Blue Jay Way?

The Boston Red Sox are north of the border in neighboring Canada for the last three game tussle of the 2008 season. Here are the all-important pitching matchups, and my thoughts on each game...

Paul Byrd (11-12, 4.53 ERA) vs. A.J. Burnett (18-10, 4.19) tonight
Jon Lester (15-5, 3.15) vs. Roy Halladay (18-11, 2.77) Saturday
Daisuke Matsuzaka (17-2, 2.93) vs. Scott Richmond (0-2, 5.06) Sunday

I have to give the first game edge to AJ Burnett and the Rays. He looked great on three days rest against Boston in his last start and tonight, he'll have his full four days. *EDGE: TORONTO*

Game two can and probably will be an epic pitching battle. Halladay has been pitching like, well, Halladay. Jon Lester has been Boston's lefthanded rock all season long. *EDGE: EVEN*

Game three, the final game between these two clubs in 2008, has Daisuke Matsuzaka in a must-win situation. If he keeps it in the zone, we all know he can be quite brilliant. If not, he mostly manages to wriggle out of self-caused trouble but his pitch count limits him to 5 innings, sometimes six. Hey Daisuke, how 'bout a one walk game?? I am not familiar with Scott Richmond, although I did go over his stats. *EDGE: BOSTON*

Well, that's a wrap for today. I know you're probably sick of hearing about it, but I'll give you an injury progress report. My upper left arm/lower shoulder is getting uglier, bruisewise, but feeling a LITTLE better, accent on the little. It will be a week or so until I can move like I usually do, but at least, when it's VERY necessary, I can drive...if I absolutely HAVE TO! Your kind comments have been great. I appreciate every one of 'em. Oh, the Twinkies won last night, so our wild card lead stays at 7 games in the loss column...very safe. Have a great weekend. I'll be here every morning no matter what the pain is like...it's just that my posts will be shorter, more precise. Maybe that's a good thing? But I know I have to be ready when the real October games start, and they will, that I promise you. You can click on the title of this post for all the info the Red Sox Boston Herald homepage has to offer. As always, BE WELL. Here are those wild card standings...

W L PCT GB
Boston 89 63 .586 ---
Minnesota 83 70 .542 6 1/2
NY Yankees 82 71 .536 7 1/2
Toronto 82 71 .536