Bring on the Bombers...

We now return to our previous programming, already concluded...as it turned out, the anti-homer scoring on the Pedroia non-hit didn't become a factor...an inning later we hit 3 fly balls off of Wang (the weirdest thing about this game, which I'll touch on in a moment), the last of which made it over the right field wall thanks to a poorly timed jump by Bobby Abreu...a gold-glover makes that catch, hell an almost gold-glover make that catch, but luckily for us Abreu is an almost crappy fielder, so JD Drew got his 3rd dinger of the year, continuing his even-numbered year dominance...it's almost absurd really...he's almost half-way to last year's HR total and we're in week 2...maybe that playoff Grand Slam and the WS ring threw some hidden monkey off of his back...I'd like to hope that...

Sadly, that was all of the offense we could muster off of Wang, who pitched a great game despite it being the exact opposite of every great game he's ever pitched...normally, Wang kills you with a good fastball and a nasty, heavy sinker...every good game he throws looks the same...groundball, groundball, strikeout, groundball, groundball, groundball...I mean, a good Wang game is a horribly boring game...if the ball is being hit in the air, bad news for the Yanks...usually that means his sinker is staying up and he's getting killed, something we've done to him frequently...before the other night he had some horrible ERA against us, like 6.00 or something...but the other night we just kept hitting the ball in the air but either to the wrong spot in the park or right at someone...I hate games like that...so frustrating to watch...you feel like the guy's not pitching that great but you turn around and it's a one-hitter...anyway, Clay was able to escape some jams, after in my opinion relying too heavily on his (granted, filthy) curve...he just lost the touch on that pitch for a little bit and got in trouble, but a nice DP by Sean Casey (one of the times the Yanks hit it hard, but right at someone) got him out of a bases-loaded pinch and he was able to exit allowing just 1 ER...in came Mikey Timlin, straight off of the DL and into the Yankees...why does this always seem to happen? They did it to Schill a couple of years ago, and A-Rod killed him...then it was Foulke way back I think...I know these guys are pros, but couldn't they get an inning against the Orioles or someone first? Of course the first batter, The Steroidino, takes him yard and that was basically the game...the Yanks added a couple of insurance runs and the game mercifully ended 4-1...gross game, played in the rain...hopefully we don't remember this one...the most enjoyable thing about it was texting a buddy who was at the game, a Yanks fan, and trying to rile him up...he got the last laugh...

Game 2 featured our man, Josh Beckett, against the Moose...one of the few Yankees that I actually HATE that's left on that team...you could root against the guys from those early Yankee championship teams, and still can for those that still play for them (Jeter, Posada, Mo Rivera, Pettite) but you couldn't HATE them...all decent guys that play the game right...don't talk junk and just worked hard (if Pettite only took roids twice, ever, then that's nothing...moment(s) of weakness, which I can forgive if no pattern is established)...but, once they lost in 2001 it was big money, no character spending spree time...they let go the guys that made those teams jell...Brosius, Tino Martinex, Paul O'Neill...and they brought in guys you could despise...Giambi, Mussina, Sheffield, Clemens, A-Rod...they really did turn themselves into the Evil Empire, no one to blame but themselves...anyway, that's another blog for another time, back to the game...

Which I didn't see...sometimes life brings you a little perspective...when two of your best friends say they're coming over to introduce you to their 6 week old daughter, sorry, but there's no contest...that's what life is all about...so, I spent the evening with my 8 best friends on Earth, enjoying some wine, some champagne and a meal that was to die for...and I didn't and won't ever regret that exchange...we got to meet little Sadie (and introduce our daughter to her too, which was just more fun than can be explained here), who is just a gorgeous little girl and a perfect combination of her parents, with fine light brown hair and misty blue-gray eyes...she's just impossible not to love, and while she is destined to be a Red Sox fan (her aunts and uncles have begun clothing her in Sox gear already) this night belonged to her and the Red Sox were reduced to the occasional Blackberry check-in...

Apparently, Beckett was sharp if not dominant and Manny provided the pop, hitting a long HR to get the scoring started and getting the lead for us late with a 2-run RBI double...Manny always has at least one good game in a series against the Yanks, if not more, and this qualifies...the true drama came in the nearly 3 hour 8th inning, thanks to a band of weather that locked in on Boston, and only Boston for en eternity...we thought our phones were busted because we couldn't believe that NOTHING was happening...we did see that there were 2 on and 2 out and A-Rod was due up...and we learned that Pap had to warm up and down like 80 times while they figured out the weather...so we were praying he had some gas in the tank (since you knew they weren't calling this game...a 1-run Sox - Yanks game that got called would induce rioting...maybe in both cities but certainly in the loser's)...when the moment finally came, Pap had some gas...a lot of gas...and he got some revenge on A-Rod for last year's go-head HR by blowing him away with 3 heaters (one a split)...boom, boom, boom...threat ended....came on and got 2 more Ks while nailing down the save...

So, the rubber match is tonight...Dice vs. the young gun for the Yanks, Phil Hughes...I'll be watching to see how Hughes handles his first Sox-Yanks game where there are actually expectations, and while Dice should be comfortable this year there are some expectations for him as well...last year he seemed to keep us in games against the Yanks but never really dominated them...would love to see him really nail one this year...and what better time than to put us a game ahead of them in the AL East (ok, I know standings are idiotic right now, but is it ever bad to say you're ahead of the Yankees?)...

GO SAWX!