Hardball Heaven

The Sox are currently in Atlanta, trying to win the rubber game in a three-game set against the Braves. Things look good, as they should when your lineup is going against a guy named Buddy Carlyle. It's the top of the 4th and the Sox have a comfortable 7-0 lead on the heels of home runs from J.D. Drew (leading off the game), David Ortiz, and Coco Crisp. Coco, by the way, made one of the best catches I've ever seen last night going full bore to prevent a sure double. Very similar to his catch on David Wright last year at Fenway - that one saved the game and was a 9.5 on the rating scale. Last night's was a 10.

But I digress. It's been an eventful three days in Georgia. Curt Schilling started the opener and got throttled, barely registering 90 mph on his fastball and not striking a guy out for the first time in 348 starts. Pretty amazing. After the game, Schilling flew home to have his shoulder checked out and the results came back structurally clean. He's still going on the 15-day DL for some R&R. Hey, the guy's 40 and all. Last night Josh Beckett dominated the Braves and Tim Hudson, winning 4-0 on a rainy night. The only negative so far tonight? J.D. Drew - who seems to be finding his hitting stride - had to leave after the 2nd inning due to quad tightness. Hopefully not a big deal, and with tomorrow's day off, he should be fine for San Diego.

If things stay the way they are, they'll have a 9 1/2 game lead on the Yanks who are in Colorado later tonight.

A couple of things I came across this week:

- Well, the Bruins haven't formally announced that they have a new coach, but that hasn't stopped Wikipedia... check out the right-hand column on the Bruins page.

- Must-see video here. A dead-on impersonation of our beloved skipper. Love the gum sacrifice.

- If Barry Bonds did 'roids, so did Bobby Cox (above).