With all the recent sterling performances by Red Sox pitchers, for some reason they decided to try something different last night. Tim Wakefield didn't finish three innings, as he gave up homers to Craig Monroe and Adam Everett to help stake Minnesota to a 7-1 lead.

But the Sox don't go away that easily. They scratched out three in the fourth, and the suddenly-red-hot Coco Crisp's homer in the seventh cut the lead to 8-6, while the bullpen corps of Tavarez, Aardsma and Timlin kept the Twins from blowing it open. The Sox gave closer Joe Nathan his money's worth - J.D. Drew doubled in a run, then Coco Crisp rocked one off Nathan's glove that scored Mike Lowell. 9-8, two out, Manny Ramirez pinch-hitting. The scene was set for a storybook ending...until Manny grounded out. Rats.

The final groundout was to Adam Everett, who was the Red Sox prospect who was traded all those years ago for Carl Everett. This fact would certainly have been gleefully noted by Dan Shaughnessy, if Dan wasn't busy flatulating about the Celtics' series. Yes, he gets paid for this stuff.

Speaking of the Celtics, they play tonight, as you may know. Cleveland's Bud Shaw is trying to get in the C's heads, while Jeff at CelticsBlog reaches for the wisdom of Billy Corgan to psyche himself up. Tony Massarotti, meanwhile, is hitting every panic button he can find. We say the C's re-find it tonight, win by about 12, then send the Cavs home and shut the haters up on Wednesday night. Mark it, dude.

Taylor Twellman didn't waste a lot of time showing the Revs and MLS who the alpha dog is. Recovered from knee surgery, Twellman scored 13 minutes into his season debut to give the Revolution a 2-0 lead at Chivas USA (Kenny Mansally scored early in the game). Chivas only got one shot off, in extra time; it went in, but it was too little, too late.

Playoff roundup: The Penguins won to take a 2-0 lead against Philly. Both Western semifinal series in the NBA are tied 2-2; the Spurs and Jazz held firm at home, exactly like Cleveland won't do tonight. Also, Marc Stein at ESPN tries to figure out why Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni took the Knicks job. It's pretty obvious to us - following Isiah Thomas into a job is a no-lose situation.

Photo by Paul Keleher, from photos tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr.