The Sound of 18 Million People Exhaling

Game 3 - Red Sox

Red Sox 7, Yankees 3
Record: 1-2

Wow, Whitney's been a veritable Tom Wolfe lately, churning out prolific wordcounts while I've sat idly by - mostly in Hartsfield International Airport. This entry won't tip the scales much, to be honest.

If there is such a thing as a must-win in the season's third game, the Sox delivered one Wednesday afternoon. 3 outs from being swept, with Mariano Rivera on the hill and the Yankees poised to...hey, wait a minute...this sounds really familiar. I'll save Whitney some well-deserved angst by not completing that thought.

The subsequent 5-run "outburst" was as ugly as it was desperately needed. Hell, if Alex Rodriguez makes a relatively routine play on Manny Ramirez' erstwhile doubleplay grounder, folks from Bangor to Cranston are in full woe-is-us throat. But he didn't, and a few dribblers, flares, and wild pitches later, the Sox recorded their first win of the season.

Of note, the Sox once again touched up Mariano Rivera, leading the Yankee reliever to exhibit all manner of petulant gestures at his teammates' failings, and precipitating a full-voiced Bronx cheer from the ever-classy Yankee Stadium denizens. Rivera's still great, but there's no question that the Sox are more confident against him than any other team.

I'll be happy when next week's Sox/Yanks repeat is over, so we can get on with the business of playing the season without the screeching cacophony of hype that's accompanied this first week. At least the Sox win avoided adding another layer of drama to that particular mess.