The Red Sox rotation needs no introduction. We already have three ten-game winners, a potential Hall-of-Famer on the injured list, and warhorse Julian Tavarez on the back end. But, with possible apologies to Curt Schilling's one-hitter in Oakland, none of them have come up with a gem like youngster Kason Gabbard threw last night.

The 25-year-old lefty threw the Sox' third complete game and second shutout last night, bedazzling the Royals to the tune of three hits and eight strikeouts. The Royals only attempted to make noise once, in the fifth, when they loaded the bases on a hit, a walk, and a hit batsman (for KC, that's a rally), but Tony Pena grounded out, and for the rest of the night, Kason kept rolling along.

Dustin, Manny, and Papi provided all the offense on a trio of home runs off Royal starter Brian Bannister. In full cruise control, Kason made it stand up, giving the bullpen the night off and whiffing Mark Grudzielanek and Mark Teahen to end the night.

So is the pressure off Curt Schilling to rush back? We doubt it. Schilling had another pain-free throwing session, and the team is anticipating just a couple of rehab starts with the PawSox before the big guy's back at Fenway. Whether Kason stays in the rotation (continuing the saga of "Where will Julian Tavarez end up and when?") remains to be seen.

Can't get enough hotshot young pitching? The Globe takes a look at the dynamic duo of Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, who have made scouts drool in the minors and are biding their time to come to Boston. AAA ball hasn't been very very good to them yet, but the Sox are in a good enough position that they can wait, rather than making a panic trade they'd rue for years.

The Cold War between the Patriots and cornerback Asante Samuel got a lot colder yesterday. The Pats had given him the "franchise" tag, which sounds like it ought to be an honor, but really limits the player's earning power, and Samuel didn't like it one bit and refused to play along. So now either they have to sign him to a one-year deal, or he sits on his fanny until Week 10, which helps his leverage. But then the Patriots can hit him with the "franchise" stick again. And so on. Can't they all just get along?

In other sports news, Ken Griffey, Jr., passed Frank Robinson to move into sixth place all-time with career home run #587. We're petitioning alternate-history master Harry Turtledove to write a novel in which the cheerful, likeable Griffey stayed healthy his whole career, and the surly, controversial Barry Bonds kept getting hurt.

Kason photo from RedSox.com. Further praise of the kid available at The Soul of Baseball.