Sports Redux: Stinko de Mayo

Twins ace Johan Santana only made it five innings, but that was more than enough to send the Red Sox bats into a tizzy from which they never recovered. The Minnesota bullpen, if anything, was sharper than the starter, and the result was a 2-1 loss and the waste of a very good outing from Sox starter Julian Tavarez.

Tavarez went six, giving up only four hits and two runs, while striking out seven. But the Sox could only put one measly run across the plate (on a double by Dustin Pedroia), and that was, as they say, that. Curt Schilling goes today in the rubber game against Sir Sidney Ponson (who is an honest-to-God knight in Aruba, albeit a knight with a criminal record.)

We're Red Sox fans, so we never stop scoreboard-watching. So we're all too aware that the Yankees have moved into a virtual tie for second, on the back of a gem by Chien-Ming Wang. Wang was five outs away from a perfect game until the Mariners' Ben Broussard homered to cancel Wang's date with destiny.

The Revolution are home this evening against the Chicago Fire; Chicago is undefeated this year (3-0-1, including a win against New England), so the Revs have their work cut out for them.

Yesterday was a day when the spotlight shone on two sports we ususally don't pay that much attention to. First, the Kentucky Derby, where Street Sense charged from near the back of the pack for a thrilling (but is there any other kind of Derby?) victory. ESPN has a nice profile of Street Sense's jockey, Calvin Borel, who seems like a real hard-working guy who deserved this win a lot. We're sure the race delighted Queen Elizabeth, who must have been reeling from the fact that, in the crowd at Churchill Downs, she wasn't wearing the silliest hat.

Also, in the first big-time boxing match in a long time, Floyd Mayweather outlasted Oscar de la Hoya to claim the junior middleweight crown in a split decision. Mayweather says he's going to retire now that he's the champ, so it might be a long time before the next big-time fight. Bostonist didn't want to pay per view, so we instead rewatched the Simpsons episode where Moe realizes Homer can take punch after punch without injury, so he schedules him a fight with the champ. The scene where Homer comes into the ring to the tune of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" would have been worth $54.95 right there.

In the NBA, the trio of Texas powerhouses is down to one, as the Houston Rockets got knocked out by Utah. Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki is one sad German, realizing that as the star of the league's regular season champs, he has to perform a lot better in the playoffs than he did. And if they lose, all the blame's going to come to him first. You almost feel bad that he'll be given his MVP trophy via satellite, rather than in front of a raucous playoff crowd. Almost. In hockey, Ottawa punched New Jersey's ticket and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. Which, in our minds, will always be the Prince of Wales Conference.