Objects in the Mirror May Be Farther Away Than They Appear

Well, it was fun for a while. With the Red Sox essentially treading water for a month, and the Yankees charging up from near-oblivion, you could see the fans start to check the rear-view every night, their eyes beginning to bulge just slightly. The last two weeks have seen a complete reversal, with the Yanks at first experiencing vapor lock, then appearing to have run out of gas altogether. By the time I got home from work last night and turned on the final game of the Tigers series, looking for some signs of life, the score was already 10-0; I turned it off a minute later, thus avoiding the full spectacle of the worst Yankees home shutout loss ever. I don't know when I've ever seen a pitcher as dejected as Mussina appeared in his post-game interview. He's an intelligent guy, and he looked absolutely bewildered, answerless.

While the Yanks have been flailing about, the Red Sox have been pounding opponents nightly. At the same time, their pitching has been exemplary, carrying through close games when needed. The Sox went insane in Chicago, outscoring them 46-7 in 4 games. It doesn't matter that the White Sox are in the cellar of their division; the latter number shows where Boston pitching is at. Tonight the Sox come-a-calling at the House in the Bronx. Of course the season isn't over, but don't look for a repeat of the 1978 Boston Massacre. It's not going to happen, and even if the Yanks somehow managed to win every game in this series, the effect on the Division standings would be minimal. The silver lining here is that the Mariners have matched the last few NY losses, so they are still only 2 games ahead in the Wild Card race. However, the Tigers are now only a game behind the Yanks. In other words, the pressure in the Red Sox series is all on the Yanquis. The good news is that they are not quite dead, yet. But they definitely need to find a gas station, and soon.