Hardball Heaven

So this is what they meant by 'dog days of August.' The Sox are springing leaks all around as they try to stay within tracking distance of the first-place Rays and keep their hold on the wild card lead. They're missing their starting shortstop, third baseman, and right fielder, and their #1 pitcher has some sort of mysterious ailment going on his throwing arm. To add salt to the proverbial wounds, Jon Lester got shelled yesterday en route to an embarrassing 11-0 defeat to the Blue Jays, who have our number this year.

It's been a chaotic 2008 for this team in more ways than one, and really, if you think about it objectively, the fact that they have a half-game lead over the White Sox for the wild card is borderline incredible. Schilling gone for the year, Papi and Lowell out for extended periods, the gas-can bullpen, the spaghetti bats of Lugo, Crisp and Varitek, and oh, almost forgot, the loud departure of Manny Ramirez. The Sox' depth has allowed them to stay afloat, but it remains to be seen if the leaks can be stopped before this team hits the ocean floor.

The Blue Jays have certainly been trying to poke more holes in the hull. The Jays hold a 7-3 edge over the Sox this year, and they send the hot A.J. Burnett (16-9) to the hill today against Dice-K (15-2). Should be a good one... or it could be an ugly one.