Four straight! We swept The Scum, four straight! We swept The Scum, four straight! We swept The Scum, four straight!
Another pitchers' duel, this one Andy Pettitte vs. Jon Lester -- who should be glad Mariano Rivera is the one who's nickname is "Mo" -- until A-Rod teed off on Lester in the 7th. It was Number 574 for him, passing Harmon Killebrew. (Of course, Killebrew was clean.) Next up is Mark McGwire at 583 (dirty), then Frank Robinson at 586 (clean).
In the top of the 8th, the Red Sox stopped their longest scoreless string since 1974, 31 innings. Victor Martinez denied Pettitte the win with a 2-run homer, the Sox' first lead in the series since early Thursday. But that was followed in the bottom of the 8th by Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hitting back-to-backers.
Four games combined, Yankees 25, Red Sox 8 -- average, Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
This was the Yankees 7th, straight, and 13 of 14 at home. They lead the Roid Sox by 6 1/2, the Tampa Bay Deviled Eggs by 8 1/2, the Toronto Blow Jays by 15, and the Baltimore Sorry-oles by 23 1/2. And the Magic Number to clinch the American League Eastern Division is down to... Let's see, how does that work again? It's been so long since we had to try it... Add up the number of second-place Sox wins, 62, and losses, 48, that's 110, subtract that from 163, that's 52, subtract the deficit, that's 6 1/2, which makes it 55 1/2, and if there's a half-game in there round it up, so, making all previous statements invalid (due to flaws in my calculations)... The Yankees' Magic Number is 56. Any combination of Yankee wins and Red Sox losses for the rest of the season adding up to 56, and the Yanks win the Division.
The Sox are now dead-even in the Wild Card race with Texas, a game and a half ahead of the Strays, 4 1/2 ahead of Seattle and 6 ahead of the White Sox. It is by no means certain that the Sox will make the Playoffs.
As Bill Clinton might put it, "The Era of Big Papi is over." Yeah, and he also had a relationship with steroids that was not appropriate -- in fact, it was wrong. But he does not regret it, deeply or otherwise. The bum.
*
The Mets finally beat the Padres,
I saw part of the Phillies' game with the Marlins. They were down 3-1 in the bottom of the 7th, with 2 men on, 2 out, and Ryan Howard up. He got to a 3-1 count, but swung and missed at a terrible pitch. Then came an obvious ball 4, low, and he was called out on strikes. Totally hosed. Next inning, that same umpire threw out Shane Victorino -- for allegedly making an obscene gesture at him from center field! And the Marlins exploded with the bats, making the final score 12-3. The Fish now trail the Phils by only 4 games.
The Washington Nationals have won 8 straight. Instead of "NATINALS," maybe they should spell it "NATIONAS," because it's been a while since they had an L.
*
Days until the next Premier League season begins: 5.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 11, Friday, August 21, at Fenway Park.
Days until Rutgers plays football again: 28. Four weeks.
Days until East Brunswick plays football again: 32. A shade over a month.
Days until the Devils play hockey again: 54. Less than eight weeks.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 109.
Days until the 2010 World Cup begins: 305.
Days until the World Cup Final: 337.
Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 824.
Great Blog Mike as usual
ReplyDeleteHistory shows us not to count out the Dead Sox yet, But they appear to be done. I still worry about the Rays.
I have further comments in my blog, but you put it so much better,