Minnesota actually scored all those runs against the White Sox on Friday not Saturday.

 

The Red Sox are an above-average team that everyone thinks is great because the rest of the division has spent the entire season sucking horse cock.

They're 20 games over .500. That isn't landmark shit by any stretch. In fact, they had the exact same record (53-33) at this point a year ago. The only difference is the Yankees were 50-36 and trailed the division by only three games, not 11 like they do this year.

Don't let the ineptitude of the AL East trick you into believing the Red Sox are the second coming of the Big Red Machine. You can't even attribute their lead to their success against the Yankees; they're only 5-4 against New York so far. That's one measly game in the standings. They're on top by 11 because the Yankees haven't showed up this year. Nothing more, nothing less.

The sad part is Manny Ramirez has regressed horribly, David Ortiz has been quiet all year, J.D. Drew has been a total bust and Julio Lugo might be the worst everyday player in baseball, yet the Yankees still can't do anything about it.

All this makes me want to vomit in my mouth. Your original assessment was right, Mo: The Red Sox are no good. The Yankees just fucking blow.

 

Mikey, I agree, I look at the stats and I can't figure out how the Red Sox are winning so many games. Even the pitching isn't consistently that great, other than Beckett. It's just bizarre that we are so many games behind ... it seems like when one phase of the Yanks' play comes together, another fizzles out.

I still think we can win the Wild Card on the back of the staff, provided Andy picks it back up again and Moose just gets back to better than average. We'll win 85 percent of the games that Clemens and Wang start.

 

Considering I am a Padres and Yankees fan, this season has been tough. (I will tell you later why any season is tough for a Padres fan.) Yankees pythegorean record is 47-37 (4 games behind Red Sox) and with the way today's game is going (leading 10-0 after 4 innings), it all makes sense. Yet, they find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in close games (see, the game on 07/07/07).

The same is true for Padres (52-34 Pyth vs 49-37 actual). If they could play to their potential, both my teams would be in the thick of the postseason race, and I would be a happy camper. Then again, I doth complain too much.

 

anon - thx for the minn. correction... i fixed it :)

 

MGL,

I'd say the biggest difference pitching-wise between Boston and New York is in the bullpen. Boston's bullpen leads the league in ERA. The Yankees' bullpen leads the league in walks. No wonder why the Yankees have a horrible, horrible record in 1- or 2-run games -- as of July 23, it was 7-23. That is beyond putrid.

Even if the Yankees were a pedestrian 12-18 in 1- or 2-run games, they'd only trail Boston by five games in the division. That's a legitimate playoff race right there.

So, to sum it up, the difference is the bullpens. The Yankees don't have anyone as good as Okajima right now. Proctor, Bruney and Farnsworth have control issues and they don't bridge the gap enough to get Rivera an ample amount of save opportunities. Their best bullpen weapon essentially gets neutralized by the ineptitude of the guys pitching in front of him.

We could go back and forth debating the merits of the two starting rotations. To be honest, I think the Yankees' Big 3 of Clemens, Wang and Pettitte stacks up comparably against Beckett, Schilling and Matsuzaka. Boston's rotation is still better, but not to the degree with which their bullpen dwarfs New York's.

The Yankees lose too many close games and that's why they're 10 games out.