Sports Redux: Game On

Photo (from several seasons ago, so don't go looking for this on Brookline Avenue) by flickr user kke227.

The first two series matchups between the Red Sox and Yankees this season were all fine and good - especially considering we're 5-0, outscoring the opposition 38-23 - but this three-game series is going to be the one where the rest of the season starts to take shape.

With the first-place Yankees visiting the second-place Red Sox with one game standing between the two spots atop the AL East, someone is likely going to leave Fenway feeling pretty confident. We hope it's Boston, who will move on from this series to visit the Phillies, but we know those Yankees too well to expect a season-long sweep.

The good news: Josh Beckett's on the mound tonight and, given how he pitched last time around, we're actually feeling really good about our odds against AJ Burnett. Jacoby Ellsbury is relatively OK, currently described as day-to-day after Sunday's rough and tumble performance. David Ortiz's eyes are OK. The Sox haven't imploded, despite what some Yankees-loving hippie (we kid, we kid) decided to try to do to Fenway Park.

Before the game, however, we'll find out who the Sox pick up in the first round of today's MLB draft. You can follow the draft in many ways - even Twitter (follow @MLBDraft). In case you haven't realized, the Sox tend to be pretty good at this picking out talent thing.

Finally, the big question is whether Vince Wilfork will show up for Pats minicamp tomorrow. If he doesn't, the big guy could wind up losing a big $500,000.