Projo Sox Blog

But it's all different now. The wild-card race is . . . well, according to the Associated Press, there isn't a wild-card race. The Red Sox lead the Twins by seven games in the loss column and the AP is simply listing Boston all by itself in the A.L. wild-card standings.

The division deficit, meanwhile, is down to 1 1/2 games, two in the loss column, after the Sox completed a two-out-of-three weekend in Texas with a 7-2 win yesterday while the Rays were being swept in Toronto. (More on that below.) The one bit of bad Sox news for the weekend -- the 15-8 pounding of Tim Wakefield and friends on Saturday night -- was more than tempered by the successful return of the apparently healthy Josh Beckett in an 8-1 win Friday night. Steven Krasner has all the details.

Now the Sox and Rays prepare for three games that may go a long way in determining the eventual winner of the division. And, maybe for the first time all year (or at least in quite a while), the Red Sox have a public believer outside the walls of their own clubhouse:

"They're as good as anybody out there. One thing they've got is they've been there . . . Tampa Bay's never been in that situation. The Angels are the Angels. If you're asking me to make a pick, it's Boston." (AP via projo.com)

That's Texas manager Ron Washington.

Starting tonight, we'll see if he's right.

THE SOX AREN'T THE ONLY THING THAT'S CLICKING: So David Ortiz' wrist. (projo.com) He says there's no pain, but the clicking reminds him that he's not 100 percent.

NOTHING TO ADMIT, SINCE I CERTAINLY DIDN'T BELIEVE IT: ShysterBall's Craig Calcaterra is calling on those who "believed at the time that the Paul Byrd deal was going to form the basis of a Red Sox September surge, please admit that you pulled such a prediction out of your patootie." But, really, who could have predicted Byrd would be 4-1 with a 3.82 ERA since joining the Sox? Krasner tells us about yesterday's triumph.

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT: Krasner also notes that the Sox will break the Indians' record for consecutive sellouts tonight. Knowing how this management team operates, I wouldn't expect the moment to pass with quiet understatement.

THEM'S EATIN' WORDS: It wasn't too long ago that the uninformed among us were declaring the Red Sox to be "not a good road team." But, as Baseball Musings' David Pinto points out, the Sox have won 15 of 21 road games since July 21 and are now only three games under .500 away from Fenway Park.

REELIN' IN THE YEARS: My old boss at projo.com is, perhaps, the world's biggest Steely Dan fan. He'll be happy to know, then, that Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times has selected "Do It Again" as the Red Sox' theme song. The Yankees? Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me."

TURN OUT THE LIGHTS: The Pawtucket Red Sox' season came to an end this weekend, as they lost 6-4 in Game Three and 2-0 in Game Four and dropped their best-of-five International League semifinal series to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, three games to one.

LIMPING IN: They haven't had much success at Fenway over the course of their 11-year history (23-67), and they haven't had any success there this year (0-6). And they enter the series having lost five of their last six. In spite of all that, the Rays say they're not feeling any extra pressure (St. Petersburg Times), even after yesterday's 1-0 loss in Toronto (Tampa Tribune), which completed a three-game Blue Jays sweep. (Krasner reports the Red Sox got great enjoyment out the middle game in the series, even if they're not exactly fans of the guy who delivered the game-winning grand slam.) The Tribune's Marc Lancaster wonders if stepping into the white heat of Fenway Park in a pennant race isn't exactly what the doctor ordered for the Rays, to give them "the extra push they seem to need." Still, doubts are beginning to creep in; the Times' Marc Topkin puts forth three questions to ponder and one of them is: "If the Rays don't make the playoffs, is the season a disappointment?"

THAT SINKING FEELING: Yahoo! Sports' Gordon Edes ponders if the next three days in Boston will be a last stand, or a happy ending, for the Rays.

STAND BY YOUR MAN: Conventional wisdom is that he's struggled since finishing his latest stint on the disabled list, but it's more than that; the blog DRays Bay points out that his ERA since May 8 is 6.75. Still, Joe Maddon says Troy Percival is his closer. (St. Petersburg Times)

YOU FOOLS: David Chalk of Bugs & Cranks says those who think Tampa Bay's recent struggles "would give myself and the rest of Devil Ray Town a moment or two of doubt and/or trepidation . . . [are] so incredibly stupid that they barely even deserve the term "human," but sadly they do exist. And they're not just Yankee fans."

THE BOSTON RAYS?? "Devil Ray Town" has proven to be a pretty small place, so Dugout Central's Scott Jensen -- saying Tampa Bay has proven, by its miniscule attendance figures, that it "doesn't deserve the Rays" and the team "needs to relocate" -- looks at some places where the Rays might move. And one of them is Boston.

THEY HAVE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS: Whatever Yankee fans there are reveling in the Rays' misfortune -- though I can't imagine there are many, since I would think picking a favorite in a two-horse race between Tampa Bay and Boston would be the ultimate Yankee Universe no-brainer -- would be doing so to mask their own despair. They fell into fourth place in the A.L. East by losing two out of three in Seattle over the weekend, including a 5-2 defeat yesterday. (New York Daily News) It was a day for remember for Derek Jeter, though, as he tied Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time Yankee hit list. (New York Post)

ADMISSION OF SURRENDER: Newsday's Kat O'Brien caught Alex Rodriguez running up the white flag yesterday, though he wasn't aware he'd done so. The byplay:

A-Rod: "Toronto's playing really well. I'll tell you what, a lot of people should be happy they're not in the playoff race, because they'd be the scariest team, with the 1-2 punch they've got over there with [Roy] Halladay and [A.J.] Burnett."

Reporter: "If the Blue Jays are ahead of your team and they're not in the playoff mix, what does that mean about your chances to make the playoffs?"

A-Rod: "I'm too tired to answer that; you confused me."

Oops.

He did try to backtrack, but the damage was done.

Relax, Alex. It's like Mr. Gambini once said in My Cousin Vinny: It's all right. You can admit it. They know.

WE'RE TAKING NAMES: The blog IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS . . . caught tries to identify the "Matt Nokes, Kevin Maas and Melido Perez" of the 2008 Yankees. His choices: Wilson Betemit, Jose Veras and Sidney Ponson.

DON'T GET ANY IDEAS: The NYPD is preparing to come down hard on souvenir hunters at Yankee and Shea Stadiums in the final weeks of the season. (New York Daily News)

OH, YEAH, THIS PLACE IS CLOSING, TOO: Rhode Island native Jim Salisbury, now the national baseball writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, points out that the Mets have played more games at Shea Stadium than the Dodgers played at Ebbets Field. Even so, awareness of it's imminent demise seems to have been lost in the ongoing tear-fest over that other ballpark across town that's also shutting its doors. So, in honor of the Phillies' last visit there, he remembers Shea.

A.L. RACES: The Twins continue to plummet in the wild-card standings, but they're holding their own in the A.L. Central . . . sort of. Their 7-5 loss to the Tigers yesterday (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) didn't cost them any ground in the division as the White Sox lost to the Angels, 3-2. (Chicago Sun-Times) That race remains Chicago by 2 1/2 . . . The Angels' win, meanwhile, lowered their magic number for clinching the West to three (Riverside Press-Enterprise) and also moved them a half-game ahead of the Rays in the battle for best record in the American League.

N.L. RACES: It's still New York by two in the East as the Mets and Phillies split a day-night, separate-admission doubleheader at Shea (New York Daily News) . . . Things are getting tight in Chicago. The Cubs lost their seventh of eight yesterday, 4-3 in Cincinnati, as Kerry Wood blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth (Chicago Tribune), making Lou Piniella so angry he refused to speak to the media afterwards. But the Central race remains the Cubs by four, since the Brewers were stifled by Chris Young and pounded by the Padres, 10-1 (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Even so, Milwaukee still holds a four-game lead over the Phillies in the wild-card race, though the Cardinals (3-1 winners over Florida) and -- surprise, surprise -- the Astros (7-5 winners over Colorado) are beginning to creep into wild-card contention . . . The Dodgers now lead the West by 1 1/2 as completed a sweep of the Diamondbacks (Los Angeles Times) and ran their winning streak to eight.

DON'T GET TOO EXCITED: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports isn't ready to crown the Dodgers just yet.

ONE MORE GO-ROUND . . . AT LEAST: Vin Scully says he'll return for his 60th season with the Dodgers next year. (Los Angeles Times) Wonder how Jeff Kent feels about that.

CLOSED OUT: It looks like the Mets will be without Billy Wagner the rest of the way. (si.com)

ABOUT TO END: Pinto notes the Pirates' matching the 1933-48 Phillies' record of consecutive losing seasons, but he thinks they could break that streak next year.

IT'S ON. AND IF IT'S NOT, IT SHOULD BE: Yahoo! Sports' Jose Mota points out that teams that fight together -- which is to say, with each other -- often win together.

LOCAL BOYS: Paul Konerko is getting hot at the right time for the White Sox. (Chicago Sun-Times)

OLD FRIENDS: Runelvys Hernandez has been handed a 50-game suspension after testing positive for an amphetamine. (mlb.com)

AND FINALLY . . . I was surprised to find out Joe Posnanski was in town over the weekend, talking to our cabbies about, among other things, Don Shula's steakhouse, which is up the street from the office. Welcome to Providence, Joe. Stop by anytime.

-- ART MARTONE