Bullpen troubles? Late inning collapses? The Sox have been dealing with these issues lately, so the offense did the helpful thing and staked starter Bartolo Colon to a 5-run first-inning lead last night at Fenway. Jason Varitek, woozy and eventually replaced, capped the first off with a 3-run homer (his seventh) and JD Drew (now hitting 1.043 in June) doubled in a run as well.

That gave Colon all he needed, as he cruised through six, striking out seven and surrendering only a solo homer by Luke Scott. The bullpen held on (Mike Timlin did give up two runs in the ninth, one unearned) and Papelbon iced the 6-3 win. Which was career win #150 for Colon, who was gushed about by Terry Francona after the game. "It's been fun to watch...It's been big,", said the skipper, and happily he wasn't talking about watching Bartolo placing a takeout order.

Rajon Rondo took the day off from practice yesterday (somewhere, Allen Iverson just nodded knowingly) but says he'll be good to go in Game Four tonight. Doc Rivers made a bid for understatement of the month: "If Rondo can play but he doesn't have his speed, then that's a concern." Ya think? If only Eddie House weren't still covered with an inch of dust, we'd feel more confident dispersing the minutes a bit more.

Bill Simmons' Game Three review has everything: a joyful look at the bubbling Curt Schilling/Finals controversy, some nasty things about Kobe, and a complete lack of respect for Los Angeles fans. We read it twice. He also goes out on the same limb as Dan Shaughnessy and says the Celts need a big game from Kevin Garnett. That's the kind of analysis you just don't get from the man on the street.

We expect to be liveblogging Game Four tonight, again from the Common Ground in Allston, so get some rest and keep those commenting fingers limber.