Hardball Heaven

This one was summed up by, of all people, Jerry Trupiano on WEEI. "Lots of strange things happening here tonight, and none of them have been good for the Red Sox.... here's the pitch... 2 and 1... and now there's three birds flying around the mound... What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?... Fouled off... 2 and 2..."

What a weird, ugly, putrid, horrific, disappointing ending to a night that seemed so promising. Beckett vs. Mussina. The scrappy, depleted Yanks against the Sox for first place. Time to put some separation between these guys.

And then before you know it, they're down 8-2 after 2 and 13-2 after 3 and Tito is waving the white flag. Time to read a book or watch a movie.

Beckett gave up 7 runs in an inning and a third, and again had major trouble with the longball on the road, giving up three-run bombs to Andy Phillips and Jason Giambi. Jermaine Van Buren - who's been looking pretty good lately - then came in and walked the ballpark, eliminating any thought of a Red Sox comeback. Mussina pitched pretty well for the Yanks.

So what is wrong with our young ace Josh Beckett? Lots of theories flying around this morning -- his fastball is too straight... he throws too many fastballs... he's tipping his pitches. Whatever it is, it's downright maddening. The guy can look like Bob Gibson one night and John Wasdin the next.

And it doesn't get much better tonight. David Pauley gets another start versus Chien-Ming Wang.