Hardball Heaven

After an extremely difficult defeat Friday night - one that the Yankees called their biggest win of the season - the Sox' bats came alive yesterday and Josh Beckett may have put a stranglehold on the 2007 A.L. Cy Young award.

Friday night was brutal. Ahead 7-2, the Sox turned to their best two relievers to seal the deal - Okie Dokie and Papelbon. Unfortunately they were both very hittable and the Yanks stormed their way back to take the lead and eventually win the game. It was the type of loss that can leave some serious psychological damage on a team. Even Buster Olney put a piece up on ESPN titled "Yankees Have Mental Edge." By around 7:30 yesterday, that piece had been retitled to "Yankees Had Mental Edge."

That's because they ran into a tough, stubborn Texan who had stymied them in Game 7 of the 2003 World Series - in the Stadium, no less - in the form of Josh Beckett. Beckett was in command all game, and through the middle innings was locked in a tight 1-1 duel with Chien Ming Wang. Then the Sox broke it open, with the key hit coming from - you won't believe it - J.D. Drew, who sliced a double down the left-field line to give the Sox a lead they didn't give up. Final score was a satisfying 10-1. Highlight was Eric Hinske barreling into Jorge Posada at the plate (above) on a bang-bang play. One of the best collisions I've ever seen, and credit goes to Posada for hanging onto the ball and getting one of the toughest outs in his career. Hinske is a big dude and he lowered the boom big time. Posada may have some lingering effects, but the pussy's pretty tough.

By the 9th inning, Joe Torre had his Triple-A lineup in there and thoughts turned to tonight's game which pits Curt Schilling against Roger Clemens. Most people feel the Sox have the division sewn up, but a win tonight would ease any anxiety. Gametime is 8 p.m. on ESPN, directly opposite the Armageddon Patriots-Chargers battle on NBC. Once again, we need to all bow down and give homage to this man, for he invented the wireless remote control don'tcha know.