Pink Floyd

Games 22 & 23 - Red Sox

Red Sox 11, Yankees 4
Yankees 3, Red Sox 1
Record: 15-8

The Sox knocked the Yankees' starting pitcher out of the game in the top of the first inning, held the Yankees to 3 runs...and never really had a chance in this afternoon's rather dismal outing. Baseball, it's fannnnnnfuriating. On the plus side, I've been drinking wine since 5:30 and am fairly comfortably numb, so I've come to terms with the fact that the Sox really weren't going to go 18-0 against the Yanks this season. Shiraz-aided stream of consciousness to follow:

Mike Lowell's hit in 14 straight for the Sox, and made errors in each of those games, as well. Okay, only in half of them. And that's only barely a joke.

Kei Igawa is Japanese for "Ted Lilly", which is English for "Otherwise mediocre lefthander who makes the Red Sox look anemic."

The Sox are 15-8, and Manny Ramirez has a .578 OPS. That's encouraging. I think.

I'm raising the first flag of concern about Dustin Pedroia's prospects. More than just about anyone, I'm rooting hard for the littlest Sox player, but his long, long swing seems to produce not much more than harmless pops to deep short or shallow center. He's slugged .282 in 142 career at-bats now, not quite enough to make a final judgment, but enough to start shuffling my feet and looking down at the ground.

Got the following text message from Whitney this morning: "I'm still alive. Barely." And I'm guessing that his JazzFest schedule prevented him from getting news of the Mets' loss to the Nationals - that might've changed the message.

Jon Lester pitched 5 shutout innings in Pawtucket last night. Looks like tomorrow will be Julian Tavarez' last day in the Sox rotation for the time being. That's fantastic news on lots of fronts.

Tim Wakefield didn't pitch well today, allowing leadoff runners in just about every inning and pitching out of jams in exactly every frame, but he did keep the Sox in yet another game. And the Sox offense let him down in yet another game. Dude, he said he was sorry for the herpes outbreak. Can you guys just get over it and hit the ball for him?

Speaking of the Mets, we're all gonna get very familiar with Kirk Radomski's face. The former Met clubhouse attendant/confessed steroid dealer is alleged to have named names, worn a wire, and otherwise cooperated with Federal authorities investigating illegal performance enhancing drug use in MLB. Frankly, I think the Players' Union needs to get all its members in a room for a day, and walk out with a complete list of who, when, and how much so that the game can start with a clean slate. We all as fans suspect each and every one of them (except Papi, of course, and the aforementioned Pedroia), so hearing the truth isn't going to change much. Rip off the band-aid, deal with the pain, and cleanse the wound.

Tom Verducci's story about Alex Rodriguez in this week's Sports Illustrated contains the following passage: "The remaking of A-Rod actually began late last summer when Boras and his team of fitness experts suggested to Rodriguez that he might improve his defense, which had suddenly become unreliable last season, if he lost some weight. In this three years since moving from shortstop to third base, after his trade from Texas to New York, Rodriguez had grown increasingly thick in the chest and rear. Rodriguez dropped 15 pounds over the winter and reduced his body fat from 18% to 10%. That he was sleeker and more nimble was immediately apparent on Opening Day, when he set up the winning run against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays by stealing second base on his own." The over/under on the percentage of people reading that and saying, "Well, fucking duh. He stopped cycling the 'roids" is 75. The other 25 are between the ages of 8 and 13. And sadly, he's guilty until proven innocent in today's MLB culture, unless and until the aforementioned come-to-Jesus meeting happens among union membership.

The Nats just scored to go up, 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th against the Mets. I hope Whit's drunk. Fortunately for him, that's a dead-certain lock.

Even with today's loss, the Sox will lead the AL East by no fewer than 3 1/2 games when they wake up in the morning. I'm gonna have a few more glasses of wine, pass out, and sleep the sleep of the momentarily contented.