I'm thinking sweep...

Homeruns Galore

So many homeruns last night! Mike Lowell started it off with a 2-run shot in the 2nd. Jason Varitek followed that up with one of his own, then David Ortiz hit a 2-run homer to score Clement. Scored all of the runs on homeruns. Except Philadelphia, they had to get some of their runs with a double.

Notice that Clement was on when Ortiz hit his HR. I couldn't watch the game because it wasn't on TV, but I know he got a hit that went to the third baseman, who overthrew the ball. ''I used Trot's batting gloves and Dustan [Mohr's] bat," Clement said. ''Last year, I tried a different mixture. I used [Mark] Bellhorn's bat and I don't remember whose gloves, but it didn't work out."

Papelbon came in to save the game, and got his 15th save. Clement won another one (4-3); he gave up 3 runs on 5 hits. Foulke, Timlin, and Papelbon each gave up zero runs.

And the Yankees lost a close one to the Mets. The Mets scored in the bottom of the 9th to break a 6-6 tie. Boston is on top of the AL East by 1.5 games over both NY and Toronto. Good deal.

Of Course They Lose When I Go

So Baltimore finally beat the Red Sox yesterday, and it had to be at the game I went to.

Wakefield didn't have much yesterday, and by the 9th inning it was 4-1. Wake had some wild pitches, and one gave the Orioles a run. So when David Ortiz hit a 9th inning 2-run homerun, all I could think was how the game should be tied. But just as the Sox fans were getting excited about the possibility of another win, Willie Harris got caught stealing. And suddenly it was over. Horrible way to end the game. Absolutely horrible.

And Kevin Millar hit a homerun. That was not fun to see.

But It Was Close This Time

The game started with Manny and Trot homeruns, and continued with a Wily Mo sac fly and a Youkilis RBI double. So then Ramon Hernandez hit a solo homerun, and Brandon Fahey hit a 2-run HR. Sox still up 4-3. Next thing you know, Jay Gibbons hit a 2-run shot and we're down 5-4. However, Loretta singled in Nixon and Ortiz singled in Youk, so the Sox were back on top, 6-5. That's all the scoring that went on, and the Red Sox continued their undefeated-against-the-Orioles season.

I'll be at the game tonight (!) and it's the last time the Sox will be down here until September. Oh, and I forgot to mention before that right as you near Camden Yards, there's a billboard with Kevin Millar on it. I have to get a picture of it this time, as I found it amusing that he gets a billboard his first year as an Oriole, beating out many longtime Os. Love it.

Texas was beating the Yankees 9-0 by the second inning. NY was winning a few innings later, 11-10, then it was tied 12-12. NY won it in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs. No words.

Beckett: A Birthday and a Win

Rodrigo Lopez is pitching? Against Beckett? On his birthday? You should be able to guess who won.

Miguel Tejada went and hit a homerun in the first. But Wily Mo took care of business and hit a 2-run homerun the next inning. Then he hit a 2-RBI single with bases loaded. Mr. Pena, I am deeply sorry that I ever doubted you. It was just the shock of losing Arroyo. Your homeruns and RBIs make the loss of Bronson a little easier to deal with.

Mike Lowell hit a stand-up triple in the 5th to bring home Nixon and Varitek. That Lowell, he's batting .328 with about 58 doubles. After 8 runs, Lopez finally left the game.

Josh Beckett was the anti-Lopez, as he pitched a fantastic game. He gave up the homerun, then a single, then nothing.

Varitek and Lowell hit back-to-back homeruns to put the final score at 11-1. Baltimore had no chance.

New York lost. Red Sox up by one!

No Red Sox This Weekend

Two games postponed in as many days. That puts the Yankees in 1st place by half a game, but they are losing to Oakland right now in the 8th. If all goes well, NY and Boston will be tied for first place with the same record, 21-14.

It's Sunday, so it's officially the week of my third Red Sox game this season. I'll be in Baltimore for the Wednesday night game, which will hopefully be the final game of another sweep. And wouldn't you know, Tim Wakefield will be pitching. If you happened to read what I said earlier about being really upset if he was going to pitch my last game, well, I am pretty depressed. That means Wakefield will have pitched 3 out of the 4 games I've been to in Baltimore. Thanks, rain!

Short and Not Sweet

Well, this game wasn't very much fun. Rain ended it in the 6th, but the Sox were down 6-0 so who wanted to see the end anyway? Clement didn't have it and neither did the batters, apparently.

On the plus side, have you noticed how well the Gonz has been hitting? Gonzalez, Lowell, Loretta, Pena, Youkilis...all the guys no one had much interest in are making the most noise.

And in case you care, Hideki Matsui is out for at least 3 months. I have always thought he was a great (highly underrated) player, so that's bad news for the Yankees, good news for every other team.

That's The Way I Like It

The very first at-bat of the game gave us a Derek Jeter bobble/error. Then Loretta hit one to left that Matsui couldn't get; he dived, hurt his wrist, and left the game. He fractured his wrist and has to have surgery today. Of course, then the Sox had bases loaded and did nothing, but the Yankees had bases loaded and scored 2 runs. 36 minute first inning.

I am really starting to like Wily Mo Pena. Like, really like him.

I have to admit that I missed most of the 6th and 7th because I watched the Office season finale. I was already taping CSI see, and I just couldn't miss The Office. And it was a GREAT episode, by the way. So anyway, I Gameday-ed those innings and saw some on commercials, including Mike Myers getting Ortiz out and thinking he was pretty special. Then Manny walked with Youk and Loretta on, and Villone came in to replace Tanyon "My Most Despised Yankee" Sturtze. Trot was up with bases loaded (third time now) with only one out, and he did nothing. Not even a sac fly. So here's Mike Lowell, and he hit it to Jeter. FOUR BASES LOADED OPPORTUNITIES. NOTHING. NO RUNS. WHY?! How many men were left on base at the end of the night? THIRTY-THREE. 33!

Okay so Alex Gonzalez hit a ground-rule double with Mirabelli on first and one out. The Gonz is slowly improving that average. Youk hit one directly to Cano, two outs. Loretta hit one to Jeter, Jeter threw it to first, but Cairo couldn't keep the ball in his glove to tag Loretta and the Sox were up 4-3. Loretta was 4-for-5.

Youkilis batted in the insurance run against Rivera. Love it! And Johnny Damon was 1-for-15 this series. Giambi swung at the first pitch and made the final out. How great is it to win the series, and especially in New York?

Your Bronson Arroyo update: He went 8 innings, got 8 strikeouts, and let 0 runs score. His ERA? 2.03. Yes, you read that right. 2.03. Incredible.

Not So Hot Last Night

David Ortiz hit a 2-run homerun in the first inning, and it was GRAND. Mike Lowell also hit a homerun that would have been a double at Fenway. We love Mike Lowell and his doubles/homeruns.

Manny's backwards catch of a Johnny Damon ball? AWESOME.

And it was kind of all downhill from there.

Giambi, A-Rod, and Posada all hit homeruns...eh, let's not talk about the rest of the game because the Sox didn't get any runs after the second inning and NY did. Schilling just didn't have it last night.

More bad news: Coco Crisp is sick and now his return is delayed further. I can't wait until this guy comes back, and these delays are hard to take.

Tonight is the tie-breaker in this series, and Wakefield and Chacon are pitching. Wakefield's been on a roll lately, and Chacon is having a pretty good season, so this one should be good.

That Was Beautiful

So Giambi hit a 2-run homerun in the first. No matter.

An A-Rod error let the Red Sox get a run. A-Rod errors have to be my favorite kind of error.

Then Johnson threw a high fastball that Posada couldn't get and The Gonz scored to tie. Got to love those easy runs! Then Manny decided to bring in Ortiz from 2nd with a single. Good 3rd inning.

4th inning was pretty good, too. Mark Loretta singled with 2 men on and scored them both, then Ortiz doubled and Loretta went to 3rd. And then Randy Johnson got the boot and in came Aaron Small. As Johnson was leaving, the Yankee fans booed him. Again with the booing, those New York fans are not very loyal. Red Sox fans cheered, though!

Manny made him throw 12 pitches before he was able to reach on an error by Sheffield's replacement (Melky Cabrera), and Loretta and Ortiz scored.

A-Rod Error of the Evening #2 let Mike Lowell reach. Then Trot Nixon walked, and then ALEX GONZALEZ HIT A 3-RUN HOMERUN. The Gonz! If anyone needs this offensive awesomeness, it's him. And what a time to get the hits. Manny tacked on a run in the next inning when he hit a solo homer, his 6th of the year.

Trot Nixon got hit by a Ron Villone pitch. In the very same inning, Bubba Crosby got hit by a Keith Foulke pitch. Surely I don't mean that the way it sounds!

Final score was 14-3. Yes, the Red Sox more than quadrupled the Yanks' score tonight. It was pretty much smooth sailing for Beckett after the Giambi homerun, as he went 7 innings and got seven strikeouts. What a great way to start the series. And Johnny Damon was 0-for-3.

Red Sox vs. Yankees -- The Ultimate Rivalry

I had the good luck of catching "Red Sox vs. Yankees -- The Ultimate Rivalry" on TV last night, even though I did miss the first half hour. I came into it right as they were discussing Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. And I just got an email about this DVD, apparently it's new? And you can choose the DVD to be narrated by Terry Francona or Joe Torre; unfortunately for me, Comcast SportsNet chose Joe Torre's voice. It did give me some good Torre quotes, though. Here are some of the quotes from the documentary I enjoyed; some you will remember, some you may not.

"Unfortunately for the Yankees, when a game lasts longer than 5 hours, you're bound to face Big Papi one too many times." - Joe Torre on Game 4

"It was there again for Big Papi." - Joe Torre on Game 5

"The Yankees really don't lose 4 games in a row." - Johnny Damon, gloriously wrong

"I hit it and it silenced the crowd." - Johnny Damon on his grand slam

"We have a chance to shock the United States of America. The world? All right, the world, there you go." - Kevin Millar, talking to reporters

"It's like a Space Jam movie, they take your powers away. That's how we're playing." - Derek Jeter, apparently high, referring to the Yankees' 2005 season start

Baltimore Must Like Being Swept

Yesterday's game against Baltimore featured a pitcher's first win, a grand slam, and a shocked Laura.

Lenny DiNardo won! He pitched five innings and only gave up 2 runs (and only one was earned). The man earned 5 strikeouts and only gave up 2 hits. I don't know what got into the man, but whatever it was, I hope it continues.

Varitek started off the game with a first inning grand slam, which alone gathered enough runs to win the game. Nixon, Lowell, Pena, and Ortiz contributed the 6 other RBIs.

As everyone knows, NYC welcomes the Red Sox tomorrow. Josh Beckett and Randy Johnson square off and that's bound to be entertaining.

Wakefield got R_ _ _ up_ _ r _

Tim Wakefield got run support! And he only gave up 3 runs. And then - get this - the bullpen gave up ZERO runs. And Tavarez and Seanez pitched!

Wily Mo Pena is batting .328. I picked on him earlier because I still want Bronson Arroyo back, and he swung and missed at balls that were 3 feet off the plate, but he seems to be getting in a groove. He was 2-for-4 tonight with 2 RBIs. He still had 2 strikeouts, but they were balanced by 2 hits. And I can live with that.

Manny hit his 5th homerun, David Ortiz went 0-for-4 again, and The Gonz was 2-for-3. The starting pitcher for Baltimore (Bedard) only lasted 2 innings, which is pretty awesome.

Today's game at 2 pm is the last in the Baltimore series. I think another Baltimore sweep should happen. Of course, DiNardo is pitching, so...

Monday's an off day, and Tuesday you'll find the Red Sox in New York to begin a Yankee series. Can't wait!

P.S. Bronson lost. 5-1.

Millar Returns

As you may have been aware, David Ortiz was in a minor slump coming into last night's game. So when he was up in the 6th inning of a tie game with bases loaded, one might have felt a slight twinge of concern. A base-clearing, game-winning double quickly erased any memory of a "minor slump."

Also, the Gonz doubled in a run to tie the game earlier in the same inning. Maybe he can get out of his major slump.

Kevin Millar made his Fenway re-debut, going 2-for-3. He got a standing ovation his first at-bat, in complete contrast to Damon's return. Your Kevin Millar Quote of the Day: "I'm not going to lie to you and say the right thing. I do miss it. Like I said before, we did something very special with a very special organization. This was a family for three years. You live with these guys, you eat with these guys. Just to turn the page in one offseason and act cool and not talk and not care would be the correct thing to do. But that's not me. So yeah, I miss these guys. I miss Boston."

David Ortiz misses Millar, too. "I went and picked him up at the hotel already," said Ortiz. "I brought food for him. I've gotta take care of my man. I love Millar, man. Millar is a great guy, a great person. There's no way you can be around Millar and not have fun."

"He picked me up in a white Hummer," said Millar. "He's got a plasma in there. It was quite the experience rolling through Huntington Avenue with the windows rolled down, we had the salsa going."

Most Overrated Player in Baseball?!

Derek Jeter was voted the most overrated player in baseball? LOVE IT. Sports Illustrated polled 470 players and Jeter came out on top. That's really funny. Especially since A-Rod was 3rd on the list.

Hey, they beat Toronto! That's what I like to see. Youkilis was 3-for-5 with a 2-RBI homerun, Lowell was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Clement went 6 innings with only 2 hits and 1 run.

Kevin Millar returns to Fenway tonight as the Orioles and Sox begin a 3-game series. Schilling will be pitching, so there's a 97.2% chance we'll win, which gets bumped up to 99.12% since Rodrigo Lopez is the opposition.

Bad Loss, Joe Torre is Annoying

The Good: Manny went 3-for-4. Wily Mo had 2 RBIs, thus showing he is not a guaranteed out with RISP. Mike Lowell had his 1000th career hit. Dustan Mohr made a beautiful diving catch in the 9th. Papelbon shaved off the mohawk.

The Bad: David Ortiz was 0-for-5. Papelbon came in in a tie game in the 9th and gave up a run.

The Ugly: Mohr fouled one off his knee. Then he struck out. Gonzalez attempted a bunt but it was a pop-up instead. He's been struggling lately, but we must not boo a Red Sox player!

And I must mention how much I dislike Joe Torre. As I mentioned earlier, he had a few opinions on the Sox fans who booed Damon. ''I think that lacked respect last night. I didn't think it was the right way to react. I was very disappointed in the fans, especially given how long it took Boston to win a world championship. Without him, they're probably still waiting for one."

Red Sox fans booed Damon because he sold out and went to the enemy. Yankee fans booed Mariano Rivera because he lost a few Red Sox games. Yeah, I can totally see how Torre's got a right to insult the Sox fans.

Not Until August 18

Rain postponed the game until August 18, when a doubleheader will occur. I love me some doubleheaders!

Jon Papelbon was named AL Rookie of the Month for April. He definitely deserved it. Eveything he did in April was awesome, except for that little thing with the haircut.

And David Wells still comes up with the goods. On Joe Torre's opinion about Boston fans booing Damon: "Awww, poor Joe. Sorry. I don't feel bad for him. For Joe? No. For Johnny, he knows what it's like. When you put the "B" on and you're in NY, they're going to hate you."

I Booed...Then I Felt Bad (But What a Game!)

Johnny Damon can work a crowd! All he has to do is take his hat off and he can turn a booing stadium into a cheering stadium. One second everyone was hating him, then everyone was clapping. I was so set on booing him. But...I think I still like him a little bit. And making the first out helped. Damon got a little cheer from me when he first appeared (much to my surprise), but no more of that because from here on out, he's just another Yankee. He finished the day a sweet 0-for-4. People threw money on the field for Damon. I love the Boston fans.

Wakefield knows how to take a good picture, but does he know how to pitch well? He did tonight, and holy crap what a difference a catcher makes. I could not be more happy that Mirabelli is back, because Josh Bard (good guy I'm sure) was as adept at catching Wakefield as Tom Cruise is adept at not being crazy. Yep.

Alex Cora made a really great play to stop the ball in the 3rd but couldn't get the out. It was so pretty it almost made me forget that I don't really like him. I'm beginning to think it's unfair of me to dislike him because of one play, but it was during a game I was at in which he replaced my favorite player in the lineup. But more plays like that from Cora and I may end up liking him. Oh, and a pitchout in the same inning kind of made my day. I love those.

5th inning, bases loaded with Manny up. And the man came through with an RBI single. Trot Nixon also got an RBI. No more runs in that inning, but the score was tied 3-3.

Derek Jeter was called out at 2nd when he overran an out ball. It was BEAUTIFUL. Could not have been better. Cora was pointing to 3rd and Jeter thought no one was covering but realized a bit too late that he had to get back to the base. Okay, Alex, you're SO close to getting back on my good side!

Tanyon Sturtze came in in the 8th. I hate him immensely, even more than Steinbrenner. Mark Loretta totally RBI-singled off him to break a tie, and the ball went right through Stupid's legs. And then David Ortiz launched a 3-run HR with Mike Myers pitching and it went over Damon's head into Papelbon's glove and it finalized my decision that this was one of the most exciting games I've seen in a LONG time. Clearly, as I used more bold tonight than I ever have.

Papelbon in the 9th: A-Rod (strikeout!), Matsui (pop up), Posada (strikeout!).

The mocking chant of "Johnnnny" had to get to him. It had to. I kind of felt bad for him, and I have to say I miss the beard and long hair. He looked pretty wrong out there. Can't wait for the inevitable press conference.

DOUG MIRABELLI!!

Doug Mirabelli has been re-acquired! NO MORE PASSED BALLS!! THANK YOU!!

Secondly, we are a mere 1.5 hours away from the Return of the Traitor. I'm warming up the vocals for what is sure to be 3 hours of yelling, booing, cheering, and swearing. Shouts of "Derek Take-a-Seater (why yes, I did make that up myself!)!" and "Stupid [insert random Yankee], you suck, I hate you, etc." will be rampant. But most importantly, if you live within 5 miles of me (or Fenway), you will hear loud boos whenever Johnny Damon steps up to the plate.

Yes, I realize you helped the Red Sox win the World Series. Yes, I realize nobody really wanted you anymore. And yes, I am over your trade. But Johnny, I have to boo you. It's my duty. My well-deserved, soon-to-be-much-enjoyed duty.