Breaking News: Even the Citgo Sign is Steamed with the Sox' Wretched Display

An omen perhaps?

A Wake at Fenway

Carnage. Noun. 1. The slaughter of a great number of people, as in battle; butchery; massacre.

I'd say that about sums it up, don'tcha think? Of course, baseball is not war and there were no dead bodies strewn across the Fenway lawn last night.

But you can equate 'great number of people' with Red Sox Nation, which this morning has to be coming around to the reality - despite the incredible comebacking ways of our Sox in recent years - that this particular team is just too wounded to carry on. In some ways, this team is like a champion thoroughbred who's still very talented but has been surpassed by other younger, feistier horses.

Make no mistake, folks: the Rays are very, very good, and they're playing great baseball when it matters the most. In addition to the artillery shells (sticking with the military theme) they've been sending into the Green Monster seats the last two nights, they've been pitching very well, playing their typical good defense, their grounders are finding their way through the infield and their pop-ups are landing. Last night, they humiliated Tim Wakefield and the Sox on national TV, bashing their way to a 13-4 win to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. A buddy and I exchanged text messages right after Wake was pulled, both wondering if we had just seen the last of him in a Sox uniform. Another topic for another day, but worth a debate.

The Rays have clearly been the superior team in every aspect of the game, but I'd like our chances a whole lot better with a healthy Mike Lowell playing third and batting fifth or sixth, and if we knew Josh Beckett and David Ortiz would be their normal selves. You can't underestimate the loss of Lowell, not only for his glove and his bat, but also for what his absence does to the lineup. It moves Youkilis to third and makes Tito have to insert Mark Kotsay at first. Kotsay has done a fine job defensively, but has been a little soft with the bat. And while they continue to deny it, both Beckett and Ortiz have to be hurting. I tip my hat to the Rays (except Jonny Gomes) - and will root for them heartily if they advance - but I still would have liked to have seen our best vs. their best.

Things are gloomy here - this feels a lot different than '04 or '07; the Rays seem destined - but nobody knows better than us that cold bats can get hot in a hurry, and hot bats can cool down. Anything can happen. For now, we lick our collective wounds as a Nation and turn our eyes to tomorrow - when the guy who gave us our best pitching performance in this series (Dice-K) can hopefully come up aces again. The Rays, interestingly, will move James Shields back and go with Scott Kazmir for Game 5, a guy we know we can handle. If we can get this one, and then if Beckett can revert to his dominant self for Game 6, and then, hey, we've got Lester going again... and... stop. Just stop. Don't do it. This is over.

Ah well. Cheer up - the Celtics start playing for real in 13 days.

Game 3 Preview: Young Guns

Tonight's Game 3 starters - Jon Lester for the Sox and Matt Garza for the Rays - share more than a few things in common. They both made their major-league debuts in the summer of 2006, and they were both born on the West Coast, less than two months apart from each other - Garza in Selma, California on November 11, 1983; Lester in Tacoma, Washington on January 7, 1984.

They're alike in stature, too, both tall and lanky - and bigger than they seem on TV. If you look at career big-league numbers, though, that's where the similarities end. Lester has made 59 starts and has a 27-8 won-loss record, a 3.81 ERA, and a 262 to 140 K over walks. Lester has also been tough to homer off - giving up only an average of 10 per season.

Garza has made 54 starts, and has a career mark of 19-22 with a 4.02 ERA. His K to walk is 233 to 114. He's been stingy with homers too, giving up just a couple more than Lester.

On paper, and the way he's been going lately, Lester is clearly the favorite to pitch another great game and deliver the Sox a clutch win. But as all good Sox fans, I worry - and in this case, I'm worried about the old law of averages. Lester hasn't allowed an earned run in 14 postseason innings so far, while Garza - a better pitcher than his overall record shows - hasn't won a game since August 27. Can Lester keep it up? Will luck finally find Garza? These are the questions we need answers to.

Some quick, random thoughts:

* Everyone thinks Josh Beckett is hurt but if he is, he ain't letting on. Beckett continues to adamantly say that he's okay, that it's more of a question about rustiness and mechanics. We'll see. All I know is when he's only able to push it up to about 92, something is wrong.

* David Ortiz needs to hit. Big Papi has no hits and no RBI's in this series, and is hitting .174 in October.

* Youk continues to show why he's the American League MVP. Evan Longoria's not far behind.

* How 'bout that Jason Bay, huh? I think I heard this right, that he's got 9 two-out ribbies in the playoffs? Clutch.

* Why can't we have an outfielder that can throw? I know Perez is fast, but that play at the plate to end the game should have been much closer.

* Another stunning stat from Saturday night, courtesy of Tony Mazz - Beckett threw 93 pitches and got only 4 swings and misses. Unheard of.

* The walks are killing me. Let's add 'em up. 21 walks between the two teams in 2 games.

* Papi's not the only one that needs to come alive tonight - so does Ellsbury. I see a bunt or two in his future.

Is the Ace Whole? Rays Even Series

They say you're supposed to be happy with a split on the road in the playoffs, and with Jon Lester going in Game 3 tomorrow afternoon there is reason for confidence. But when you lose Game 2 the way the Sox did last night, with their own personal Mr. October Josh Beckett struggling mightily, the happiness is tempered a bit.

The Red Sox lost to the Rays in St. Pete last night in extra innings, 9-8, evening the series at 2 as the teams head north for an afternoon matinee tomorrow. Besides the obvious concern over Beckett - and whether he's healthy - this game ranked high on the entertainment meter. Balls were flying off bats like superballs, and the teams combined to tie a playoff record with 7 home runs. It was like a heavyweight prize fight, with both teams slugging past each other every inning.

Surprisingly - or maybe not, the way both guys have been going lately - the offensive barrage came at the expense of both teams' supposed aces, Beckett and Rays' lefty Scott Kazmir. The second-guessing from this one could take up a full day, but to me the glaring issue last night was Terry Francona leaving Beckett in too long, when it was clear that his velocity was down and he was getting shelled. Beckett's final, ugly numbers: 4 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 8 earned runs, 3 bombs. The Rays looked like they were hitting in the Route 1 batting cages, especially Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena (combined 5 for 10, 5 runs, 1 HR, 5 RBI's). Kazmir wasn't much better, going the same 4 1/3 innings, and giving up five earned runs and three homers.

Hitting stars for the Sox were Dustin Pedroia (2 HR's), Youk (1 HR) and Jason Bay, while Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Kotsay each went 0 for 6. The bullpen pitched great after Beckett, except when Francona decided to bring in Mike Timlin for the 11th inning and Timlin walked the bases full before giving up the game-winning sac fly to B.J. Upton. Timlin should not be on the ALCS roster, plain and simple.

Going by the manual, yes, the Sox have to be happy with the split, particularly in a place where they've had their share of problems this year. But when you look at how the split took shape - with the guy you thought might get lit up pitching a gem, and the guy you thought would pitch well getting lit up - well let's just say there are more questions this morning than smiles.

Something tells me that those folks who are unlucky enough to be working tomorrow will be heading home a bit early. Game time is at 4:37 p.m. from Fenway, with Jon Lester going against Matt Garza. Weather forecast looks nice so shouldn't be a factor.

(Boston Globe photo)

Dice-K Dominant

So that's how you silence the goddamn cowbells, and make the fools who got mohawk haircuts - fans and players alike - look downright stupid. Throw six no-hit innings, take a 2-0 lead, strike out 9 guys, and then use your bullpen exactly the way you drew it up five hours earlier. The Sox were downright giddy after winning Game 1 last night in the Catwalk Aquarium Mall, and for good reason. They won only one of nine games there this year.

Last night, though, Matsuzaka took complete control of the game after again pulling a Houdini in the first inning, when he walked the bases-loaded. Through 7-plus innings, he befuddled the Rays with his usual assortment of dips, spins, speeds, angles, and arm slots. In the end, he was a few shades better than Tampa Bay starter James Shields, who was outstanding in his own right (even if he punches like a girl) and the Sox took it 2-0.

The key hits in this one were a sac fly by Jed Lowrie and a ball off the bat of Kevin Youkilis that was boxed around by Carl Crawford, allowing Dustin Pedroia to score the second run. Dice-K, meanwhile, was in a major groove, keeping the Rays hitless until the bottom of the 7th when Crawford roped a single into right. Dice-K came out in the eighth with two men on and nobody out, and watched from the bench as Hideki Okajima and Justin Masterson (another huge double-play grounder) got out of the inning unscathed, and Jonathan Papelbon shut the door in the 9th.

A couple of quick observations:

- Obviously, all eyes tonight will be on Josh Beckett. Will he revert (at least somewhat) to the postseason form that he's known for, or will he struggle like he did his last time out in the ALDS against the Angels? I'm betting on a little bit of rest helping him, and that we'll see a better pitcher tonight. I'm seeing two or three earned runs in his future tonight.

- Beyond surefire AL ROY Evan Longoria and Haverhill, Mass.' own Carlos Pena, the Rays don't have any consistent, legitimate longball threats. With Dice-K doing his thing last night, keeping guys off-balance, you can see why a pure fastball hitter like Longoria would have some trouble, as he did last night with an 0 for 4 performance, which included 2 K's and five men left on base. I'm curious to see if Beckett follows Dice-K's lead in terms of variety and throwing any pitch anytime in the count. Or if Longoria will catch up to a heater. His matchups with Beckett tonight will be worth the price of admission.

- I like Rays' manager Joe Maddon. I didn't like him much during the bad blood games this year, when he was a little too vocal with our guys for my taste. But every time I hear the guy speak, I see more and more why his guys - especially his young guys - enjoy playing for him and respond to his overall philosophy. In some ways, he and Francona have a lot in common. Maddon's a character, no doubt, but I like his mix of pragmatism, calmness and baseball intelligence. His guys only scratched out four hits last night, and failed miserably time and time again with runners on base. It was the kind of offensive offensive game that would drive a day's worth of angry calls to WEEI. After the game, Maddon kept saying he was proud of his guys, that the other pitcher (Dice-K) was just better than our guy (Shields), and that he really liked the effort. It was surely a Pepto-Bismol night for Maddon, and he had to be disappointed about his team's ineptness at the plate - but you know what? You couldn't see one iota of that during his post-game interview, and that's because he knew the last thing he needed to do was publicly criticize his young team before a must-have Game 2. Sort of the anti-Ozzie Guillen. (Come to think of it, I believe the Red Sox had Maddon on their list of candidates when they ultimately signed Francona.)

- Hard-throwing Rays righty Grant Balfour went high, tight and very fast on J.D. Drew last night when he came inside and hit J.D. square on the shoulder. It was a little too close to the head. I don't think he was intentionally throwing at Drew, but I do think he was trying to be extra-aggressive inside, and if he hits him, oh well. If I'm a Rays batter, I'm wondering in the back of my mind if Beckett might try to, um, establish the inside of the plate.

- I still can't believe that an important baseball game is being played in the abomination that is Tropicana Field. It must be so strange going from the Trop to Fenway for the players. Completely different experiences. The only good things about the Trop - okay, three things - are the free parking, the $6 24-ounce Bud Light stands, and the girl's roller derby/keg party outside the stadium right after the game. The ballpark the Rays want to build is gorgeous, and it just may be that being in the high-profile ALCS helps their cause with the city and people down there.

- Final thought - could Beckett maybe a do a little Nuke LaLoosh, and throw the ball a little wide right - maybe so that it collides with Jonny Gomes' face?

Rays-Sox: Getting Down to Bidness

No matter how you slice it, this should be one hell of a series. As Rays pitcher/puncher James Shields put it in the papers this morning, every time these two teams played each other this year it felt like a postseason game. Now that we're actually in the postseason, it should be an absolute treat.

I'm not gonna get into any technical mumbo-jumbo on the match-up. We've all seen the Rays enough this year to know that they're for real, their young arms are studs, they hit in clutch situations, and - save for maybe Evan Longoria - they're essentially superstar-less. I think what struck me the most, especially down the stretch, was their resiliency. How many times would we see the TV ticker scroll say the Rays were down three runs in the 7th, and then 20 minutes later they were up by four? It happened a lot. One thing I'm concerned about is the home-field advantage the Rays enjoy, and their incredible record in one-run games, which we're sure to see a few of.

As for the Sox, I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is far and away Terry Francona's best job as the manager of this team. Think about all the shit he's had to deal with - Schilling's injury and the ensuing medical debate, Papi's wrist, the uncertainty of Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew's injuries, and of course, the entire Manny fiasco. There were some dark days this season to be sure, but here they are again - and they may very well get into their third World Series in FIVE years. Unthinkable. If Lester keeps doing what he's doing, and Beckett and Dice-K can each improve on their ALDS performances, the keys to me will be getting Pedroia and Ortiz going again. Look for Pedroia to have a big series.

Tonight's matchup (8:37, TBS) has Dice-K going against Shields, and then tomorrow night it's Beckett vs. Scott Kazmir. When the series shift up to Fenway on Monday, it'll be Matt Garza vs. arguably the best pitcher in the game right now in Jon Lester, and then (for now) Game 4 has Andy Sonnanstine going against Tim Wakefield. Tonight would be a tremendous one for the Sox to steal, mostly because we're not sure what Beckett's going to do tomorrow night. He's looked anything but ace-like. If we can split, then we can put our faith in Lester on Monday to take a lead.

Two final observations: 1) Here's hoping the stupid catwalks at the Trop don't play a meaningful role in any of the games, and 2) Get ready for more of those Frank Caliendo commercials. I hate that these games are on TBS, mostly because the announcers (Chip Caray, Buck Martinez) stink and their high-def feed - at least compared to Fox - is terrible.

Go Sawx.

God Bless... Tim McCarver??

Lo and behold... the bad hair-dyed former catcher turned TV color analyst has emerged as a Manny basher. Check out McCarver's diatribe here, where he calls Manny's actions during his last few weeks in Boston 'despicable.'

I'd say that's a good word. Manny didn't like his contractual situation so he took matters into in his own hands. He laid down on his teammates, and took a colossal dump on the owners that paid him very well and the fans who have supported him since he got here. All the other stuff - taking a pee break inside the Green Monster, high-fiving fans in left-field after making a catch, selling his grill on eBay -- all that stuff was goofy and fine. But Manny crossed the line during his final days - whether it was engineered by Scott Boras or not - and what he did deserves to be played up just as much as the hitting tear he's been on in La-La Land.

Now that the Dodgers are one of four teams left standing, expect the volume to be turned up, particularly thanks to Mr. McCarver. Yeah, he's a former Phillie, and the Phillies just happen to be playing LA, but God, the guy makes a ton of sense doesn't he?

Also, here's an article by Joel Sherman in the NY Post this week that will put a smile on your face if you're a Yankee Hater. And if you're not, leave...

John Lackey is Pissed, Man

Mom always said 'never judge a book by its cover' but I've always felt that Angels pitcher John Lackey just looks like a real stupid, dense person. Hard to explain, but he's got that dumb jock, glazed expression look all the time. And evidently, he's not too into sportsmanship, either, judging by his post-game comments in the Los Angeles Times this morning. A quick sample:

"We lost to a team that's not better than us," growled pitcher John Lackey, who gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings. "We are a better team than they are. The last two days, we shouldn't have given up anything."

Lackey - who was no doubt NOT better than Jon Lester twice in this series - goes on to give Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia crap for combining to knock in the Sox' first two runs earlier in the game. I understand his emotions are raw, and I can emphathize with the extreme disappointment he and his mates must be feeling after AGAIN getting pushed aside by the Red Sox. It has to sting, this incredible dominance the Sox have had over these clowns going all the way back to Dave Henderson, Donnie Moore and 1986.

How you say, baseball's BUFFALO BILLS?

Those Crazy, Clever, Make-Your-Tee-Times-Tomorrow Angels

There they go, overthinking and getting all cutesy again. The Angels, after battling back from a 2-0 deficit and having all the momentum on their side in Game 4, just screwed up a suicide squeeze play for a huge out in the top of the 9th.

By the way, the TBS play-by-play man - I'll find out his name before I sign off - is horribly anti-Red Sox. Believe me, I'm sensitive to all the whiners who bitch and moan about certain announcers biases, but this guy is bush-league. A Sox player strikes out and he yells 'oh, take a seat...' Douche. Anyway, the best way to shut this jackass up is to win Game 4, and the Sox are currently a base-hit away from -- and I'm not making this up -- they just got a single from Jed Lowrie that scores Jason Bay with the winning run! Sox win 3-2 and just like that, they're headed to the ALCS against their new rival, the Tampa Bay Rays. Oh, and it's Chip Caray, the little voice that we won't have to (hopefully) be hearing from anymore. Bye Chip. Thanks for nothing, ass-wipe.

The Angels are known as a bunch of swashbucklers (love that word) who aren't afraid to take the extra base, hit and run, squeeze, etc. But sometimes aggression can come back to bite. Vladimir Guerrero's baserunning gaffe in Game 2 in Anaheim - when Youkilis threw him out from short right-field - is Exhibit A, and the failed squeeze play tonight is Exhibit B. Roll the dice like Mike Scioscia does, and you're bound to get burned every now and then. Unfortunately for the Angels, these miscues came at the worst possible times and the Red Sox extended their postseason mastery over them.

So now we get a nice little three-day reprieve from late-night baseball while the Red Sox and Rays get ready to resume hostilities Friday in the ALCS from (gulp) The Trop. I can't believe I actually watched a preview back in April down there. The place was swarming with Sox fans but something tells me it'll be more pro-Rays this time around. Amazingly, this is the fourth ALCS for the Red Sox since 2003.

More on the series over the next couple of days. In the meantime, get some shut eye ya hear?

Guy Heaven

Just when you think you might get to bed at a reasonable hour on a school night, the Red Sox and Angels go ahead and spoil that pipe dream. The Sox ended up losing in 12 innings last night, 5-4, giving the Angels life in a game that went on and on, eventually ending just before 1 a.m.

Let me set the scene for you from yesterday. I had four buddies over the house, all geared up to watch the Pats-49ers at 4, and then the Sox-Angels for the nightcap. My pal Bopper was so fired up for the games that he actually brought his own drinking glass with his Bud Light suitcase. Just like the guy who brings his own pool stick to the bar. "We have glasses, you know," I assured him. "Yeah, but this is a special glass Kampy. I just like it - it's hard to explain. The beer goes down better." And that's the way the afternoon started.

It was ultimate guys' nirvana. The wife and kids were off visiting friends all afternoon, the beer was cold, the pizza, cheese steaks, chicken wings, and nachos were all waiting to be consumed, and the good-natured barbs were already flying. The Niners scored first, but then we got a sight for sore eyes at about the 7:30 mark of the first quarter when Randy Moss hauled in a long Matt Cassel pass for a 66-yard TD. If you didn't know better, you would have sworn the tight spiral that nestled in Moss' hands in stride was thrown by No. 12. At this point, five grown men were on their feet fist-pumping and hollering. Bopper celebrated by pouring another beer into his precious glass. By halftime of the Pats game, my kitchen started to resemble the inside of a trash can, Bobby was checking on the status of his many wagers, and guys were flipping to the White Sox-Rays game to see who was winning that one.

The Patriots came out in the second half and asserted themselves, with the running game - particularly Kevin Faulk - taking over, and kicker Stephen Gostkowski (FG's of 40 and 49 yards in the 4th quarter) making sure the Patriots weren't going to lose two in a row. Final score: Pats 30, 49ers 21, and thoughts immediately turned to the Sox-Angels game.

Meanwhile, the Rays and White Sox were still playing, and we wondered if the Red Sox game would be delayed until this one was over, or if TBS would switch the feed. Of course, when you have a media empire like Ted Turner has, all you have to do is put the game on your sister station (TNT) and let people know about it. See, this is good work by TBS - they know half of America is sitting in their living rooms surrounded by empty beer bottles. In a situation that demanded clarity and action, in that order, they came through in a big way and no doubt avoided many smashed TV screens throughout New England.

Lloydy and Toddo - two guys who rarely get out anymore - left after the Pats game so it was now just myself, Bobby and Bopper. Oh, and Bopper's glass, which by now was given its own seat to the left of the TV screen. "I think I'm on my 15th beer," Bopper said proudly, albeit slurredly (is that a word? It is now.) "Fifteen??", we all asked. "Yeah - I brought over 18 beers and there are three left, unless anyone else grabbed one." "I did have one," I said truthfully. "Okay," said Bop, "fourteen. Still pretty damn good. And I feel like I can easily operate heavy machinery right now."

The Angels get off to a quick start with a run, but then the unthinkable happens. Sox have the bases loaded with 2 outs, and Jacoby Ellsbury lifts an easy pop-up to short-center, just behind the second base bag. Torii Hunter is rushing in, and Howie Kendrick is back-pedaling, and lo and friggin' behold, the ball drops in the middle of them and all three runners score. Just like that, it's 3-1 Sox, and Mike Scioscia looks like he's just eaten some bad seafood. One of the lamest three-run singles you'll ever see.

Unfortunately, it then became the Mike Napoli show as the burly Angels catcher hit a two-run homer in the third to tie the game, and then hit another solo shot in the fifth to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. The Sox tied it in the bottom of the fifth thanks to the man I believe should be AL MVP (Kevin Youkilis), and that's the way it stood for the next, oh, seven innings.

We went to the 7th inning, then the 8th, 9th, and 10th. My kitchen counter looked like downtown Baghdad after an air raid, and Bobby and Bopper would get up intermittently and pace, then head over to the counter to see if any scraps were lying around. Bobby finally gave up on the game - no doubt depressed that Jacksonville lost to Pittsburgh, depriving him of a nice day - and left for home around the 9th or 10th inning. Me and Bopper kept our eyes open until the bitter end - me finishing my sixth or seventh cocktail and him wiping out his "17-pack." After the 11th inning, Bopper decided to head for home - operating heavy machinery flawlessy, just like he said he could - and it was just me. And of course, you know what happened in the 12th...

Because we screwed with the karma, the Angels push across the fifth run and then closed the door on the Sox.

I went to bed depressed, partly because of the loss and partly because of the cleaning up job I had ahead of me in the morning. As I shuffled off to the sack, I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw that Bopper had forgotten to bring home his glass. After happily filling up it's owner's stomach with 17 fresh beers, this was the treatment it got? Just abandoned like yesterday's newspaper? And then it hit me. The glass was angry, and Bopper was driving home, blissfully unaware, no doubt banging his fists on the steering wheel when Joe Castiglione told him the Sox had lost. This, people, is messing wtih karma. And this is why the Red Sox lost. That glass deserved better.

Who Am I? Why Am I Here?

Ah, the memorable words of one Admiral James Stockdale, the VP candidate on the ill-fated Ross Perot ticket back in 1992. Right up there with Lloyd Bentsen's "You're no Jack Kennedy, Senator" line to Dan Quayle in 1988. There were no memorable lines from last night's VP debate between MILF/GILF Sarah Palin and Joe Biden on a par with these, unless you count Sarah's "shout out" to her homegirls in Wasilla, Alaska, and her use of the phrases "Joe Six-Pack" and, again, "hockey moms." Even the most diehard Republicans have to be worried about their second fiddle in this election. I must admit, though, I do find her tantalizingly attractive, in a Tina Fey kind of way.

Okay, enough politics - I just wanted an opportunity to post a picture of Sarah. We've got more important stuff to tackle today than nukes, Iraq, and oil.

Of course, the big headline is Sox-Angels Game 2 tonight in Anaheim. The Sox have to be very confident going in with a one-game lead and Dice-K on the hill. The news on Josh Beckett is positive - he made it through a bullpen session nicely and is on track to start Game 3. The news on Mikey Lowell, however, isn't so good. Lowell was limping noticeably a couple of times Wednesday night, and it may be that Terry Francona gives him the night off tonight and brings him back in to face lefty Joe Saunders Sunday night at Fenway for Game 3. I hate that Lowell's not 100% for this, because he means so much - both in the field and in the batter's box.

As for the other series, it looks like the Dodgers and Phillies are heading for an NLCS clash, as both teams have jumped out to 2-zip leads on the Cubs and Brewers, respectively. It is downright depressing to watch the Cubs and their faithful cough it up after the year they had - almost reminds me of the dark days of pre-2004 when you just knew the Sox would be on the short end of big games. I can't even wrap my brain around the potential for a Dodgers-Red Sox World Series, with Derek Lowe starting game 1 and Manny Ramirez hitting third. That would be beyond surreal, and it would give us all a chance to get an answer on a question I'm curious about - what's the Fenway reaction to Manny the first time he's back in a visitors' uniform. Hard to cheer, hard to boo, in my opinion, so how about silence?

Anyway, happy Friday, enjoy the games, and let's hope Sarah remains in the public eye long after November 4th.

Ace in the Hole

Jon Lester officially had his coming-out party last night. We've seen what the kid's capable of all year, but his performance in Game 1 of the ALDS against the stocked Angels was nothing short of spectacular. Lester's gem was backed by a huge 2-run homer off the bat of Everyday Jason Bay, and by some superlative play - in the field and at the plate - from Jacoby Ellsbury. Sox draw first blood with a 4-1 victory.

It was hard to keep the eyes open for this one, but if you did you were well-rewarded. Lester started off a little rough, but once he escaped a couple of jams he was in the zone, keeping the Angels hitters off balance with an assortment of curves, cutters, and fastballs. Bay, after looking bad in his first couple of at-bats, smashed a bomb off John Lackey in the top of the 6th to give the Sox a 2-1 lead, and they added two insurance runs in the top of the 9th to take some pressure off Jonathan Papelbon.

Ellsbury had three hits on the night, stole at will, and made a jaw-dropping sliding catch in center off Mark Teixeira that is destined for the year-in-review highlight reels.

On the pivotal play of the game, the Angels' well-documented aggression on the basepaths came back to bite them in the butt. With the score still 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, Vladimir Guerrero got on with a single, and Torii Hunter followed that with a bloop hit over Kevin Youkilis into short right-field. Vladdy was confused on where the ball was, and hesitated before rounding second and heading to third. Youk - summoning his Derek Jeter-like intangibles - grabbed the ball quickly and threw to Mike Lowell, who applied the tag. Instead of men on first and second with one out, it was man on first with two. A huge turn of events.

So looking back at my "predictions" yesterday, maybe I was wrong on the Sox (happily) and the Cubs, who lost a heartbreaker to the Dodgers yesterday (man, is that a cursed crowd or what?) The Phillies beat the Brewers in their first game, and the Rays and White Sox get underway this afternoon.

Sox and Angels take a break today and get back at it tomorrow night, with Dice-K going against Ervin Santana. All of a sudden, things is looking up.

And Away We Go...

Can you smell that? Huh? Take a deep sniff and exhale... that's right, it's October baseball and our boys are back in it.

Now that the White Sox have finally vanquished the Twins (the teams played in a do-or-die game last night, won 1-0 by John Danks and the White Sox), the matchups are officially set.

In the AL, it's the Red Sox vs. the Angels and the Rays vs. Chicago. In the NL, it's Cinderella Milwaukee going against Philly, and the Cubbies playing Manny and the Dodgers. All except the Rays-ChiSox series get underway today.

ANGELS vs. RED SOX
The Sox have owned the Angels when the leaves turn colors, but not so much during the 2008 regular season. The Angels won 8 of the 9 games the teams played, and outscored the Sox 61-33 in the process. Not pretty. We know as well as anyone that anything can happen in October, but when you factor in the injuries to Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew, along with the little setback with Josh Beckett, it's cause for concern. If Lowell can play the field, you now Scioscia and his merry band of bunters will be out for blood. It goes without saying that Jon Lester needs to come up huge tonight, and if he doesn't, Dice-K needs to get the split Friday night. Seems like the Angels' year, though. (Head thinking over heart) Angels in 5.

RAYS vs. WHITE SOX
This one seems easy on the surface. The Rays have been resilient all year long, and the White Sox have been playing for their lives for the last couple weeks. The season series between the two was about as close as you can get -- 6-4 in favor of the Rays, with Tampa scoring 36 runs and Chicago 35. The White Sox were shut out twice by the Rays, once by Scott Kazmir and once by Andy Sonnanstine. In the end, I think the home-field advantage proves big for the Rays, who will take it in 4.

BREWERS vs. PHILLIES
Can CC Sabathia pitch every day? Is that medically possible? Everyone will be pulling for the upstart Brewers, and much as I'd like to pick them for an upset, I think Philly wins this one. The Brewers had to scratch and claw their way into the playoffs, and now have to start Yovani Gallardo in the first game. Ben Sheets is either iffy or out. And former Red Sox 3B coach Dale Sveum is the Brewers' manager. Sorry - too many strikes. Phillies in 4.

CUBS vs. DODGERS
Manny's on top of the world in LA, along with Nomar and Derek Lowe. It's a veritable Red Sox Ellis Island out there. The Manny drama aside, this could be the best series of the four. The Dodgers have been in a major groove fueled by Manny's potent bat, and we all know that he's quite capable of hitting good pitching, which the Cubbies certainly have with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden. While nothing ever comes easy for the Cubs (over/under on how many times we hear Bartman's name?), something tells me this year is a little different. Cubs in 4.

Awkward Man-Hug Time

Dude, Papi's got designer frigging goggles on! The Red Sox hung on tonight to beat the Indians 5-4 at Fenway, and ensure themselves a spot in the postseason dance. Dustin Pedroia - far and away the team MVP in '08 - just said it best on TV. We've got a chance to defend our title.

This one most definitely was not easy. The Sox were going up against shoo-in AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, and the lead went back and forth before the Sox tied it at 4 and then took the lead for good in the fifth inning. They escaped a couple of bases-loaded jams, and then Jonathan Papelbon came in and was throwing peas to get four outs and clinch the playoff spot.

It's now the fifth time in six years that the Sox are going to the playoffs, and while there's nothing quite like your first one, this doesn't get old at all. We get to see Papelbon dancing like a freak and spraying champagne, and Papi being interviewed by NESN's ultra-hot Heidi Watney who's soaked to the bone. What's not to like?

The players are on the field right now - about 10:15 Boston time - and for some unknown reason Papelbon is pulling up all the bases and giving them to random fans. Just when you think you've seen it all - I'm fairly certain we won't see Pap sporting his headgear from last year (above).

One last thing: This is sweet because of everything this team has been through. No Curt Schilling. Big Papi's wrist injury. The whole Manny saga. Losing J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell for long periods of time. Hats off to Terry Francona and the coaching staff for keeping this machine running. October baseball, baby.

(Oh, and it just so happens that the Sox' win eliminates the Yankees from postseason play for the first time in 13 years. Double sweet.)

Brownout

We begin first today by saluting one of our favorite household contraptions, ye remote control. With so much sporting activity going on yesterday - including the Sox vs. Jays, Pats vs. Dolphins, and U.S. against Europe in Ryder Cup golf - most of these gizmos got major workouts yesterday.

If we rewind the clock to just before noon on Sunday, and we looked at all three of these events and tried to assess who had the best chances for victory, a lot of New Englanders would have chosen: 1. Pats, 2. Red Sox, and 3. U.S. golfers. Well, two out of three came through, and surprisingly it was the Patriots who stumbled.

PATS vs. DOLPHINS
What an absolute horror show at Gillette Stadium yesterday, where most people turned out to see the Pats go 3-0 heading into the bye week but instead sat dumbfounded as Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown pretty much did whatever he pleased to a stunned Patriots defense. As the story has it this morning, Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano called quarterbacks coach David Lee up to the front of the plane on the team's journey home last week after getting stuffed by Arizona, and said 'let's do something completely different for New England.' Different turned out to be taking a couple of pages from the Arkansas Razorback playbook - where Lee coached last year. Essentially, Miami had Brown line up as QB on several plays, and basically let him either run the ball or pass off of direct snaps. Fool me once, okay. Fool me twice, shame on me. But fool me FIVE times?

Incredibly, Brown ran for four scores and passed for another as the Dolphins decimated the Patriots on their home-field, in front of their new Hall of Fame inductees no less - to the tune of a 38-13 shellacking. No one's quite sure why Bill Belichick and his coaches couldn't figure out a way to stop the madness, perhaps best illustrated by Richard Seymour's shocking admission after the game that the defense "was running around like chickens with our heads cut off." What we do know is that the team got blown out on both sides of the ball, and coach Bill has some serious 'splainin' to do today. We'll see how tough the WEEI Big Show guys are on him, as opposed to the tongue-bathing they give him each week.

Other aspects of the game worthy of a mention:

- Chadwick Pennington III deserves a tip of the cap today. The man is regarded as an accurate if generally averagequarterback, but he got his job done yesterday when he had to. And yeah, he was accurate alright, going 17-for-20 for 226 yards.

- So too, begrudgingly, does Dolphins LB Joey Porter. He yapped it up all week and he backed it up on the field.

- Quietly, Pats kicker Stephen Gostkowski has emerged as a sure-fire thing.

- Randy Moss looked pretty disinterested all day, failing to go all-out for a couple of balls, and from some reports, hanging out on the bench all by his lonesome. I mentioned in this space when Brady went down that Moss' demeanor would be a key thing to watch. I'm not alarmed. Yet.

- Looking around the league, it seems pretty apparent that the Dallas Cowboys - barring major injuries - should be playing in Tampa next February. As to who they'll be playing, it's wide open in the AFC. Both the Pats and Colts (who lost to the Jaguars yesterday) aren't what they used to be, and the unbeatens include Tennessee, Buffalo and Denver.

SOX vs. JAYS
The Red Sox moved ever closer to clinching a playoff spot with a 3-0 rocking-chair win over the Jays in Toronto. Dice-K was magnificent in upping his record to 18-2 and Canada homeboy Jason Bay provided the offense with a homer. The AL East division is still up for grabs, with the Rays holding a 1.5 game lead over the Sox going into tonight's games. Rays are playing the pesky Orioles, while the Sox will be hosting a four-game series against Cleveland.

RYDER CUP
Is there anything better than golf in HD? Despite the perpetually crappy play of Phil Mickelson, the U.S. won the Cup for the first time since 1999, and they did it rather easily, beating the Euros 16.5 to 11.5. The Ryder Cup is like nothing else in golf because you're playing for a team, and the rooting interests are fierce. You could hear cheering when any Euro missed a key putt, which must make them crazy even though it's all in the name of fun. Speaking of fun, how about that Boo Weekley character, who was playing in his very first Cup. The clip of him doing the Happy Gilmore riding the horse thing was priceless.

"Green" House Effect

As the (financial) world continues to burn, it's always nice to come back to the world of sports, aka the toy department of life. And as usual, there are no shortage of subjects to cover.

I'll start with a rite of passage for sporting champs, which is the yearly visit to the White House. The Celtics got to head to Washington yesterday for the first time since 1986, as the team met President Bush, and presented him with a team jersey (#43, of course), an autographed basketball, and, in a classy move, a $100,000 donation to Hurrican Ike victims. You could tell the team enjoyed it, and you have to think Bush enjoys this stuff as well, especially after yet another tough, tough week in his presidency. Watching some of the coverage on the local news, it was hard not to think of Red Auerbach. The team's visit also prompted this cool story from the Herald's Mark Murphy, who recounts the 1963 team's visit to the Oval Office to meet with JFK.

There's a lot going on this weekend. College and pro pigskin, pennant races all around, and the Ryder Cup - golf's biennial Super Bowl between American and European golfers. I was lucky enough to attend the 1995 matches at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York, and was literally standing 10 feet from Corey Pavin when he made one of hthe most thrilling chip shots in golf history. I still have not heard a crowd roar quite like that one that day. For those of you who may scoff at this event, if you've been to one, you understand the passion that flows on both sides.

Okay, enough golf talk. The Sox won a big game in Toronto last night, with Sean Casey providing the clutch hit late. This one had you a bit worried. The Sox came in after another tough series with the Rays, and while the Jays had fireballer A.J. Burnett going, we had Paul Byrd, who I think has faced the Jays in 5 of his 7 Sox starts. Never a good thing. The Sox ended up winning 4-3, and one of the interesting nuggets in today's Globe - Byrd is always a great quote - was that on Thursday, an off-day spent in Toronto, Jason Varitek put on some gear, got Byrd from his hotel room, and walked through the main lobby to a nearby park to throw the ball around. How cool is that? Look for Dan Shaughnessy to comment soon, saying 'can you imagine this happening on Boston Common.' Yeah, you could say Dan's pretty predictable. Anyway, a very nice one-run win on the road.

Entering today's games, here's the situation: the Sox' magic number is 2, and they can clinch a playoff spot as soon as tonight with a win, a Yanks' loss and either a White Sox or Twins loss. They're currently 1.5 games behind the Rays, who continue to amaze, but I still think the division is doable and I would think that's what everyone wants. Let's get home-field advantage. Tonight's matchup is a good one, with Roy Halladay going against Jon Lester.

As for the local football team, they're going up against the inept Miami Dolphins on Sunday in Foxborough and most everyone - except Dolphins LB Joey Porter - is predicting a rather large win. Porter, God love him, opened his yap once again this week, demeaning Matt Cassel and saying 'it shouldn't be too difficult for us' without Tom Brady. You can bet everyone on the Pats' roster is aware of those comments. The big weak spot on this Miami team looks to be its secondary, which was absolutely torched last week by Kurt Warner and his Arizona Cardinals' receivers. That being said, it will be interesting to see if Josh McDaniels lets Cassel throw a little deeper, and maybe Randy Moss gets a little more involved. Final score? I'm thinking something like 27-10 or in that area. Lots of folks are saying the Pats will put up 30+, and they very well may, but the Dolphins do still have two good RB's in Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and ours - specifically LaMont Jordan and Laurence Maroney - are hurting a little bit. And Cassel is still learning. Next week's a bye week for the Pats so it would be awfully damn gratifying to go into it at 3-0. This would also be the 22nd straight regular-season victory for New England.

One last night going back to baseball. Yes, I hate them. I hate really everything about them. But you have to respect the Yankees and what they've done through the years, and as they get ready to close down Yankee Stadium, you owe it to yourself as a sports fan to read this week's Sports Illustrated cover story on the old ballpark, written masterfully by Tom Verducci. The passage about President Bush throwing the first pitch not long after the September 2001 terrorist attacks - one of my all-time goosebump memories - will get you emotional all over again. Just read it.

Border War Takes on New Look

For my money, this is the best time of the year for sports fans. You've got baseball revving up for the playoffs, college football roaring out of the gates, and NFL football back on the weekly agenda. And the weather's still pretty nice to boot.

Before I get into some thoughts on the Sox and Pats, had to share this from ESPN.com. The site asks readers to list the 50 things that annoy them the most, and the featured list on the main page this morning reads like this: 1. The Red Sox, 2. Bill Belichick, 3. The USC Trojans, and 4. the BCS. The poster's handle? "YanksJetsKnicks4Life." How sweet is that? And really - can you blame them? The Yankees have been in free-fall for a month now, and are currently in fourth place in the AL East. The Knicks are a perpetual train wreck. And the Jets - coming off a crappy 4-12 season last year - made some bold moves in the offseason to try to make themselves more competitive. All of which makes me salivate at the prospect of Matt Cassel & Co. giving YanksJetsKnicks4Life and his slovenly friends the ultimate middle finger salute tomorrow.

So let's start there. Tom Brady isn't walking out of that tunnel tomorrow, and as the initial shock has subsided, I think more and more Pats fans are intrigued at what this still-talented team can do. They do have the easiest schedule in the league this year, and if you think back to 2001-02, when Jets LB Mo Lewis (little irony there, no?) permanently altered this franchise for the better, remember what we called Brady back then? A game manager. His typical line each week was maybe 15 for 20, 185 yards, no picks. Fast forward to 2008, and that's really all Matt Cassel has to do. And his team - on both sides of the ball - is more talented than it was back then. You can argue about the defense maybe, but the point remains. We don't need Cassel to be Brady-like. I say this team goes 11-5, and then all bets are off in the playoffs.

As for the game tomorrow, it's going to be an incredibly intense atmosphere. You've got the Mangini-BB angle, Spygate anniversary, Brett Favre's first game in front of the home crowd, etc. Jets fans are discounting the Pats and smelling blood, which is exactly the type of situation the Pats thrive on. Call me a homer, but I'm predicting a 24-17 victory, with a Favre interception being returned for a TD. The Pats' D-line comes up big.

Turning to the boys of summer/fall, the Sox endured a couple of tough losses at Fenway this week to the amazing Rays, and currently sit 2 games behind the division leaders. The Sox had to play through a mini-monsoon last night with the red-hot Blue Jays because they've already got a day-night twinbill scheduled for today due to an early-season rainout. It turned out to be a good thing they played last night, as Tim Wakefield turned in a great performance and we didn't have to use the bullpen. So we've got lots of fresh arms ready for today's marathon. First game is at 12:30 with A.J. Burnett going against Paul Byrd, and the second game has Bartolo Colon going against Jesse Litsch tonight at 7.

It will be interesting to see if the Sox go full-throttle to try to win the AL East, or if they'll be relatively content to take the wild-card route, where they have a commanding lead. Me personally? I don't want to have to travel out to LA to play the Angels, so let's go for it.

Enjoy the weekend.

Remember

A Gloomy Monday

As the free world knows by now, it's official. Tom Brady is done for 2008 and will require surgery on his left knee. We don't know any specifics about the injury yet, but speculation centers on a torn ACL and possibly even more damage. The news came a little after 3 p.m. from Foxborough, and while we had all steeled ourselves for it, it still takes the wind out of your sails.

I don't know about you, but my emotions are all over the board today. I'm sad that our season is over before it begins. I feel bad for Brady, because you know he's the hardest worker on the team, and he won't get a chance to add to his ridiculous resume and avenge that lame Super Bowl loss in February. I actually feel some sympathy for Bernard Pollard, who - right or wrong - will go down in history as one of the biggest New England villains of all time. I feel a sense of 'what if?' As in, what if Sammy Morris had finished off his block of Pollard, or what if Kevin Faulk - a superb blitz picker-upper - hadn't been suspended for the first game because he got caught with some mary jane at a L'il Wayne concert. In all likelihood, he would have been in the backfield for that play and maybe things turn out differently. I've got some anger inside - mostly because I've made the mistake today of reading some comments on the web o'sphere, many of which are cheering this latest development. And then I catch myself, realizing that I've always rooted for injuries to befall Yankees, and for scorching line drives to be hit into the good seats at Yankee Stadium. And finally, I guess the only piece of optimism I can offer - and this is assuming Brady makes a full recovery - is that maybe he'll be hungrier than ever to win more Vince Lombardi trophies and get the Pats' name back into the same breath as the great Steelers, Cowboys, and 49er teams. I guess another positive is that this happened in Game 1 and not Game 14 or in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLIII.

We've been pretty damn lucky around here, and every now and then it takes a horrible thing like this to make us realize it. Ah, the fragility of it all.

In the meantime, we throw our support around Matt Cassel and, oh yeah, the Sox.

What's the Worst Thing That Could Happen?

Has an opening-season win on a gorgeous, sun-splashed day ever felt so hollow? Our sports nightmare was realized this afternoon in Foxborough, when Patriots QB Tom Brady suffered a potential season-ending knee injury. As a guy who's had his fair share of knee troubles, I don't think it's going to be good news. In fact, I'm shocked they let Brady walk off the field on his own power after the hit, never mind down a flight of stairs to the locker room.

The play itself was actually less of a hit than it was a kind of roll, or a lunge. Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard was picked up nicely on a blitz by Pats RB Sammy Morris, but his forward momentum carried him into Brady, who was just releasing the ball and had his left leg in a straight-up, vulnerable position. At the point of contact, Brady's upper leg went one way and his lower leg went the other. When he was writhing in pain on the ground, I had that same sinking feeling in my stomach that you get when a state trooper throws his flashing blues on behind you, and then passes you in pursuit of another driver. Now, with Brady no doubt holed up in complete secrecy in some medical institution in the Boston area tonight, the Pats shot at another dream season is most likely over before it really got started. Brady will have an MRI tomorrow and then we'll know more. (By the way, I love how the different sports websites throughout the day had little links saying 'Hear what Belichick has to say about Brady's injury.' No need to click - he had nothing to say about it. Just like, um, always.) If he's done, it will be interesting to see if the Pats target a veteran QB or stick with Matt Cassel.

It was a scenario made all the more surreal because we spent the whole pre-season around here talking about how bad our backup QBs are, and can you imagine if anything happened to Brady? Just a week ago, people were up in arms that Cassel had made the team after a crappy training camp. But lo and behold, you gotta give Cassel credit. For all the grief he took in the past week, his performance - not great, but pretty darn good considering - was inspiring and you genuinely felt good for the guy. The highlight was easily the 51-yard slant pass he made to Randy Moss when the Pats were stuck deep in their own zone. He also hit Moss later for a TD, and when he wasn't throwing it, he was relying on RB's Laurence Maroney and Morris to chew up some yardage. The Maroney/Morris team was impressive all day. And hats off, too, to the defense. They had a pretty solid showing all around, the secondary made some nice plays, and the goal line stand at the end to preserve the win brought back memories. Still, we realize that it was the lowly Chiefs, and oh yeah, we lost our Hall of Fame quarterback. Final score: Pats 17, Chiefs 10.

More on football as the week goes on, but let's get back to baseball for a second. If you haven't noticed, the front-running Rays are in the process of coughing up a big furball, and the Sox are the benefactors. One week ago, the Rays had a comfortable 5-1/2 game lead on the Sox, and our thoughts were mostly on winning the wild card. But then the Sox got hot against some pretty piss-poor teams, and the Rays had to contend with the Yankees (remember, A-Rod's always on when the games matter less) and the feisty Blue Jays. As we sit here tonight, with a much-awaited series with Tampa on tap at Fenway starting tomorrow night, the lead has been shaved down to 1-1/2 games. If all goes well, we could be in first place come Wednesday morning. Series matchups: Jon Lester vs. Edwin Jackson tomorrow night, Dice-K vs. Scott Kazmir Tuesday, and Josh Beckett vs. Andy Sonnanstine Wednesday.

(UPDATE, 9:58 p.m. - both Yahoo's Michael Silver and WEEI.com's Ron Borges are reporting that Brady is indeed done for the year with a torn ACL. Unbelievable. Pats fans - be prepared for an onslaught of 'karma' comments from the haters. Some reports are saying that the Pats will bring in Chris Simms tomorrow for a look-see. Cassel may keep the job for a while, but what happens if he goes down? If I hear the name Vinny Testaverde in the next few days, I will puke.)