Sox and Yanks

*****UPDATE LATE FRIDAY NIGHT*****
Yankees Should have prayed for rain, SOX WIN 11-4! Lugo leads Sox to Victory as Yankees pitching sinks deeper into the muck.

*****UPDATE SATURDAY EVENING*****
Yankees end 7 game LOSING streak. Yankees win 3-0. Posada takes Wakefield Deep as Yankees find some pitching-FINALLY! I can hear the New Yorkers boasting already....betcha this game counts in New York too.

*****UPDATE SUNDAY EVENING*****
Papi, Cora, Manny all Power Sox. Hideki Okajima masterful in relief and Papelbon closes the door. THE RED SOX WIN 7-4. Yankees have lost 7 of 8 and they are reeling. When will Mattingly take over?


Fresh off a weekend sweep and a 2-2 week against AL East opponents Toronto and Baltimore, the Sox roll into Yankee Stadium for another match up with their arch rivals who have lost 6 straight.

Last week, the Sox capitalized on both Toronto and New York's pitching woes by taking 5 out of 6 against their American League East opponents. That's what good teams do-step on their opponents' necks when they are down. Last season's edition of the Red Sox did not do that-it is an encouraging sign that they are winning these games when they are supposed to.

Yankee fan scuttlebutt after the sweep was one of contrition. Most Yankee fans were singing the loser's lament of "yeah, but its still early." I have news for you: THESE GAMES COUNT IN THE STANDINGS and winning them is important. (watch how important the games will become in New York if the Yankees win two out of three or better this weekend!)

The Sox are firing on all cylinders and the Yankees remind me of the Red Sox of the late 1970's: a lot of offensive power coupled with a shaky and poorly handled pitching staff. We all know how that formula worked for the Sox. If I were a Yankee fan, I'd be very concerned. Even if the Yankees manage to get a front line starter (Roger?) by the trading deadline, the bullpen is filled with a bunch of unreliable stiffs who will continue to give it up in the late innings, and that doesn't even include Andy Petit. Mariano Rivera may be the best closer ever, but the Sox have had his number for 3 or 4 years now.

The Sox pitching staff still the best in the AL and the Yankees are still the most potent line up in all of baseball. Power vs. Power. Bottom line-good pitching wins in the long run. Steinbrenner will be frothing at the mouth if the Yanks can't take 2 of 3 this weekend.

Key points: Can the Yanks Capitlalize on facing the bottom of the Sox rotation? will Torre panic again? Can the Sox bullpen staff maintain their winning ways? Can the Sox get 5 homeruns in a row off New York's "stiff du jour?" Will A-Fraud or Rivera get get booed by the ever so gentle and fair New York fans? Even though A-Fraud is having a historic season at the plate, his teamates aint picking it up.

GO RED SOX!!