Here We Go Again...

Sox: 0 Evil Empire: 1

Boy oh boy, was last night's game a doozy. It was a full-scale brawl two seconds (and some umpires' warnings) from happening, from Joba's headhunting of his personal bullseye, Youk, to balls outside the zip code of the plate being called strikes, sending even-keeled Mikey Lowell into a justified tailspin. Welcome to the world of Sox-Yanks baseball. Danger: High-voltage drama on the field.

What was supposed to be a highly celebrated return for Big Papi got upstaged by Manny's latest disappearing act. He was in the original lineup, only to be scratched again because of his knee. The MRI (done on BOTH knees, mind you) came up clean, so whatever is bothering his knee can't be bad enough to keep him from pinch-hitting later in the game, where his bat might have helped the team's cause. Now I've found Manny's "antics" to be an entertaining sideshow in the past, but the curtain has come down on his tired act. Enough's enough. I'm glad the Sox brass is finally starting to show its frustration with slugger's one-man circus.

Now the Yanks are closing in on the Sox and the Rays just won't go away. Time for some fire in those bats and some consistent, solid pitching performances by all the starters and relievers. No knock on Beckett's performance last night; he just had the bad luck of not getting any run support. Today it's Wake vs. Pettitte. Let's hope the Sox can get to the Yanks' lefty like they did last time they faced him.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!