Surprise! (Not)

Friday was a great day. The Sox took the first game in the Bronx, and the optimism started to emerge in Red Sox Nation: some fans anticipated a sweep, followed by a glorious fall from grace (and in the standings) for the defending World Champs.


Then came yesterday's farce. First of all, starting a baseball game at 4:10PM is absolutely ridiculous, and then we had to spend all afternoon and evening listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver gush about Robinson Cano (who is, admittedly, having a killer season).

Of course, the Yankees won last night, negating the one-game gain the Sox had made on Friday, but I can't say I was surprised. If you had asked me my expectations for the weekend on, say, Thursday night, I would have been quick to tell you that 3-out-of-4 was a reasonable outlook, and it's all about pitching.

Clay Buchholz has been far superior to Javier Vazquez this year; Josh Beckett instills more confidence in me than AJ Burnett; Jon Lester against Dustin Moseley is a little bit of a joke. However, CC Sabathia is one of the best pitchers in the game, and it's been clear that John Lackey has yet to quite reach his stride in the AL East.

I still think we can take the next two games, though I am rather annoyed at their start times... 8PM on a Sunday, then 2PM on a Monday? Geez, what about the working stiffs? With the way ratings have fallen this year, they really shouldn't be alienating fans this way. But I digress. It's going to be an uphill battle, but there's still time to make it to October.