A totally predictable outcome, no? Dan Haren, an excellent young starter, wanting to avenge his crappy Fenway start on July 15…Kyle Snyder starting for the Sox…Oakland looking to salvage the final game of a critical series…etc. There’s just not that much to talk about.

The one thing that is worth mentioning is that you wonder if the front office won’t feel a little more pressure to pull something off at the deadline. Here’s where I come down on that subject. If you can be reasonably confident that Tim Wakefield and David Wells can combine for at least 15 starts from here on in, you stand pat. If Roger Clemens is available at a reasonable price, yeah, you pull the trigger. But with Omar and the Mets in need of a starter and so many teams still in the hunt, this is shaping up to be the ultimate seller’s market.

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So the Sox lost a game we all thought they might and the trade season has been pretty quiet thus far. We are coming to the close of July and so I thought it might be fun just to sort of bullet-point some of the thingss catching my eye around baseball.

* Is the bloom coming off of Bronson Arroyo’s National League rose? His 5.45 July ERA suggests that it just may be.

* Justin Morneau: .313/.359/.597 - Minnesota’s going to win the WC by at least five games.

* A couple of Padres are staying classy since the All-Star Break:

Mike Cameron: .298/.365/.702
Adrian Gonzalez: .464/.500/.893

* Speaking of Gonzalez, Jon Daniels isn’t looking too hot in light of the deal that sent Chris Young (118 IP, 3.64 ERA and 8.42 K/9) along with Gonzalez for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka (46 combined IP). Worse, Young and Gonzalez are a combined 13 years younger than the two players Texas received back.

* The White Sox are finishing in 4th place next season. They’re relying on aging players without much help coming down the pike, and they are in one hell of a good division.

* Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez spear-headed New York’s most emotional victory of the season last night. Was it wrong of me to feel a little happy for those two? Check out Steven Goldman’s gem on the absurd treatment of Alex Rodriguez.

* How frustrating is A.J. Burnett? Lights out when at his best, and like this when he’s not.

* Jered Weaver, Justin Verlander, Francisco Liriano, Jonathan Papelbon - Wow! Best rookie class of pitchers ever?

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What a weekend series between the Sox and Halos at Fenway we have coming up; Jon Lester and Kelvim Escobar dish up a little appetizer on Friday night before two marquee match-ups on Saturday (Josh Beckett v. Jered Weaver) and Sunday (Curt Schilling v. John Lackey).