Projo Sox Blog

Last night's lineup was missing David Ortiz and Mike Lowell (above), among others. Jon Lester was yanked after six innings. (The fact that he was pitching a no-hitter through five, reports Michael Vega of the Boston Globe, didn't influence Terry Francona's decision to lift him.) Three of the bullpen's most important arms -- Justin Masterson, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon -- all pitched, despite the fact the game had, for all practical purposes, been decided in the first two innings. When it ended, the defenders in the field included Jonathan Van Every and Gil Velazquez. (Joe McDonald delves a little deeper into the debut of Velazquez.)

So it's clear the Red Sox are in full looking-ahead-to-the-playoffs mode, even though the division title is still technically up for grabs. Last night's 6-1 win over the Indians, recounted here by Kevin McNamara, pulled them within two games of the first-place Rays with three to play. Even though they have to win the title outright to finish on top -- Tampa Bay, don't forget, holds the tiebreaker edge by virtue of its 10-8 advantage in the season series with Boston -- it could happen, theoretically. They'd have to sweep the Yankees this weekend and the Rays would have to lose the last three in Detroit, but it's possible.

It's also possible, the great Henry Wiggen once mused, that the morning dew will wash away the ballpark. The reality is, it's 99 percent certain the Red Sox are going to the postseason as the wild-card, and that their fate has been decided.

And that's how they're playing it.

SOONER RATHER THAN LATER: The Angels are one win, or one Rays loss, away from clinching the best overall record in the American League -- more on that momentarily -- and thus they'll get to choose whether to start the ALDS on Wednesday or Thursday. According to the Globe's Tony Massarotti and Amalie Benjamin, the Red Sox believe LA of A will opt for the Wednesday start. In his Internet-only posting, Massarotti explains why.

WHATEVER YOU NEED: If the series starts Wednesday, the Sox will need only three starting pitchers. (The Game One starter on Wednesday would be rested for Game Four the following Monday, and the Game Two starter on Friday would be rested for a Game Five the following Wednesday.) That would leave whoever winds up being the No. 4 postseason starter -- Tim Wakefield or Paul Byrd -- on the sidelines. Wakefield, though, tells WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he's ready, willing and able to go to the bullpen.

THE RIGHT MOVE: The Angels' No. 4 starter is Jon Garland, and he says he's pitching so poorly that he doesn't deserve to be a playoff starter. (Los Angeles Times)

THE PLAYERS' CHERCE: McDonald talks to the Sox and discovers that most of them think Dustin Pedroia is the team MVP.

TAKE IT, SON: He may not break it this year -- he's six stolen bases short with only three to play -- but Jacoby Ellsbury (right) seems a sure bet, at some point, to break Tommy Harper's franchise record for stolen bases in a season. And Harper tells Sean McAdam that it's fine with him.

PUT ME IN, COACH: Despite his miserable season, Mike Timlin thinks he's found his groove and hopes the Red Sox put him on the postseason roster. (Boston Herald)

ME, TOO: Lowell's spot on the postseason roster is assured; the question is, how healthy will he be? But he tells McDonald and McNamara he's feeling better and plans to play twice this weekend . . . weather permitting, of course.

MY VOTE: The Herald's Steve Buckley is rooting for a Red Sox-Dodgers World Series. ("Bring on Nomar. Bring on D-Lowe. Bring on Manny. Bring on the drama.")

TRUTH BEHIND THE LEGEND: The Joy of Sox' Allan Wood celebrates the career of Johnny Pesky -- whose No. 6 will be retired by the Red Sox sometime this weekend (it's supposed to happen tonight, but you've all seen the weather forecasts; if they're correct, it may be moved to Sunday) -- and also examines the fable of Pesky's Pole; i.e., that it got its name because of the home runs Johnny wrapped off and around it during his career. Like most legends, he discovers it's "partially accurate and partially a myth." And the one incident Pesky credits with accelerating the tale -- a walkoff homer off the pole he once hit for Mel Parnell, which was described on air by Parnell during his days on the Red Sox' broadcast team -- absolutely never happened.

WE APPROVE: Gretchen Ertl took her video camera to the fans Wednesday to talk to them about Pesky, and everyone was delighted he's being honored.

A CLOSER LOOK . . . at Jon Lester, talked about by John Farrell by Joe Haggerty on his Hacks With Haggs blog.

38 PITCHES: Curt Schilling weighs in on baseball again, giving props to all the division winners but also tabbing the Red Sox as the team to beat in the postseason. ("I'll take the Sox with Beckett leading the way over any team playing in October. Backing him up with Lester, Dice-K and Papelbon, damn. Fact of the matter is in game one you bust [butt] to get 6-7 stud innings from Josh, which would be WELL BELOW his norm for October, and you get Oki for the 7th, and Paps to throw 194 the last two innings. Win game 1, that's the goal. Then work back from 10 to 0, and you have a parade.") And then he goes off on an anti-Scott Boras rant that's sure to make headlines.

ON HOLD: The Rays could have clinched the East with a win yesterday afternoon in Detroit, but Scott Kazmir was hit hard and Detroit coasted to a 7-3 victory (St. Petersburg Times) , which disappointed the folks waiting to celebrate back home. (Tampa Tribune) The Tribune's Martin Fennelly says Kazmir needs to regain his confidence if the Rays are to succeed in the postseason.

THE SILVER LINING: Troy Percival returned to action and pitched a strong inning and the Rays liked what they saw. (St. Petersburg Times)

MAKING HIS PITCH: The Times' Tom Jones lists his choices as to who should throw out the first pitch before the Rays' playoff opener. One person who'd love to do it: Paul Azinger. (St. Petersburg Times)

WE WON'T GO QUIETLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT: Controversy erupted in Yankee Universe and it had nothing to do with their 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. Before the game, Joe Girardi told reporters Mariano Rivera (right, AP Photo) had gone back to New York for his normal end-of-the-season physical, saying Rivera wasn't going to pitch anyway because he had "a cranky body." It didn't sit right with the reporters -- no player ever leaves a team in the middle of a road trip for a routine physical that can be done anytime -- so they called Brian Cashman. Cashman told them Rivera's shoulder hurt and that he was having an MRI. That's kind of big news -- Hall of Fame closer with arm problems -- so the reporters confronted Girardi after the game. According to Peter Abraham on the LoHud Yankees Blog, "Girardi stuck to the 'cranky body' story and denied that Rivera ever said his shoulder hurt, which contradicts what his boss said . . . Girardi got contentious when asked about his misleading statements, slamming his fist down on his desk."

Well, you can imagine how this went over with the New York press corp. Mark Feinsand of the Daily News called it "Joe Girardi's attempt at a coverup." Tyler Kepner of the New York Times wrote, "Girardi has misled reporters about injuries at various points all season . . . [and] claiming that he had not asked what specifically was wrong with Rivera was either negligent, considering Rivera's importance to the team, or a lie."

And so it goes. Interesting to the end.

A.L. RACES: As is the Central Division race. It's now Minnesota in the lead as the Twins completed a three-game sweep of the White Sox with a come-from-behind, 7-6 win in 10 innings. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) It had Ozzie Guillen talking pills and booze (Chicago Tribune) as his team fell one-half game behind. They're still tied in the loss column, however, and there's an excellent possibility that a) Chicago will have to play its makeup game with Detroit on Monday and, if the White Sox win, b) there'll be a one-game playoff for the Central Division title on Tuesday . . . The Angels beat the Mariners (Riverside Press-Enterprise) and, as noted earlier, are one game away from clinching the best overall record in the A.L.

N.L. RACES: The West is won, and it was won before the Dodgers ever took the field last night. The Diamondbacks eliminated themselves by losing in St. Louis yesterday afternoon (Arizona Republic), giving Los Angeles the title. The Dodgers (left, AP Photo) were appropriately pleased (Los Angeles Times) . . . Quite a night in the wild-card race, even though nothing had changed when it was over. The Mets came back from a 6-3 deficit to pull out a 7-6 win over the Cubs, with Carlos Beltran's two-out, ninth-inning single providing the game-winning run. (New York Daily News) But the Brewers kept pace, and remain tied for the lead, with a 5-1, 10-inning win over the Pirates (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) as Ryan Braun hit a walkoff grand slam . . . The Mets did pick up ground on the idle Phillies in the East, and now trail by one game.

RAIN MEN: The apocalyptic precipitation that's predicted for the East Coast over the next two days may have enormous impact on the N.L. East and wild-card races. (Newsday)

LET'S DO IT AGAIN: The Marlins eliminated the Mets on the last weekend of the regular season in 2007 and they'd love a repeat performance. (Palm Beach Post) That apparently would please the Braves no end. (New York Post)

BACK OFF: The Brewers' use of CC Sabathia on three days' rest -- they've done it twice now, and may do it a third time Sunday -- has apparently raised the hackles of his agent, who's seeing dollar bills float away amidst the strains of "labrum tears" and "rotator cuffs" and "MRIs." That's the word, anyway, from Peter Gammons on a New York radio station interview. But Gammons also reports Sabathia has called the agency and told them to shut up, that he's willingly pitching on short rest because he wants to win.

MEET THE NEW BOSS: Mark Reynolds now holds the major-league record for strikeouts in a season. (Arizona Republic) Joe Posnanski sends along his congratulations and his admiration.

THE ONLY WAY TO GO: Ex-big leaguer John Paciorek thinks the National League should adopt the DH rule. (Dugout Central)

DOUBLE YOUR FUN: Jonah Keri, writing in the New York Sun, picks Cliff Lee as both the A.L. Cy Young Award winner and the MVP.

HERE AND THERE: John Sickles sees Brett Gardner as a potential fourth outfielder (minorleagueball.com) . . . Jim Palmer thinks Mike Mussina belongs in the Hall of Fame (masnsports.com) . . . Its official: Both Cito Gaston and J.P. Ricciardi are returning to the Blue Jays (Toronto Star) . . . Ricciardi's return could mean Jason Giambi winds up in Toronto next year (New York Daily News) . . . The Mets have shut down John Maine for the rest of the season (New York Daily News) . . . Ken Williams is discussing a contract extension with the White Sox. (SI.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Looks like Orlando Cabrera is on the outs with Ozzie Guillen (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Andy Marte's season is over (Cleveland Plain Dealer), which can't surprise anyone who saw him injure his calf the other night.

AND FINALLY . . . Jealousy has reared its ugly head in Seattle, where the Seattle Times reports some of the Mariners wanted to beat up Ichiro Suzuki.

-- ART MARTONE