Hardball Heaven

Have things gotten so bad in Gotham that Johnny Damon takes a curtain call after a cheap flyball home run helped his team get to within 7 games of the front-running Red Sox? Evidently so. Granted, it was a big hit and we've certainly been on the happy end of some very big Damon hits, but it seemed a bit out of place to me. Another observation from last night's 5-3 defeat: Joba Chamberlain has electric stuff. First time I've been able to watch him live and he's got an unbelievable fastball and slider. I do think he needs to calm down a tad, though - after his punchout of J.D. Drew (and really, who doesn't punch out J.D. these days?) he gave it almost a D-Lowe fist salute and took a nice, long look at the Red Sox bench. That's bush league shit, and here's hoping the man who was Joba before there was a Joba - Jonathan Papelbon, or JoPa - can return the favor at some point over the next couple days.

Dice-K? He was his usual mysterious self, and you could argue in hindsight that Tito left him in a little long. Why not put Okie or Timlin in there for the 7th? He seems to nibble too much, and when the calls don't go his way, he seems to get a little flustered. He gets into counts where he has to throw his fastball and his heater just isn't overwhelming enough. Also, a couple of injury concerns - both Manny and Bobby Kielty had to leave last night's game with back pain meaning Eric Hinske is most likely our left-fielder tonight, barring a call-up. For some reason, I can see Hinske doing something good tonight.

Speaking of tonight's game, it's a pitching matchup for the ages. Josh Beckett going against his boyhood idol Roger Clemens. Two big, stubborn lugs from the state of Texas, and you know they're both gonna be amped up for this one. Can't wait. Maybe Rog will confuse a broken bat for the ball again. That would be fun.