14-2 is just depressing. If you’re the Orioles, that is. Clearly, the Sox have Liz’s number. They killed him last time, and they really killed him this time. The Red Sox brought the bats to bear again, and again, and again, finishing the game with 20 hits, even with the “JV” team in and Cash pinch-hitting to basically bring up his average in a game that was over in the 4th, pretty much.

Lester made a strong start for the month of September, allowing only 1 run on 6 hits in 5 innings. While he usually goes longer, with the Sox ahead 11-1, no reason to tire him out.

The only dark side of the night was I almost had to cheer for the Yankees. As much as it pains me to say that…nope. screw it. I won’t cheer for the Evil Empire, I will cheer for a Tampa Bay Rays loss. Which actually happened, so yay for the Sox!

One more game for the Sox-Os series, at 135 tomorrow. Dice-K vs. ? (no, seriously, it says TBD)

Hopefully Youk won’t have to scratch this game (please let the back spasms be something small and fleeting!) but does he get the number 4 spot back from Dustin? That is, of course, up to Tito, but Dustin hits well no matter where he is in the line-up. The offense looked much tighter tonight as opposed to last night, as the Sox battered Liz for 9 runs, then went to work on the bull pen for 5 more.

In other news, Youk has been nominated to receive the Roberto Clemente Award, which awards players who are great sports, with great community involvement, where their individual accomplishments are geared towards aiding the team, and who best exemplifies the game of baseball. Youk’s charity, Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids, as well as his constant work for the Jimmy Fund, have already earned him awards from the organization itself.

See you tomorrow, Sox fans!

…and I think the Sox will be there (knock on wood and cross my fingers, do not be angered baseball gods!)

Right now, the Sox are 5 games back of the Rays, and 3 games ahead of the ChiSox/Twins (tied for the lead in the AL Central and for 2nd in the Wild Card) the Yankees, in 3rd for the Wild Card at 7 games back, still wait, ready to ruin someone’s playoff hopes. I know that they are not likely to make it to October, but they are the Yankees, and you can never say never.

A few good things are happening this week: the return of Josh Beckett (hopefully to last year’s sept-oct form), the possible (likely) return of Mike Lowell, and later we might see JD Drew, Colon, and maybe even Buchholz. Also, the Red Sox play mostly at home (even though it is against mostly decent teams), while the Rays, Yankees, White Sox and Twins play mostly on the road (Yay!). This might not necessarily make much of a difference, but it is a lot harder to win on the road and it’s a lot harder for the Sox to lose at home (it happens, but our chances of winning double when we play at home).

I just want to say how proud I am of the way they’ve played this year. The Red Sox have been through the ringer this year (not as bad as ’06, but not good) We lost Manny; Big Papi, Mike Lowell, JD Drew, Dice-K, Wake and Beckett have all had stints on the DL. Youk and Ellsbury have missed a smattering of games with random minor injuries and illness, Ellsbury has been having a hard time batting in the number 1 spot (his bat is inconsistent), Lowrie, Pedroia, Bailey, Casey, Youk, Lowell, Lugo, and Cora have all put in time in the infield, with only Pedroia playing daily at his spot. And to top it all off, the Captain has been like an automatic out at the plate (though he is hitting much better recently)

That’s all the bad that’s been the summer months of the 2008 season. Now for the good:

-JD Drew being Mr. June and winning MVP of the All-Star game (where the Sox were well represented)

-Dustin Pedroia (pictured). Building on a fantabulous rookie season, Dustin has become an RBI machine, with an astounding on-base percentage and playing like he’s at home in every stadium. Excellent fielding, fast runner, and very good at adapting to other situations, he should be a candidate for MVP.

-Jacoby Ellsbury. Despite his struggles with the bat this season, that boy has wheels. He
steals bases like a kid snagging candy from a 7-11. He makes great catches, mostly
because he can make it from one area of the outfield to another in seconds and goes for it every time.

-Jason Bay. JBay fits in at Boston like he was meant to play here. He hits, he makes
plays, and most importantly: we have a left-fielder who’s play gets him more headlines than
his attitude and his antics. (Sorry Manny, I will always love you, but I am looking forward to
Bay playing all of September)

-Jon Lester. In the years to come, he just might be the best pitcher in baseball. He threw a no-hitter, he’s beaten cancer, and according to Varitek, who is an excellent judge in
pitchers, we’ve only begun to see what he can do.

-Bailey, Lowrie, and all the other new additions: The Paw-Sox were beastly this year. And every time the Sox called up a player to the Show, they’ve done well. Especially Bailey and Lowrie. (Lowrie has finally made Sox fans secure in who was playing at short. We weren’t worried about the errors.) Plus the players we’ve added over the season, everyone has been pulling their weight.

-Youk. Kevin Youkilis should be the AL MVP this year. He’s played first, he’s played third, he’s been an RBI machine. He’s moved into Manny’s spot and taken on the burden of hitting after Papi. But don’t tell him about the MVP, he would much rather have a ring.

Now, to recap the game.

Byrd hung in there to get his third win, but the O’s hung around until the last inning, threatening to take over, but Paps hung in there to notch another save. It was not a good night for the bats. We left 12 men on base. 12. Despite back to back HRs by Tek and Bailey, the Sox had a hard time producing with men in scoring position.
A W is a W and on a night where the Rays were idle, it was a good win to make up some ground on the AL East leading youngsters.

A good night for Boston, despite a shaky performance. That game should have been a blow-out. Up tonight is Lester vs. Liz. Last time the Sox took on Liz, they hammered him, scoring eight runs and knocking Liz out of the game in the 3rd. Lester has had a shakier month in August compared to some of the other months he’s pitched, but his version of shaky is losing 2 decisions in six starts, and having one game where he didn’t go 6+ innings. He bounced back after that particular start to hold the Yanks to just 2 runs, walking none and striking out 8. He is 2-0 against the O’s this season.

As September gets going, look for the Sox to call up some players and have all their injured men come back from the DL, ready to make a strong push for October.

Now, onto Football:

The season kicks off with Jersey/A (NYG) vs. the Skins on Thursday, and everyone else follows on Sunday and Monday. The NFC East looks like a beast this season, so don’t expect any of those teams to run away with the division. The Patriots should again take the AFC East, though the division did get a little tougher with the addition of the Farve and with the young talent added to Buffalo. Brady should start, despite a “sore foot” that has plagued him all pre-season. (Note, “sore foot” might be Bellichick speak for “not really injured, just trying to throw you off) So here’s my NFL predictions, starting with the NFC.

NFC Champs: If the Cowboys can win 1 playoff game, they’ll win them all. If not, go with the Saints or the Eagles or the Skins…maybe the Vikings.

AFC Champs: Patriots (sorry, they’re beasts). Maybe the Colts, the Chargers (depending on Merriman) and the Jags, or the Browns.

I can’t help myself. Everyone is catching MVP fever. Especially Sox fans, because we have Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. I will suspend a recap of tonight’s game momentarily because I feel like pushing DP and Youk as the MVPs for the AL.

Let’s discuss.

Youkilis. He is a beastly hitter (the average is down, but he still scares pitchers. Actually, he kind of scares everybody.) He plays third, he plays first, and the play is SOLID. He loves the game and would rather have his team win a world series than win any special honors for himself. Yay!

Pedroia. Aside from lying about his height (5’9″? I don’t think so. He can’t be taller than 5’7″. Not that we mind.) he’s a solid second base-man and he is 8-8 in the past two games, hits on the road well, hits at home well, and leads the majors in batting average since June (with at least 220 at-bats).

Dice-K had an astounding outing yesterday against the visiting chiSox. Which, I have a temporary complaint: we live in southeastern VA. I realize and understand that WGN is Chicago-based, but it is unnerving and annoying to watch a home game from the visitor’s side and I HATE Harrelson. Rem-Dawg (NESN) is clearly biased, but no one, I mean NO ONE is as bad as the guys who do games for the White Sox. If I have to hear something repeated/hear “he gone” one more time, I will strangle someone.

(Sorry, I’m watching the game right now, and I am so tempted to mute the TV and pull up gameday audio with WRKO so I don’t have to listen to these guys!)

Dustin was fantastic, going 4 for 4, and Papi, Youk and Tek had great nights. Talk about Tek, he has brought his batting average up, like .010 in a week and a half. (Note, this stat may not be so surprising for everyone, but for Tek, especially this year, that is great!)

Okay, game is on and commercial is over, I’ll write again when the game is over (though, I have to say, I’m loving our bats tonight!)

PS – anyone see the beautiful bit of acting the Captain tried after catching a crazy in-and-out of the crowd bouncing foul? LOVE him! LOVE him!

One more. That’s it. Tomorrow will be the last game ever played by the biggest rivalry in the history of American sports. It is also conceivably the Yankee’s last chance to get a shot at October this year. They are now seven games out of the Wild Card race, and only four head-to-head games left with the Wild Card leading Red Sox.

The AL East remains the third tightest division in baseball (not counting the wild cards). The Mets and Phillies continue their tango, the Phillies losing tonight to fall .5 games behind the Mets, with Chicago getting hammered by the O’s tonight, the Twins moved to 1 game behind the ChiSox, and with a Tampa Bay win the Red Sox remain 3.5 games back on the Rays. While it is true that the Dodgers are only 3 games back on the D-Backs, Arizona has lost the past 4 and LA has lost the past 6 games. That race is going to come down to who sucks less, as both teams are hovering just above or just below .500. The streaking Cubbies have a secure 5.5 game lead on the streaking Brewers, but no one is more secure in their position than the Angels. Even if the A’s beat the Angel’s tonight, they will still be 19.5 games back, while the second place Texans will be a mere 15 games back on the almighty Las Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Lets talk Sox-Stripes, though.

Ponson got a little rocked and knocked out early. Ramirez and Marte held down the fort, Veras and Robertson got rocked. A game that was tied until the 5th and close at 4-2 until the 8th ended up with a score of 11-3. A solid start for Byrd, a good appearance for Delcarmen, and can we discuss what a beastly amazing team player Timlin is? He’s one of those guys who just quietly does his job, acting as a great veteran presence in a mostly young ‘pen.

Varitek continues to bring his batting average out of the gutter. Cora was the only Sox player not to get on base, but he hit a sac-fly, so I’m okay with that. Jason Bay was phenomenal with a triple and a double. He may not be Manny, but would Manny actually be playing as much as Bay has? Would he have as many RBIs? Would our stress levels be much higher? Pointless questions, moving on. Ellsbury had two hits tonight, in his spot at the top. Maybe he’s getting used to leading off. Youk, who is having a, dare I say it, MVP year, was his normal, beastly batting self. And my boy, (I have several) Dustin Pedroia hit his first grand slam to really pound the Yanks in the 8th.

I gotta say, though I was balancing this game with Project Runway (a really interesting combination, let me tell you) I realized something. While this is historic and it’s a big deal ,y ever-cynical father pointed something out to me: even in a new stadium, the Yankees will always be hanging around to screw the Red Sox over in some way. The Yankees will still be the same pinstripe-wearing, stash-growing, hair-cutting, no-name-on-the-back-of-the-jersey Bombers we are bred to despise. So no sentimentality, we will always have those stories about how Schil took the mound with a bloody sock, the 2003 disaster, the 2004 miracle, and so on, those memories will always be there. And the Yanks getting a shiny new stadium to make Steinbrenner more ridiculous sums of money just makes them more and more the Evil Empire.

Last game is tomorrow night. If there ever was a must-win for a team to keep post-season hopes alive, its tomorrow night for the Yanks.