Thanks Yanks! Jays-Sox Gamer XV and Rays-Yanks Gamer XVIII

Will Alex Rodriguez and Carl Pavano come through in the unclutch for the Yankees as the Bronx Bombers look to play spoiler for the Rays (and helpful friends for the Sox)? It's 4-0 New York on n A-Rod grand slam, and the Sox will be rooting like crazy for Pavano to finally fulfill his potential (hey, what's four years, anyway?).

Meanwhile, it's a potential pitchers' duel at Fenway, Roy Halladay facing Jon Lester. The Sox had better hope Halladay isn't quite his normal self on short rest because Lester just gave up a solo homer in the first.

Comment away on all your Sunday action here!

Comments

[attackgerbil]

Just watched the replay of the ARod slam.. 15 rows back in straightaway right; whadda shot. But Pavano just gave three runs back as Fernando Perez hits his first big-league home run.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Well, the rain finally stopped and the storm has passed. We came in at more than 7 inches since Friday afternoon.

[pale blue eyes]

Since Ath (or anyone else for that matter) does not seem to be around: God Bless Coco! 3-1 Red Sox after 7.

[Atheose]

God bless Coco! Two RBI's today.

Sorry for slacking guys. I've been focused on football so far today, though I have the Sox game up on mute. Fantastic outing by Lester, if indeed he's done--103 pitches after 8, retired 14 of the last 15 batters. Can't ignore the job Halladay did on short rest too.

Ortiz triples! Hahaha!

[Atheose]

Paps does not have his good stuff today, but Boston gets a lucky call at 2nd. Runner looked very safe, but called out. We'll take it.

[pale blue eyes]

Another good win. Obviously we had no right to expect the season Pedroia is having, but I find the way Lester has developed even more amazing.

Yankees win. One game behind. On to St. Petersburg.

[Devine]

Suddenly it's Tampa Bay time again. Get revenge by taking 2 of 3 and we can leave with the division tied, and a true sprint to the finish. Please oh please oh please.

[Dirty Water]

No 'they' can't. 2 of 3 stills leaves the Sox .001 behind. They need to sweep; no they don't, there are still 10 games remaining. They need to win more remaining games than TB does.

And since TB now holds a distinct advantage with remaining opponants I think we all should be happy with the WC. Oh, and Beckett, Lester and Dice time.

I don't think they have what it takes this year, what with Manny gone, but I'll still take our playoff pitching depth over any other. It would be a great accomplishment if they can actually do it.

[Devine]

Feh on your dispiriting whatnot, DW. Eff it.

[Paul SF]

Factors that will play bigger roles in whether the Sox advance to the World Series than the absence of Manny Ramirez:

* Jonathan Papelbon's tired arm.
* Daisuke Matsuzaka's inability to keep runners off the bases.
* The absence of J.D. Drew.

[dc]

paul, agree with you on the value of these guys to the team, please fill me in if you don't mind re. pap and drew:

papelbon: first i've heard the 'tired arm' thing...are you speculating based on recent performance, number of innings, or has it been reported?

dice-k: agree with you...dice k has been flirting with disaster all year...i keep wondering when it'll bite him on the butt...i guess he likes pitching from the stretch...worse though, it puts a strain on the pen, just like the 5-6 innings guys the yanks have...

drew: what's the prognosis on him?...i know he was reported to be available to pinch hit the other day, then he was scratched

[Paul SF]

Yeah, dc, I'm guessing based on the lack of movement on his fastball and his seeming inability to keep it away from the center of the plate. That just screams, "Tired!" to me. I wouldn't object if Tito shut him down until the last couple games of the year and used Masterson instead.

Drew may yet be back, but he had a setback right before that game he was supposed to be available and is day-to-day. He might appear in the Tampa series. He might not. The Sox adequately replaced Manny Ramirez's bat with Jason Bay's. A combination of Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Kotsay, on the other hand, is not exactly the definition of "adequate replacement" for a hitter like Drew.

[dc]

thanks paul...
i agree with shutting him down...winning the div. and getting the best record are important, but not at the cost of entering the playoffs with a tired pap...continuing to rest drew might not be a bad idea either...hopefully it's not more serious...yeah, i don't get ellsbury...once upon a time i would have thought he could easily replace drew, but something happened to him...troubling readjusting as pitchers adjusted to him i guess, but he's got too much raw talent to be down long term...