Red Sox 3
Yankees 4

This series isn’t about the standings. It’s not about pitching matchups and injuries, or lineups and bullpens. It isn’t about pitch counts, Joba Rules, or squirrels. It’s about going into Yankee Stadium and taking a series in August. Something this franchise, no matter how much better on paper or in the win column they are, is hopelessly unable to do.

Beckett’s problems were the usual, fastball command. He turned to the curve far too ofter in the first three innings, so much so that A-Rod was waiting on the big, meaty helping of hangar steak in the seventh. That turned out to be the game winner, after Youkilis and Lowell got to the toughest nerd of all time, Kyle Farnsworth. Mariano came in for four outs, albeit easy ones, but I’d surmise he’s unavailable tonight. Who’s the closer? Oh god, I hope its Joba Chamberlain and someone takes his slightly curved hat brim to the upper deck. Actually, I hope it doesn’t come to that.

The Red Sox, as usual, are gluttons for punishment. They’ve backed themselves into a corner and must win tonight. You may be saying, “Self, the Sox can do no worse than a five game lead after this series, how is it a must win?” This was their chance to lock a playoff spot in concrete, and if they let it slip I wonder how they’re going to get through September and October. That said, they’ve got a shot to redeem themselves. Curt, this is your time to shine, let’s see if you can do it. I can see the dollar signs in your eyes from 200 miles away.

Red Sox 3
Yankees 5

That was adorable. Starry-eyed Billy Joel fans screaming like its the playoffs or a Piano Man encore while their big brother sits back, calm and collected, waiting for Captain Jack. Maybe it’s the booze and the hot dogs, but the atmosphere in Yankee Stadium last night was terrific. There were no angry exchanges — subtle and good-natured jabs were lobbed in both directions with no ill intentions. By far the most fun I’ve had watching a Red Sox loss, or any game in the Bronx.

Damon’s homer was the turning point, but the injury to Manny and subsequent poor excuse for an at bat by the becoming-rapidly-unlovable Eric Hinske and J.D. “Prozac” Drew were the crushing blows. We might as well award Joba the Hutt the ROY, Cy Young, and Gold Glove already; the way he’s revered by the aforementioned starry eyed fans. He is pretty nasty though.

It’s cute, watching a team fighting for the wild card give it their all in the first of a three game series. It’s odd, laughing off a late August loss to our heated rivals with a stoic “we’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Well, tomorrow has become today, and another old friend welcomes his former pals and the newest gunslinger on the block for game two.

The Red Sox are 3-3 at Yankee Stadium this year.

Depending on what happens between Mike Mussina and Justin Verlander tonight, the Boston Red Sox will enter Yankee Stadium tomorrow either 7 or 8 games ahead of New York in the AL East race. This extra cushion could prove invaluable, as New York is sending their three “good” starters to the hill in this series. Let’s take a look at each pitching matchup:

Tuesday: Daisuke Matsuzaka (170 IP, 3.76 ERA, 9.11 K/9) vs Andy Pettitte (173 IP, 3.69 ERA, 5.93 K/9

On paper, the best pitching matchup the series (although not the most interesting one). Dice-K is seemingly a better pitcher now than he was in April/May, when the Yankees knocked him around a bit for 10 runs in 2 starts. Since the end of May, Daisuke has a 2.97 ERA over 97.1 innings. Andy Pettitte has been on a tear himself, with 5 wins and a 2.06 ERA in August. However, he has had some trouble with Boston, giving up a .323 batting average to the Sox in 5 games this season. It’s close, but the home field advantage tilts the odds in the direction of the lefty.

Advantage: Pettitte

Wednesday: Josh Beckett (160 IP, 3.21 ERA, 8.55 K/9) vs Roger Clemens (83 IP, 4.34 ERA, 6.51 K/9)

This will be the big ticket of the series, as the two Texan fireballers lock horns in a battle of generations. Despite the glitz and glamor of this matchup, it’s heavily in Beckett’s favor. Clemens averages only 5+ innings per start, and was hit hard in his last start against Detroit. He’ll have the adrenaline going, in his first start against the Sox since Game Seven on the 2003 ALCS…

Advantage: Beckett

Thursday: Curt Schilling (118.3 IP, 4.11 ERA, 6.27 K/9) vs Chien-Ming Wang (159.3 IP, 3.95 ERA, 4.58 K/9)

Curt, who has been wildly inconsistent this season, hasn’t had very much success against New York at all, being tagged for 29 hits and a 7.00 ERA in 18 innings of work. Wang has been inconsistent recently, with a 5.40 ERA in his last 7 starts, although he did spin a gem in his last outing.

Advantage: Wang

Of course, the overall offensive matchup is clearly in favor of the Yankees, who average about 6 runs per game, by far the best rate in baseball (the Sox are third in the AL, with 5.33 runs per game). Both teams have relatively strong bullpens, but the edge there goes to Boston for their depth.

As you can see, the two teams match up very well. It always seems to work out that way, doesn’t it?

For all intents and purposes, the playoffs begin Tuesday night.

1) Red Sox
It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen the Red Sox completely obliterate an opponent over a four game series to this extent (46-7 combined score). Granted, Crazy Ozzie’s crew is a shell of the World Championship squad from 2 years ago, but it was very entertaining to watch him muttering to himself in the dugout, probably thinking about how many machete hacks it will take to kill his entire bullpen.

2) Yankees
The Yankees have their three best starting pitchers (Pettitte, Clemens, Wang) waiting for the Red Sox to arrive in the Toilet on Tuesday (more on this in a preview tomorrow). Joba Chamberlain has been off the hook in his first few MLB outings, with 15 K in 9 innings pitched and his slider drawing rave reviews. He gives the Yanks a formidable 8th inning bridge to Mariano, something they haven’t had this year.

3) Mets
The only NL team that has a solid playoff reservation at this point, the Mets now have a 7 game lead over Atlanta and Philly. Since the All-Star break, the ageless El Duque is 5-0 with a 9 K/9 and a 2.87 ERA.

4) Angels
What’s up with John Lackey? In August, hitters are batting .358 against the big right-hander, effectively ending his Cy Young hopes. Catcher Mike Napoli should return to the lineup soon, providing some much-needed pop.

5) Mariners
The Cinderella story of 2007 continues, as Seattle is currently leading the wildcard race and within a stone’s throw of the AL West lead. When talking about great pitching in the AL, a guy who is often overlooked is J.J. Putz. He’s been arguably the best reliever in baseball (0.683 WHIP in 60 innings), and probably deserves some Cy Young consideration.

6) Indians
C.C. Sabathia is, by far, the best Cleveland Indians pitcher in my lifetime. At the tender age of 27, he’s already 7th on the all-time Indians strikeout list. 4 of the 6 guys ahead of him (Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn) have plaques in Cooperstown.

7) Cubs
The Cubbies wisely locked up their ace, Carlos “Big Z” Zambrano, with a long term contract, and have since pulled ahead of Milwaukee to take the division lead. The NL Playoffs are always more interesting with the Cubs involved.

8) Detroit
Had been swooning recently, but they deserve their props for hanging tough against the red-hot Yankees this weekend. Kudos to the Tigers offense for putting Phil Hughes over their knee and spanking him today (3 HRs).

9) Padres
Marcus Giles gradually regressing from a .526 slugging percentage in 2003 (age 25) to a .322 slugging percentage this season (age 29) is somewhat odd.

10) Diamondbacks
Brandon Webb has been the best 2nd-half pitcher in baseball. In his last 7 starts, he is 6-1 with an ERA of 0.65, which has vaulted him into the thick of the NL Cy Young discussion.

Red Sox 1
Devil Rays 2

On a night of offensive fireworks, the Red Sox bats were made silent by the vaunted staff of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Drown your sorrows in a bucket of Bud Light at Ferg’s, traveling Faithful.

It was bad from the pregame show. Manny took a personal day and Eric Hinske got the nod in left. (According to the Pregame NESN crawl, Ortiz AND Hinske were playing left. That would have been interesting.) Hinske, the Unoffical Mayor of Dewey’s House ‘08, didn’t register an at bat, but drew two walks and stole a base. He must have switched to Mich Ultra. There were opportunities aplenty, of the fourteen left on base, Alex Cora is enemy number one. The desolate, godforsaken hole in the lineup inhabited by Cora ended three innings, two with RISP. Tito hasn’t lost his marbles, Cora was only in because Pedroia took a 95mph heater off his funny bone. However, Pedroia hitting with one hand is preferable to Cora’s hopeless bumbling with the bat. If DP’s not ready to go tonight, I’m going to turn the game off immediately lest risk damaging my sweet new HDTV.

Diasuke Matsuzaka’s luck varied from horrible to fantastic. He continues to be saddled with tough losses and poor run support, but his stuff last night didn’t scream Pedro. His fastball was 88-93 on the FSN Florida gun, acceptable, but his command of it was lacking. There were several 88 mph flat fastballs at the letters that he got away with and his curve was inconsistent. He never looked comfortable facing Akinori Iwamura. Frankly, I expected the Rays to explode for a crooked number at any moment, two hits and four walks was remarkable.

Edwin Jackson lived closer to 95 than the rumored 98 mph, but he dialed it up on a few occasions. He seems like the kind of thrower Manny dissects and destroys, I would have saved his off day for another time. Jackson’s problem is focus, which will come with experience, the strides he’s made this year are encouraging. It must be frustrating inhabiting the AL East with little hope of contending.

Nine hits, one run, and a loss. I’m the guy in the office chugging water and looking surly today. Got any Advil?

Red Sox 8
Devil Rays 6

I wasn’t watching last night’s game close enough to confidently asses the quality of Jon Lester’s performance, beyond “sucky.” But, the Red Sox won. Rejoice.

Tito showed a little due confidence in Manny Delcarmen, bringing him in with the tying run on in the sixth. It was the right move, but only considering the recent collapse of Eric Gagne. I’m not ready to see Gagne in any high leverage innings just yet.

If you needed any evidence that the Red Sox offense struggles against low caliber
opponents in their first meeting, I present to you the following:

Aug 15 @BOS W 6.2 4 3 3 2 3 1
Aug 21 BOS L 5 8 7 7 0 5 0

After registering a quality start (I know, it’s a stupid statistic) against the Sox on August 15, Andy Sonnanstine looked a lot more like a Devil Ray last night.

Some thoughts on the wild card contenders:

• On Monday, Scott Boras was standing in the best seats in LA, during the Angels-Yankees game, talking on a cell phone like he was negotiating world peace. Standing in full view behind home plate like a billboard for Smug. Posterboy superstar agent must be snuffed out.

• Among other things covered by the fine journalists on the YES Network: apparently Joe Torre has been giving strict instructions on usage for Joba Chamberlain, creatively titled the Joba Rules. Would any manager but Torre be handcuffed by such strict and public guidelines? Not exactly a vote of confidence.

• Mike Mussina was embarrased by the Angels. He walked off the mound after 1 2/3 like a lost puppy.

• Watching the Yankees claw back into a game in the second — only to see the Angels put up a five spot in the third, 12-5 — is currently the highlight of my week. It’s only Wednesday.

Tonight, Diasuke Matsuzaka faces Edwin Jackson. The former top prospect’s season numbers are ugly, but over his last four starts he’s sporting a nifty 1.33 ERA. Essentially, he’s been preventing solid contact. 11 walks and 23 hits in 27 IP is nothing to write home about, but his .608 OPSA and 0 HR allowed are pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to it.

When the Red Sox traded Wily Mo Pena to the Washington Nationals for a PTBNL, many around these parts assumed that the Sox would get a rack of Fungo bats and an apprentice groundskeeper in return.

As it turns out, the PTBNL is a minor league first baseman named Chris Carter (be careful, there are actually 2 minor league first basemen with that name; Boston got the older, less promising one). Carter, a left-handed hitter who will be 25 in September, comes to the Sox in a 3-way swap between Boston, DC, and Arizona.

His numbers in the PCL this year: .324/.383/.521, 18 homers in 553 plate appearances. Impressive on the surface, but also consider that he is repeating the Pacific Coast League, and the PCL is a notorious hitter’s environment.

Still, there are some positives here. He has shown above-average plate discipline (68/50 K/BB ratio, 69/78 last season), he doesn’t have that hard L/R split we have come to expect from left-handed sluggers (.815 OPS against left-handed pitching), and he can potentially play some LF.

In essence, he could likely fill Eric Hinske’s role in 2008 at a fraction of the cost.

Red Sox 6
Tampa Bay 0

As Scott Kazmir prepared to face the Red Sox for the 4,241,836th time this season, he carried with him a microscopic post All-Star break ERA of 1.01, and an ERA of 1.50 against Boston. Much to the relief of everyone, the Sox offense was aggressive out of the gate, and jumped out to an early lead off of the young lefty. Tim Wakefield would only need one run, as he continued his utter dominance of the Devil Rays, winning his 15th game of the year in grand fashion.

The manner of this victory made me consider a few of the big surprises on the 2007 Boston Red Sox. Let’s ignore the obvious Hideki Okajima for a moment, since he did not pitch last night, and I’ll ignore DUstin Pedroia for a moment (because we all are aware of his amazing season). Three other very pleasant surprises, if not as heralded as Oki and Pedroia, include the following:

Mike Lowell: The offensive hero from last night is hitting .311/.366/.498 and now leads the team in RBI, an impressive feat considering the two perennial superstars in the middle of the lineup. He has also played excellent defense after recovering from his odd early season glove-farts.

Tim Wakefield: Now tied with the league lead in victories (John Lackey and teammate Josh Beckett also have 15), and is two victories away from his personal best of 17. At age 41 and now with 166 wins in his career, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that he walks away from the came ~age 45 after reaching the 200 milestone.

Mike Timlin: The Deer Hunter has been an enigma wrapped in a mystery this season, as his K-rate is extremely low (19 in 41 innings). At the beginning of the year (and the end of last season) it appeared that Mike was in need of a retirement party, but his season can now be divided into 2 sections: April-June (18.1 IP, 23 hits, 5.89 ERA) and July-August (21.2 IP, 10 hits, 0.83 ERA).

Tonight, Jon Lester (1-0, 5.14) looks to build off of his terrific start last week, and will take on a rookie who gave the Sox a bit of trouble the last time they locked horns, Andy Sonnanstine (2-8, 6.17).

Angels 3
Red Sox 1

Our favorite psychopath did everything he could to give the top ranked team a series victory over the 1st place Angels, but the offense was once again stymied by a sinister lefty. Julian Tavarez allowed only two hits in six innings, but was outpitched by Joe Saunders. What made this game particularly frustrating was the fact that Saunders came into the game with a paltry K/9 of about 4.5, but managed to whiff seven guys in seven plus innings of work.

J.D. Drew might be having a decent month at the place (hitting .365/.431/.519 in August), but his display last night is what most fans will remember when the team makes it back to Fenway: watching a called third strike sail over the plate with two outs and the tying runs aboard in the 8th inning. This, in addition to a couple of recent high-profile gaffes in the outfield, is just more fodder for a laundry list of items that have gone wrong for him this season. It’s going to be very difficult for this guy to resurrect his image here, but with a 5-year contract that is virtually impossible to deal, he should have ample time to do so (for better of for worse).

The biggest problem this team has right now? It’s not the offense. It’s not Eric Gagne. It’s not J.D. Drew. It’s not Kevin Youkilis’ horrible slump, or David Ortiz’ shoulder. It’s not Jason Varitek’s pitch calling, or the lack of a passable backup catcher. It’s the New York Yankees, who continue their late-season romp through the American League.

The lead is now down to 4 games, and things do not get any easier tonight, as the Sox face Scott Kazmir at Tropicana Field. That obnoxious Devil Rays fan who sits behind the plate and constantly screams at hitters, he’ll be there. Hopefully the Red Sox offense shows up as well.

1.) Boston Red Sox
Valium should be a part of the pre-game ritual on Monday, ’cause the Wakefield rollercoaster has returned: Kevin Cash will be behind the plate. The scouting report on Cash is all-glove-no-hit, which is preferable to upside at the moment. If the Sox’ injury concerns are limited to Doug Mirabelli, extend a heartfelt “Thank You” to whoever sacrificed a virgin.

2.) New York Yankees
The Bill O’Reilly of Baseball Tonight, Steve Phillips, recently filibustered a broadcast with his “case” for the Yankees missing the playoffs. Said “evidence” was limited to their offensive explosion, which couldn’t possibly keep up this pace and would “even out.” Well, Steve, isn’t this showcase merely balancing the first half of ineptitude? It looks to me like things have already evened, and little is going to change. Wild card, lock.

3.) Arizona Diamondbacks
The Babe is back, and his name is — Micah. Micah Owings, that is. The burly 24 year-old righthander launched two long homers while tossing seven innings of three-hit ball on Saturday for the Pythagorean-deficient Diamondbacks. According to our favorite Midwestern baseball nerd, they are actually 60-64. Silly us, thinking they had won 71. Must be a scoring error.

4.) New York Mets
Carlos Beltran has eight XBH, including five homers, since his return from the disabled list August 10. He hasn’t had the offensive season expected, but he’s capable of carrying a team and his timing is ideal.

5.) Cleveland Indians
Over his last five starts, Jake Westbrook has a 2.06 ERA, a .186 BAA and .516 OPSA. He and Paul Byrd complement C.C. and Fausto well. If they get Pronk healthy and on track they could go deep into the postseason, but they’ve gotta hold off the Tigers first.

6.) Seattle Mariners
Since losing seven in a row ending July 26, the M’s are 15-6. It’s still going to be tough for them to get into the playoffs, but they’re making Mike Hargrove regret his premature resignation. George Sherrill and J.J. Putz have been fantastic, and Brandon Morrow should get more credit, despite usurping Keith Foulke as the ugliest-named-reliever.

7.) LA Angels
The performance of John Lackey on Friday is cause for concern, as well as the next few series for the Angels: NYY, TOR, @SEA. They can’t expect much, if anything, from the $16 million man, Bartolo Colon.

8.) Detroit Tigers
After losing four of five to the Indians and Yankees, this week the Tigers face the…Indians and Yankees. Jim Leyland is shaking his cane at the schedule makers.

9.) Chicago Cubs
As I write this, Carlos Zambrano is celebrating his big payday by mowing down the suddenly contending Cardinals. It’s a well timed winning streak that happens to coincide with eight losses in ten games by the Cubbies.

10.) St. Louis Cardinals
If they can squeeze out a split Sunday and Monday to cut the lead to two, things are going to be very interesting. They square off for four more in Busch September 14-16, including a double header.

Per the Boston Herald, the Red Sox will take both Clay Buchholz (as expected) and Jacoby Ellsbury (somewhat surprising) from Pawtucket, as they prepare for a tough doubleheader against the Angels on Friday.

We touched on the imminent Buchholz debut here, but let’s talk about Ellsbury.

For all intents and purposes, this likely means the end of the Wily Mo Pena era, and it also means that recently acquired Bobby Kielty won’t be added to the big team. While Ellsbury has been decent in AAA, he still hasn’t shown an acceptable amount of power for a big league regular.

The speedster could fill The Dave Roberts Role on the team for the next month(s): a 4th outfielder who can cover ground, provide contact assurance at the plate, as yes, steal a base when needed. He could also give Coco Crisp some much needed rest, and start some games against right-handers. Then again, he could be sent right back to Pawtucket after the weekend. Stay tuned.

Ellsbury in 2007:

AA: .452/.518/.644 in 79 PAs, 8/9 SBs
AAA: .292/.361/.377 in 337 PAs, 30/36 SBs
MLB: .375/.444/.438 in 18 PAs, 1/1 SBs

Overall: .325 BA, .382 OBP, 39 steals in 46 attempts.

The following study, conducting by the University of Texas, contends that umpires call more strikes for pitchers of their own race.  While I don’t dispute that, I wonder what the result would be when the race of an umpire and hitter are compared.  It’s shortsighted to eliminate the hitter from the equation.
Batter Out: Umpires Likely to Favor Pitchers of the Same Race or Ethnicity;
Game Attendance and Electronic Monitoring Mitigate Behavior

7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

W, 5 G

Forced to choose between these two sets of characters in a vacuum, I’d be tempted to take the latter — a five game divisional lead.  In context, the clear choice is an excellent performance from a 23 year old lefty in his emotional home debut.  There are certain games every season that catalyze a team, be it a brawl or an August sweep at home by a rival, I’m just glad I was lucky enough to see Tuesday’s contest.

I really have no idea how good Jon Lester is.  Examining his 2006 and 2007 game logs, his inconsistency is apparent.  That inconsistency isn’t indicative of future performance in any way, its very possible that he figured out what was plaguing him and has worked to correct it.  At least he hasn’t regressed.  I’m sure cancer and its treatment effects a body in innumerable ways, but he has returned to where he once was, capable of shutting down a major league offense for 7 innings.  The important thing to take away from last night’s game is that Lester is no worse than the pitcher he was last year.

The Best Bullpen in Baseball (BBB) almost blew another one.  It was important to win in regulation and save Okajima for another day.   Eric Gagne looked a little more comfortable in his new role.  I still like the deal.  Oh, and Kason Gabbard left his start in the second on Monday with stiffness in his forearm.  Don’t come cryin’ Texas.

I know you paid a lot for those seats and you’d like to get your money’s worth, what are you waiting for?  STAND UP.  The game is on the line.  I haven’t been to Fenway in a while, but is this what it’s come to?

1:05 EDT: Diasuke Masuzaka faces Andy Sonnanstine (1-8, 6.35, 1.40) for the sweep.  Watch out for Clay Buchholz on Friday.

Tampa Bay 0
Boston 3

Back when I was in college, we had this baseball video game on Nintendo 64 (if I recall correctly, it was endorsed by Ken Griffey Jr.).  A few friends and I drafted our teams, and would play each other in tournaments every weekend.  As you can probably deduct from this, we were pretty popular with the ladies.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of drafting Tim Wakefield on my team, along with a hard-throwing reliever, John Wetteland maybe.  My strategy would be to start the game with Wakefield and his fluttering 63 MPH knuckleball, and later bring in John Wetteland and his intimidating fastball.  After my opponent squinted for 7 innings while trying to hit the knuckleball, Wetteland’s heater appeared to be going 200 MPH, and was virtually unhittable.

This same dynamic is what we witnessed last night against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Tim Wakefield started the game, and his knuckleball darted about like a hummingbird for 8 innings (he actually took a no-hitter into the 7th).  Instead of the 1999 version of John Wetteland, the Rays were forced to try to catch up with Jonathan Papelbon’s 97 MPH heat and a knee-bucking splitter in the 9th innings, and they managed to look extremely futile in the process.

Tim Wakefield has been the anti-Steve Irwin, if you will.  He has dominated the Rays over the course of their existence, and is the all-time win leader against Tampa Bay.

Aside from an excellent pitching effort by Wakefield and Papelbon, the Sox also received some production from Julio Lugo, as the SS had 3 hits and is now hitting .341/.364/.439 in the month of August.

Tonight, it’s a battle of young hard-throwing lefties, as Jon Lester (1-0, 6.43) makes his 2007 Fenway debut against the dreaded Scott Kazmir (9-7, 3.58).  This isn’t a very favorable pitching matchup, and would be a huge win for the Sox if they could manage it.

Globe reporter Amalie Benjamin had an interesting blog post yesterday afternoon: Clay Buchholz is likely to make his MLB debut this Friday.

This accomplishes two things: a) it allows Curt Schilling to bypass the Friday doubleheader, giving him an extra day of rest, and b) it makes Buchholz elligible for the post season roster. Whether or not Terry Francona would actually take him is undetermined, but as we’ve seen recently, it is never a bad thing to have another option in the bullpen if needed.

Clay’s numbers from AA and AAA this season:

117 innings
2.15 ERA
12.6 K/9
5.5 K/BB
.187 batting average allowed.

Red Sox 3
Orioles 6

Part of me was happy for old friend Kevin Millar as he launched a game winning home run to give Baltimore the series. But, that part of me is very, very small; I think it might actually be a mitochondrion in my left thumb.

For all the grief that Kevin received while in Boston, and for all the talk of the whole “cheerleader” label, when he finally decides to hang up the cleats, he will be leaving behind a very productive Major League career. In over 4,000 plate appearances, Kevin now has a career OPS+ of 117. For some perspective, here are some other semi-related players, and their career OPS+ totals:

(I’m really picking cherries here, and this is just for laughs, so bear with me)

Kevin Millar: 117
Trot Nixon: 115
Miguel Tejada: 113
Kevin Youkilis: 113
Cal Ripken: 112
Mike Lowell: 110
Jay Gibbons: 102

Back to yesterday: Curt Schilling once again pitched a decent game in an eventual losing effort, which is a good sign. And, believe it or not, J.D. Drew is riding a hot streak, hitting .433/.500/.600 for the month of August.

Gagne? He gets a mulligan here. Yes, another one. He’s riding a poetically horrible streak in his Red Sox debut, but most of it is simply good hitting. Alas, the drunken mouthbreathers in the bleachers tend to be far less forgiving than I am, so he might hear it in the bullpen this week.

Tonight, the Red Sox take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at home, and anything less than a sweep will cause a bottleneck at the Tobin Bridge.  Jamie Shields (9-7, 4.43) takes on Timmy (13-10, 4.81).

1) Yankees: The Power Rankings now mirror the payroll rankings in MLB’s model of laissez-faire capitalism (in the top 2 positions, at least). Still back 4 games, and their remaining schedule is theoretically tougher than Boston’s, but this team simply beating everyone right now. The cupcakes and the juggernauts.

2) Red Sox: #1 and #2 are close, and I’ll probably hear it for this. The main reason I have Boston #2 right now: if these two teams were to face each other tomorrow, I just wouldn’t feel good about it. The Eric Gagne Era has been about as fun as a stroll through a Chernobyl children’s hospital ward. I think he’ll eventually be fine, but damn.

3) Angels: When the Sox were playing these guys in Anaheim, one thing occurred to me: this team is very boring to watch. They have a couple of interesting pitchers, and Vlad will put on a show, but the rest of this squad has the personality of a tax attorney on vicodin. Still, with Seattle remaining as their only real competition, you have to like this team’s chances of going deep into October.

4) Mets: The gap between #3 and #4 is somewhat large. John Maine has been getting plenty of praise for his breakthrough season, but perhaps more surprising is the ressurection of Oliver Perez, who looked to be nothing more than an example of lost potential a year ago. Perez is now resmbling the 2004 version of himself, among the league leaders in Ks and ERA.

5) Padres: Speaking of strong pitching, Jake Peavy is probably the #1 candidate for the CY Young Award today, with his left-hook throwing teammate Chris Young not far behind. Unfortunately, the Pads can’t really hit (team OPS+ of 95).

6) Indians: Just swept by the Yankees, and looking like they might not be as tough as we thought down the stretch. And please, no more “Manager of the Year” talk for Eric Wedge. Having a cartoon super hero chin is not criteria enough, and anyone who lets a reliever with an ERA of 5.00 pitch the most critical innings of the game isn’t fit to manage an Orange Julia stand. Honestly, I’m disgusted with the AL Central in general right now. Cleveland, kiss my ass.

7) Diamondbacks: I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Arizona has a Pythagorean record 11 games below their actual record. Putting aside that for a moment, it looks like they are starting to kick it into gear, calling up uber-prospect Justin Upton (.290/.353/.677 thus far). A 4 game lead i substantial enough at this point in the season where the D-Backs should be taken seriously.

8) Tigers: There is a disturbing trend going on: teams that live near polluted lakes are getting beat up by the Yankees. The way these Tigers are playing, it appears as if they are ready to continue that trend later this week. Their starting pitching has gone from excellent to average, and their bullpen has gone from bad to…well, they’ve been consitant all year. So, there you go.

9) Brewers: Milwaukee has a surprisingly well-balanced team, except for one major aspect - their rotation. As a rule, it is generally a bad thing when Jeff Suppan leads your team in innings pitched.

10) Phillies: New acquisition Tadahito Iguchi is filling in just fine (.362/.426/.500) for superstar Chase Utley.

Like the tides and O.J. Simpson, the much publicized spat between Dan Shaughnessy and Curt Schilling is back, with a new wrinkle. In his game recap today, the usually steady Gordon Edes peppered his bleary-eyed effort with a quip regarding the latest Celtics news.

“They’d better have four balls,'’ Francona said, marveling at Reggie’s famous demolition of the Knicks at the feet of Spike Lee. Jerry Remy suggested that the Cooz was still available.

In my journey through the morning sports pages, I also stumbled across this jab at Ainge and the C’s:

First Tom Brady gets named best-dressed man in the world – an unspeakable shot at Bill Belichick, Larry Bird, and yours truly. Then we find out the Celtics are going after Reggie Miller as part of their back-to-the-future archaeological dig. Really now. Reggie Miller? The guy is almost 42. He’s a television analyst. Why not just see if Cooz wants to lace ‘em up one more time?

Shaughnessy managed to yet again work himself into a column, and was unknowingly called out by his fellow Globe writer for stealing a joke from Remy. Coincidence? I doubt it. If we can get Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman involved, this debate could rival stem-cell research, Lincoln-Douglas, and gay marriage combined.  I wonder which side Schilling takes; “no comment” isn’t in his vocabulary.

Sadly, August 7th will no longer be remembered as the day of my birth, and I will forever be linked to a record no one east of Sacramento wanted to see broken.  I hate Barry Bonds, but not because of his alleged cheating, because of this.  For those too lazy to click through, I’ll sum up the only relevant point in my own words:

1. Barry signs $43MM deal
2. Barry divorces his wife and is and ordered to pay child support
3. MLBPA strikes in 1994
4. Barry’s support payments are slashed due to his lack of income
5. During hearing, Judge asks Barry to sign a baseball, Barry complies

Pure class, all around.

This also calls the curious case of Alex Rodriguez to the forefront. While it’s early to crown him, he needs about 29 home runs per year until he’s 40 to get to 756.  With every bomb Barry hits A-Rod’s chances decline, but I think 800 is only achievable by our friend from Da Bronx.  He’s slightly less hate-able, and anything that ends Barry’s tenure is favorable.  I guess that means I’m rooting for A-Rod?  Quite the moral quandary.

Oh, there were actual games yesterday as well.

There was a time when I would have preferred the late start.  That time ended with a kegger, some cardboard hats and silly polyester gowns.  This old man can’t waste his precious sleep on regular season losses.

A few egregious errors in judgment cost the Red Sox this game.  Dustin Pedroia should have gone to first on a groundball in the bottom of the fifth instead of attempting to get the runner at home.  This is a play you only attempt if you’ve got the runner without a doubt.  If its a close play, even if you get him, its smarter to take the sure thing.

With no outs in the top of the sixth, Joe Saunders on the ropes and no one ready in Angels’ pen, you can’t make an out at home.  And if you’re going to push the envelope, you’d better slide.  Lowell is safe on that play if he goes hard with an early slide instead of his half-assed attempt at knocking the ball loose.  Game over.

Late tonight, Jon Lester takes on Dustin Moseley.  No one on the Sox has faced Moseley more than once.  I’ll be watching Yovani Gallardo take on Jeff Francis in Colorado at much more reasonable 3:05 EDT.

Boston 2
Anahiem 4

On his first MLB start after a lengthy rehab stint, Curt Schilling “looked” sharp. His fastball was around 91 MPH all night (an improvement on his prior MLB outings), and both his splitter and curve were sharp in the early stages of the game. His start looked to be a success until things unraveled a bit in the 7th inning. Chances are, when you give up a home run to Maicer Izturis, it is a sign that you have run out of steam.

The Red Sox offense, with the exception of two guys, was shut down by what appears to be a 6′7″ version of Bridget Fonda. Bridget and her unorthodox delivery held the Sox to two runs in six innings, as she lowers her ERA to 3.94 on the year. The strong Angels bullpen relieved Fonda, and nailed the door shut with 3 scoreless innings.

On the bright side of things, this is probably the first loss of the 2007 season that won’t be blamed on J.D. Drew, as the beleaguered right fielder went 3-4, his only out being a line drive smash directly to Vlad Guerrero on the warning track.

In other news, 10:05 PM baseball games are a puss-filled cyst on the ass of American sports.

Tonight: The Sox attempt to put a stop to the shrinking division lead (6 games now), as the Yankees are playing as one would expect a $230,000,000 team ought to play. Tim Wakefield (13-9, 4.55) will square off against Joe Saunders (5-0, 3.10).