Sports Redux: And This Time, STAY Dead

No lead is safe against the Yankees. In case 100 years of bitter history hadn't taught you that, the fiasco on Friday night illustrated the need to jump on them, as soon as possible, and stay there. These guys have more lives than horror-movie villains.

The Sox apparently remembered that lesson sometime between Friday night and Saturday afternoon, as they used a Josh Beckett masterpiece and a barrage of timely hitting to rout the Yanks, 10-1, and set up a division-race-defining game tonight between two of the great pitchers of our time.

Yesterday was a matchup of two of the great pitchers of 2007. Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang both came in at 18-6, and it's hard to imagine this game wasn't watched closely by every Cy Young voter. Both lived up to billing early; Josh surrendered a Jeter home run and Wang surrendered a Lowell RBI, both in the first.

But while Beckett got stronger and stronger as the day went on, the Sox finally touched Wang (quiet, you) for one in the fifth and three in the sixth, ending his day. Understandably, the Sox didn't think this lead was enough, so they peppered a series of relievers (still no Joba sighting in Fenway) for the 10-1 final, and got the lead back to 5.5. And the magic number is nine.

Schilling against Roger today. Some smart guy said back in May that the loudest Fenway will be all year is "in September, when Joe Torre comes to get Roger Clemens in the fourth inning". Make that dream a reality, boys. Soak the stake in garlic juice and wrap a cross around it. Whatever it takes. End this.

Hope your P.I.P. is working, because the game will be on at the same time as the Pats-Chargers. The Patriots are no doubt happy to take the field and not think about Videogate for a few hours. We just want a clean game, preferably with a 37-10 final score in our favor.

In college ball yesterday: BC beat Georgia Tech. Michigan beat Notre Dame in the clash of 0-2 sad sacks. #1 Southern Cal routed Nebraska. And Holy Cross beat Harvard. In soccer, the Revolution beat Dallas 4-2 to move within a point of clinching a playoff spot and make a statement before these two teams meet again in the U.S. Open Cup Finals.

Image from "How To Kill A Vampire", at monstrous.com.