The preliminary 162 are over. The Red Sox finished their regular season with a split, got to wave farewell to the Yankees, and now can head to Anaheim with a fresh start. Well, except for the daily agony that's keeping Mike Lowell on the shelf for who-knows-long, the nagging problems with J.D. Drew, and now the news that Josh Beckett pulled a muscle and won't start 'til Game Three. Other than that, we're ready.

The Sox dropped the afternoon game, 6-2, allowing Mike Mussina to win 20 for the first time in his career. Rats. The nightcap, which saw Jeff Bailey hitting cleanup, went 10 innings before the Sox loaded the bases and Jonathan Van Every singled in the winning run. A-Rod didn't play in the second game, which is weird, because with absolutely nothing on the line, he might've hit for the cycle. Guess Girardi wanted to make sure he stayed above .300 for the year.

The Beckett injury is a little troubling. He threw a side session in the rain on Friday, and pulled an oblique muscle. So Lester and Dice will start the two games in Anaheim, and everyone at Fenway is sure Josh will be ready for his start. Bob Ryan does his best Marcellus Wallace imitation, saying chill out, the Sox are on the [expletive deleted].

They can start both wrecking balls in New York, as the Mets capped off another September meltdown by losing to the Marlins and handing the wild-card spot to Milwaukee. The Mets, to put it in perspective, out-choked a team with Eric Gagne. That's something. The AL Central mess still isn't settled; the Tigers have to make an extra trip to Chicago, which will either eliminate the White Sox (1/2 game behind Minnesota), or force the Twins to make a trip to Chicago to see who then goes on to Tampa Bay. Got that?

Football happened yesterday. The Bills and Tennessee are undefeated; the Cowboys and Denver, not so much anymore. The Patriots get another week to get ready for the 49ers. We'll let you know how that goes.