Sports Redux: Royal Flush

And the lead is down to seven.

The Red Sox have completely stopped getting any value out of the back end of the rotation. Wakefield got slapped around Tuesday, and last night, Julian Tavarez was pitching well until he ran into the Fifth Inning of Doom en route to a 6-5 loss to the lowly-unless-they're-playing-us KC Royals. Tavarez hasn't won in a month, and the SchillingWatch is on overdrive.

The rejuvenated Manny homered, and Varitek threw out two would-be base stealers, so there were some bright spots. But let's face it. "Some bright spots" might be OK for a struggling high school team or the Celtics, but when you're the best team in the league (which the Sox were at the start of the game) and playing the sorry Royals, "some bright spots" doesn't cut it. This team needs a shot in the arm/kick in the pants/something.

Maybe a visit from the White Sox will help. They're almost as bad as the Royals, falling from World Champions two seasons ago to the dismal season they're having now. Daisuke goes tonight against Javier Vazquez.

So, yes, it's down to seven, as the Yankees rallied late to top Toronto. At least Clemens didn't last long enough to get the win. But we're maintaining our happy thoughts and not asking anyone to dust off the panic buttons yet; the Sox still have the biggest lead of any division leader. Accentuate the positive!

It's a record-breaking season all over baseball. You may have heard in passing that Barry Bonds is about to break some record, and we've already seen Atlanta's Bobby Cox break the mark for most managerial ejections. Now, Houston's Craig Biggio is poised to break Hughie Jennings' mark for most times hit by a pitch (the record is 287, which is a lot of Band-Aids). Is any number sacred anymore? Will Kason Gabbard pile up 512 wins? Anything's possible.

Patriot fans have a chance to help name the twelfth player inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame. The online ballot features Stanley Morgan, stalwart of the crappy Pats teams of the 80s; Ben Coates, Drew Bledsoe's favorite target; and the late Ron Burton, their best running back in the AFL days, father of WBZ's Steve Burton, and all-around good guy. Bostonist endorses Burton for this vote.