Hardball Heaven

Since we last left you, the beat has gone on for the Sox. They won Friday's makeup game against Seattle in dramatic fashion, with a late Manny blast, and then they traveled to Minnesota and took 2 out of 3 from a tough Twins team at the Metrodome. Wakefield was superb Friday night, the Sox lost to Johan Santana on Saturday, and then they won a nailbiter yesterday, 4-3.

They're following the same formula - good pitching, timely hitting, good defense. Francona gives Manny a day off and starts Hinske. They win. He puts Alex Cora in there and the guy has been Pete Rose, rapping out hit after hit after hit. The middle relief continues to be outstanding. Papelbon is a-ok. As we wake up this morning, the Sox can enjoy a day off knowing that they've got the second-best record in baseball (behind, believe it or not, the Milwaukee Brewers). They've got a 5.5 game lead on the Yanks.

Speaking of the Yanks, it was announced yesterday at hallowed Yankee Stadium that Roger Clemens has finally settled on the highest bidder and will be wearing pinstripes again this year. Big announcement at the park - stopped the game, Roger speaks on a microphone from the owner's box, says he's "privileged" to be back, etc. Membership indeed has its privileges - according to news reports, the Yanks will pay Rog a prorated $28 million through the rest of the year. He still gets his schedule/travel quirks that he had in Houston. The general consensus is that the decision came earlier than expected, and it's easy to see why. The Yanks have been trotting out Triple-A slop two or three times a week, and they're in danger of falling out of the race in May. They HAD to do this. Still surprised that he's walking away from the posh home gig, though. More on the ridiculous Roger recruiting process in a separate post.

When it's firing on all cylinders, the Yankee rotation now looks pretty tough. Clemens, Pettite, Wang, Mussina, Hughes vs. Schilling, Beckett, Dice-K, Wakefield, and (eventually) Lester.

The Yanks are in action tonight against Seattle while the Sox are en route to Toronto for a three-game set.