It's Tater City At Fenway Park As New York Blasts Boston...Yankees 8 Boston 4

Is something wrong with Josh Beckett? Is there something he's not telling us? I hope not but lately, he hasn't looked himself. His pitching line last night went like this...8 innings pitched with 9 hits and 5 (!!) home runs given up. He walked no one (because most of 'em were hit out) and whiffed 5. He was, in a word, forgettable and Boston finds itself squarely in the Wild Card race. The Yankees, at least now, have been playing too well. Josh Beckett expressed his exasperation...

“It’s frustrating. You can’t give up seven runs every time you go out there,” Beckett said. “You’re not going to be here very long if you do that. That was a whupping I got today.

Red Sox leftfielder Jason Bay summed it up much better than I could...

“At the end of the day, we’ll take a little solace in the fact that Sabathia has been pitching well, he pitched well tonight, and we still got four runs,” said Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay, who scored the unearned run with a heads-up dash from first on a dropped pop-up. “Ultimately tonight our guy gave up more, but I’d take Josh every day that we go out there, no question. They just beat us. I think what goes unnoticed around here is we’re in first place for the other playoff spot,” Bay said. “We won the wild card last year and made Game 7 of the ALCS.”

Right now, there's no stopping the pinstripers. Their pitching is good, their hitting is among the best and they've been playing well. But right now the Chicago White Sox invade Fenway Park. Here are the pitching matchups at a time when every game is a must, if not to catch the pinstripers, then to win the Wild Card. I know this team can do it. Here you go.,,

8/22/2009 CWS 7:10 PM ET NESN Buchholz (2-3) vs. Contreras (5-11)
8/25/2009 CWS 7:10 PM ET NESN Lester (10-7) vs. Garcia (0-1)
8/26/2009 CWS 7:10 PM ET NESN Wakefield (11-3) vs. Floyd (10-8)

That's a wrap for this not upbeat Monday morning. Why not upbeat? The last three games for that team you and I love. But it's still August and we're right up there in the AL Wild Card race. We go on. And on.

Click on this post's title for more on the weekend series with the Yankees and as always, BE WELL. Thanks