Maybe a scheduled day off and a rainout were the tonic the Sox needed to find themselves again. Maybe the Brewers were just incredibly overmatched. Whatever the reason, the Sox find themselves back in a virtual tie for first after sweeping Milwaukee yesterday at Fenway.

Game One, which had to start at 3:55 because God forbid anybody do anything that would upset Fox's precious stranglehold on the Saturday schedule, belonged utterly and completely to Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice went 6 2/3, kept the walk count down and the strikeout count adequate, and left with a 4-2 lead (both Brewer runs unearned). All the offense he needed in the 5-3 final was a 3-run Ortiz homer in the second off Suppan.

The nightcap was not an exhibition of superior baseball. The Sox and Brew Crew combined for seven errors, and a total of six unearned runs. Which helped take a win away from Wakefield and apply it to Craig Hansen, who was lucky enough to be on the proverbial hook when Kevin Youkilis drove in the game-winner in the seventh for the 7-6 win. Mike Timlin got the save, becoming the oldest pitcher to save a game since John Franco in 2003, and what is it about baseball players named Franco going on and on and on? While General Franco is still dead? What's up with that?

Speaking of death [ed. note: Worst Segue Ever], it's do or die for the Celtics. Dan Shaughnessy writes a goofball will-they-or-won't-they column that we'd love to make fun of, except he's right. By the way, how happy are the Red Sox that Dan is too preoccupied with the playoffs to stir crap up in Kenmore? The Celtics have been practicing like crazy since Game Six. But Detroit is rooting for the Celtics. It's all so confusing, and that's without even trying to figure out what head-scratchers Doc will come up with today. It's going to be a long day.

The Revolution won 2-0, on a goal by red-hot Kheli Dube and an own-goal by San Jose. The Revs, back in a tie for second in the East despite their rough start, are 4-0-0 when they lead at halftime. Big Brown won the Preakness, so he's 2/3 of the way to the first Triple Crown since forever. Good for him.