On the way to Tropicana Field, Terry Francona announced his starting rotation for the ALCS! And it's...a continuation of the rotation from the first round. That was anticlimactic. Daisuke will start Game One in St. Petersburg, Beckett Game Two, and Lester and Wakefield will take the first two games in Boston. Tito says he has equal confidence in all three of his big guns (even after Beckett's stinkeroo last week), and says the order doesn't matter as long as they all potentially get to start twice. The man knows what he's doing.

The Tampa Bays have set their rotation as well: James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine. On paper, the Sox look like they have the clear advantage. But on paper, the Rays wouldn't be anywhere near the ALCS, because they don't play on paper. They play on some weird turf substance. Bob Ryan tries to impart on us the seriousness of the Rays (true) and their fans (hmm). The Herald wonders if that brawl on June 5 might rear its head.

The NLCS kicks off tonight, as Derek Lowe leads the Dodgers into Philly. Manny's in the news again, as Tim McCarver ripped into him for his summertime antics. The important thing to remember in all this is that McCarver and Joe Buck are doing the NL series, so exposure to them is purely voluntary for the next week or so. In other Manny news, he's selling another car: his '67 Lincoln convertible is on eBay to raise money for charity. If you're thinking about bidding, see if you can throw in a little extra for an LA-to-Boston road trip with Manny and your favorite Boston Internet sports columnist.

At UMass, the Celtics did what they had to do. The starters (minus Perk) ripped off a 16-4 lead, then sat for most of the rest of the game as they lost their exhibition opener to Philly, 98-92. Leon Powe led the C's with 12 points. CelticsBlog sums up all of their overreactions to this small statistical sample.

Bruins tonight! Really!