Game 4...Yankees 10 Red Sox 3

The NY Yankees buttered, battered and deep fried Boston starter Josh Beckett, who had a very strange outing, very strange indeed. He cruised through the first three frames, striking out seven pinstriped batters. But the Yankees plated three runners in the third and then...then...the sixth inning, an ugly one filled with hit batsmen and base hits. Josh lost all his control, just as if he were Superman and the baseball was embedded with Kryptonite. The transformation was that remarkable. When asked about his performance, the first word out of his mouth was...

"Shitty."

I have to agree. Red Sox manager Terry Francona was a little less brief...

"He threw all his pitches for strikes, lots of swings and misses on all his pitches for the first three innings, throwing every one of his pitches for strikes. And then came the sixth and things went south as fast as it could," Francona said. "As good as he was commanding, all of a sudden it was gone."

Not just gone but vanished in a puff of evil black magic smoke. And the pitching coach, John Farrell. said this...

“I don’t think any one of us foresaw the sixth inning unfolding like it did."

It unfolded alright, spindled and horribly mutilated. The Yankees' Phil Hughes was masterful for his seven innings, giving up only 2 runs on 7 hits. Boston never had a chance after the Beckett carnage was complete. The Yankees are a strong team and I think they and the Tampa Bay Rays will be 1-2 in the AL East the entire season. That's just the way I see it now. I'll remember I said that and reevaluate my thoughts during the All Star break. I'm just being realistic but the Rays are getting UNBELIEVABLE pitching and good enough hitting. Those are the reasons they're in first place. We all know the strengths of the pinstripers and that's what I based my probably premature thoughts on. Given time, we'll see.

This afternoon at 3:10pm EDT it'll be Clay Buchholz facing the always tough CC Sabathia. The Yankees positively have the edge in this one but Buchholz has been pitching lights out lately. Oh, I almost forgot. Tim Wakefield made his first appearance out of the bullpen on Friday and looked pretty good, a WHOLE lot better than Matsuzaka has so far. It was great to see him on the mound.

That's it for this wet Saturday. If you click on this post's title you'll be instantly linked to the "other side's" take on the game. I wish you a great Saturday. Be safe and as always, BE WELL. Thank you for stopping in. My hits have never been lower...not even close, but I'll keep posting if you keep reading. That's a promise. See ya!