Birdman daddy, I fly in any weather

Can I say it? I really like this team.
The 2009 Boston Red Sox are not going to win the AL East, we can agree on that, right? But they have a very good chance to win the wild card and once you get this team in the playoffs, I like their chances.

Yesterday's strange season took another unexpected pit stop as the two newest Red Sox (Paul Byrd and Billy Wagner) helped to shut out Toronto, 7-0 at Fenway as Boston swept the three-game series.

The Byrd Man was back with his old-timey delivery and right-handed Jamie Moyer-esque stuff. The Blue Jays (58-70) have clearly checked out and are dreaming of a miserable winter in Toronto mixed in with plenty of losses by the Leafs and Raptors. Just kidding, no players live there in the off-season.

Byrd pitched six scoreless innings, as he gave up three hits, walked three and struck out one. For one afternoon at least, he provided some stability to the back end of a rotation that has seen more action than Paris Hilton's bed. WOW!

He had been out of baseball and pitching to his 13-year-old son's team (really) when the Red Sox brought him back.

Acquired from the Mets last week, Wagner was impressive in his Red Sox debut as he struck out the side in the eighth.

Ignoring what chief moron Jonathan Papelbon had to say, Wagner is a welcome addition to a bullpen that was understandably getting tired and needed another left-hander. The fact that Papelbon has been shaky as well, makes this a no-brainer pick up.

The Sox (76-54) moved to 3.5 games up in the wild card on the Rangers and 5.5 on the Rays.

They also beat Roy Halladay for the second straight time. Think he wishes he got traded in July? Youk (2 hits, 3 RBIs) gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI double which scored Victor Martinez.

Rocco Baldelli made it 2-0 in the second with a solo homer before Youkilis had a sacrifice fly in the third, putting Boston up 3-0.

Alex Gonzalez (2 hits), who's swinging a hot bat, extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth with an RBI single. Finally, the Sox scored three in the seventh on an error and another RBI single by Youk.

After the off-day today, the Sox have three games at the Trop starting tomorrow. If they can win at least two, they'll bury Tampa Bay for all intents and purposes. However if Tampa Bay continues to own Boston (especially at home), they will get right back in the wild card race.

Red Sox gearing up for another memorable October

They forgive you for not paying attention yesterday as Tom Brady's season likely ended, but the Boston Red Sox would like to let you know that they're playing their best baseball of the season with only 20 regular season games left.

Boston beat the Rangers, 7-2, yesterday afternoon in Texas to take two out of three in the Lonestar state. The Red Sox (84-58) are just 1.5 games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and Boston leads Minnesota in the Wild Card by 6.5 games.

Alex Cora hit an RBI triple in the second and Coco Crisp (2 hits, 2 runs, RBI steal, walk) followed with a run-scoring single to give Boston the early 2-0 lead. Believe it or not, Crisp has been Boston's hottest hitter the last few weeks which is a sentence I didn't think I'd ever have to write.

David Ortiz hit a two-run bomb in the fifth, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia added RBI singles in the sixth and Jason Bay hit a solo shot in the seventh to give the Sox a 7-0 lead.

Paul Byrd (11-11) continued to impress, submitting his best game in a Sox uniform yesterday. He threw 6.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Rangers' (70-74) Taylor Teagarden hit a solo homer in the eighth and he also contributed an RBI single in the ninth.

Every series from here on out is huge for Boston's playoff chances. The Tampa Bay Rays come to Fenway tonight for (thus far) the three most important games of the season. In 12 games this year, Boston and Tampa Bay are both 6-6 with the home team winning every contest. The Rays have finally started to stumble lately so this would be the perfect time for the Red Sox to make a further move.

Jon Lester opposes Edwin Jackson tonight.

It's Gonna Be a Long Offseason in the Bronx

All season long, even before the rash of injuries, it was clear that the New York Yankees were a flawed team. They weren't built for success in the postseason (not enough arms, defense or OBP guys). Still, in my wildest, PCP-induced dreams, I could have never imagined that the Yankees would miss the playoffs for the first time in 14 years and be all but dead before the calendar even says September.

In its second to last game at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox blew out the Yanks, 11-3. In the process, they showed New York a blueprint for why they've won two World Series championships in the last four seasons while the Yankees are 0-for the new Millenium. The keys to the 2008 Red Sox: Quality starting pitching, patient hitters and young studs getting plenty of playing time.

Boston (77-55) once again wore out Yankees (70-62) pitchers, with 13 hits and six walks. Dustin Pedroia led the way, going 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs on his first career grand slam. Jason Bay was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run. David Ortiz was on base four times with two hits and two walks while Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits and scored twice.

Veteran Paul Byrd (9-11) gave his team all you can ask of a fifth starter: six innings, two runs, five hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

Sidney Ponson (7-5) wasn't so lucky for New York. He went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts. The duo of Jose Veras (five runs) and David Roberston (two runs) made sure that the Yankees faithful went home early as the Sox exploded for seven runs in the eighth.

A-Rod had two doubles, a run and RBI but nobody will remember that since his team got smoked and it occured after his nightmarish performance the night before.

Jason Bay drove in Pedroia and Ortiz with an RBI double in the first. Bobby Abreu scored on A-Rod's double in the first, making it 2-1 Red Sox.

Robinson Cano tied it in the fourth with an RBI single but Boston scored twice in the fifth to regain the lead. Kevin Youkilis walked with the bases loaded and Bay had a sacrifice fly score Pedroia.

The eighth was a hit parade for the Red Sox. Bay tripled in Pedroia, Alex Cora had a sacrifice fly which scored Bay, Coco Crisp knocked in Jed Lowrie with a single and then Pedroia blasted his grand slam to left center.

Jason Giambi homered in the ninth but by that time, most of New York's fans were gone or had turned off the YES Network.

Mike Mussina and Jon Lester-the two surprise aces of their respective teams this season-duel this afternoon in the finale.