I refuse to rant.

- That said, why is Kevin Millar playing for this team? Outright him. I am serious. I would love for a reporter to ask Millar, “Kevin, what exactly, if anything, do you add to the Boston Red Sox?”

- I am going to give Nomar another few weeks before I worry. Obviously I would like to see him playing better but people ought to lay off of him a bit. Remember the way Jeter started his season?

- Jeff’s right. The track meets that ensue every time someone reaches base are humiliating.

- I know the defense was bad. But even most of the outs the Yanks made last night were pounded. It has been written here before. Patient teams, like the Yankees, will own Lowe. He is simply too reliant on the opposition swinging at balls out of the strike zone. If he faced Nomar every at-bat, he would be a hall-of-famer.

I think this will be the low point. I really do. The local media is hooting and hollering. WEEI will be all over Nomar, Pedro and everyone else. But you surely remember last year at the end of August. The Sox had dropped two of three to the Yanks and fell 5.5 games behind New York, 3.5 behind Oakland and even 1.5 games behind Seattle for the Wild Card. Manny had just sat out the Yanks series and was taking it on the chin from the talking heads. As far as most folks were concerned, the Sox were dead in the water. The very next day, the Sox had an inspiring, come-from-behind victory in a make-up game at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, capped by a Trot Nixon grand slam. They wouldn’t look back.

Well Jon Lieber seems like as good a break-out candidate as anybody.

Hang in there, Sox fans. Your team is too talented to fade.