Summer Sweeping

Rain or sun, it's been all the same for the Sox-Yanks this season.
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Who would have thought we would have woke up this morning, and have the Sox pull off an 8-0 record against their arch rivals (9 consecutive dating back to last year)? Who would have thought that A.J. Burnett, a man who has dominated the Red Sox in the past, would have a 12.92 ERA against them while in pinstripes? Who would have thought that we would be 2 games away from winning the season series against the Yankees, IN JUNE? Who would have known that only 2 of the Yankee starters would reach the 6 inning mark in the eight matchups against the Crimson Hose? Not me, and I guarantee that you didn't either. This is the 1st time since the inaugural season at Fenway (1912) that the Sox have taken the 1st eight contests against the pinstripers. While I don't think that the Sox will take the 1st fourteen like the world champion 1912 team did, it's always good to start off with this kind of dominance against the Yanks, especially after the contrasting offseason plans the two franchises embarked on. What's truly amazing about this streak (or for New Yorkers, devastating) is that the Sox have beat New York in every way imaginable. We've beat them in the close ones, we've shut them out, we outlasted them in the slug fests, we've rallied against their bullpen twice late in games (including overcoming the mighty Rivera), and we've even literally stole momentum by swiping home. There isn't much else the Sox could do, and it's soooooooooo good (I'm all ready to start breaking out in "Sweet Caroline."). Never has moving a broom back and forth felt so satisfying. Even though there are 102 games left in this season, it is moments like this that make me feel comfortable about the team in the midst of a ferocious division race.

Hey Sabathia. You're lookin' like $161 million bucks.
(espn.com)

Coming into this week's series, it felt good just to be 5-0 to start the season against The Empire. I have to admit though, I was feeling a bit nervous. Ever since the last matchup between The Empire and The Nation in the New Yankee Bandbox, the Yankees had posted a 21-10 record, with Teixeira, Jeter, and the rest of the offense finding their stride after A-Rod* re-entered the fray. On the other end, the Sox mustered a mediocre 16-14 record with Papi needing to check his eyes, an apparent last ditch effort for a falling star. The first matchup (Beckett-Burnett) gave me images of the slugfest I attended almost two months back with the two fireballers. But if it's one thing that's been a constant in the past month for the Sox, it has been Beckett's monster performance. By starting off the series with a dominant 8 K, 6 IP appearance, Beckett continued a seven start unbeaten streak, which has included a run of allowing only 3 ER in his last 5 starts. On the other end, New York's $82.5 million dollar man could not get out of the 3rd inning, tossing 5 BBs and allowing 5 runs in the process of a 7-0 loss. I was more than honored to be going to Game 2 of the series, which featured the ageless knuckleballer Wakefield up against the Taiwanese sinkerballer Wang, who is approaching a historic season (Hint: Not in a good way). The matchup saw pretty much the same, Wakefield earned another quality start en route to his club leading 8th win, while Wang imploded before the completion of the 3rd inning. Even with villains Damon and Teixeira going back to back off the almost invincible Ramon Ramirez late in the game, the Yanks would inevitably fall short as they did in the previous 6 contests against The Nation. On the bright side for The Bronx Bombers, Wang's ERA was lowered from a grandiose 14.46 ERA to a minuscule 14.34. Also the fact that his next start is against the Nationals, which gives him a "minor league" start to turnaround his "historic" season. Remember, always look on the bright side! The third matchup literally featured a heavyweight battle as Penny got ready to audition for his next team against multi-million dollar C.C. (Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!) Sabathia, who had been owned by the Red Sox recently (I should start putting an exclamation point next to C.C. just like I put an asterisk next to A-Rod* for effect. Please comment for approval). The contest ended up being like a heavyweight title bout, as Penny and C.C. stayed even through the 1st 6 innings. Then in the 7th, A-Rod finally got his clutch on by driving in 2 with a double off Delcarmen, who I tweeted was due for a blowup. But the situation would do a 180 in the 8th as the Sox loaded the bases on C.C., and then exploded on Alfredo Aceves to complete another Sox rally, deflating the Bombers once more. It was the third lead the Yankees' bullpen had pulled an Orlando Magic-type choke job on with their rivals, which probably didn't make Hank and Hal too happy. There was nothing more to anticipate, other than the back pages of the New York Post.

2 HR vs. Yankees + Papi Smile = Happy Chuck.
(espn.com)

So what does this mean you ask? It again proves like I wrote in the 1st Fenway series with the rivals, that the Sox have more depth than the Yanks, it's that simple. Just look at the pitching. While the Sox still carry the best bullpen in the majors, the Yankees continue to struggle creating their bridge to Rivera, and even Rivera hasn't been a guarantee lately. Against the Sox this year, the Yankee bullpen has a 5.10 ERA with 21 BBs and 6 HRs in 30 IP. On top of that, they haven't had a consistent groove with their starting pitching, emphasized by their problems to manage the Wang debacle. An 0-6 mark with a 7.04 ERA amongst their starters in the 8 games against the Sox doesn't alleviate anything, considering that they spent so much for opposite results. Having a 1.000 win percentage against your rival is not a bad edge to have. I haven't been able to stop smiling the whole day. However, like I mentioned earlier in the entry, there is a loooooong way to go in the season. The past 3 series help us enormously in terms of the divisional tie-breaker, but that's about it. The truth is that there's a lot of gametime between now and the next time the mega-rivals meet up on Aug 6th. The Sox, while carrying serious momentum from the sweep, hold only a 2 game lead in a division that still have the sleeping giant Rays, and the uber-resilient Blue Jays (arguably the biggest surprise in the MLB). With what has happened thus far and with the huge chunk of time in between this past series and the next, no one knows how the pendulum will swing. But if that pendulum swings like Jason Bay has swung the bat this season, I'm liking the Sox's chances. Can't wait for Big Papi to tear it up in Philly.

Bonus: Sox-Yankees Montage 6/10

"Sweet Caroline" - Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline, 1969