Red Sox win fifth straight over hapless Yankees

The Sox continue to play good baseball while the Yankees and their new train-wreck of a stadium continue to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Boston (17-10) swept the mini two-game series with a 7-3 win last night in the Bronx.

Josh Beckett (3-2) got the win after two consecutive lackluster starts. He wasn't great last night but he did enough to earn the W: six innings, three runs on ten hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

Joba Chamberlain (1-1) had a strange start for New York (13-13) as he went 5.2 innings, gave up four runs on six hits, walked two and struck out 12.

I'm no G.M. but with the Yankees current disaster of a bullpen, wouldn't Joba be best utilized as the setup guy for Mariano Rivera? Just a thought. I never understand why teams think a No. 3 or 4 starter is more important than a key bullpen guy. You use bullpen guys far more.

Boston got all the runs it needed in the first as David Ortiz knocked in Jacoby Ellsbury with an RBI single. Up next, Jason Bay hit a three-run homer to left which plated Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 runs) and Ortiz.

Johnny Damon cut it to 4-3 Sox with a three-run shot of his own in the third.

However, the Sox got two in the eighth on a Jason Varitek sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Nick Green (can somebody kidnap Julio Lugo?).

The final run was scored in the ninth when Jeff Bailey walked with the bases loaded.

Hideki Okajima pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth for Boston while Takashi Saito recorded a 1-2-3 ninth including a strikeout.

After a three city roadtrip, Boston comes home to face the Indians in a two-game series beginning tonight.

I'm sure the calming influence of A-Rod will turn the Yankees season around

Remember when the New York Yankees were relevant? No really. They missed the playoffs last season, built a joke of a new stadium and continue to fade from prominence, all the while clinging onto their past glory.

After a lengthy rain delay last night, the Boston Red Sox (16-10) won their first game at the new Yankee Stadium, 6-4.

Jon Lester (2-2) got the win after seven solid innings: three runs on six hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Mike Lowell (2 hits, 2 RBIs, walk) hit a solo homer and Jason Bay (3 hits) blasted a two-run bomb. Jacoby Ellsbury had two hits, a run, walk and steal, David Ortiz was on base four times with two doubles and two walks while J.D. Drew reached base three times on a hit and two walks.

Mark Teixeira busted out of his season-long slump for New York (13-12) with two solo homers and Johnny Damon added a two-run homer.

Jonathan Papelbon got five outs (including three strikeouts) for his seventh save of the season.

Weather-permitting, the second and final game of the series is tonight with Joba Chamberlain vs. Josh Beckett.

I am a homer but the Magic still don't scare me

After barely surviving against the Chicago Bulls in a marathon seven game series, the Boston Celtics predictably laid an egg in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last night at the Garden against the Orlando Magic.

The C's finally closed out Chicago on Saturday night and only had one day of rest before Orlando came to town. They didn't use that as an excuse for last night's sorry showing but I will.

And you know what? Boston couldn't have played much worse (down by 28 points early in the third quarter) but they cut it to four late in the fourth and had a pretty realistic chance to win.

Orlando held on 95-90 and Game 2 is tomorrow night at the Garden.

Dwight Howard was all over the place for the Magic with 16 points, 22 rebounds and three monster blocks. Rashard Lewis added 18 points and seven boards. Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points. The biggest surprises were J.J. Redick, who scored 12 and Mickael Pietrus, who came off the bench and dropped 17 points. If Boston can shut down those two scrubs a little more, they should be in really good shape over the rest of the series.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 23 points, Rajon Rondo had 14 points (on 2-of-12 shooting and 10 made free throws), 10 rebounds, eight assists, seven turnovers and three steals. Glen Davis scored 12 points before fouling out. Kendrick Perkins notched six points, 16 rebounds and three blocks.

Just like Game 1 vs. Chicago, Ray Allen was M.I.A. with nine points. Another good sign for the series is that the Boston bench had 26 points. Brian Scalabrine scored 10 points and Stephon Marbury added eight points in a quick flurry.

Tomorrow night is pretty much a must-win for the Celts as they have to salvage one game at home before they go to Orlando.

Cam Ward and his Conn Smythe trophy say hi

A funny thing happened on the way to winning the 2009 Stanley Cup for the Boston Bruins. Somebody decided to give them a game.

Dreams of a 16-0 streak to the Cup were erased last night as Carolina thoroughly outplayed Boston when it mattered and came away with a 3-0 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Garden.

Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward was the story as he stopped all 36 shots in recording his fourth career shutout. It's easy to forget but he was the playoff MVP when Carolina came out of nowhere to win the Cup in 2006.

After a scoreless first period, the second period was when the game was lost for the B's.

At 2:30 Carolina defenseman Joe Corvo blasted a slap shot past a screened Tim Thomas (22 saves). Erik Cole and Eric Staal assisted on the goal.

Just over five minutes later, Matt Cullen scored a short-handed goal for the Hurricanes. Zdeno Chara's bad pass in the offensive zone was the catalyst for an odd-man rush which eventually resulted in the tally. Chad LaRose followed his shot behind the net and then found Cullen alone out front.

LaRose seemed to score again with 0.2 seconds left in the second when he flipped a shot over Thomas' shoulder that hit the post then spun on the goal line. On the ice initially it was called no goal. It took forever to review it (and it looked like a goal on second-tenth viewing) and the refs did not overturn it. This could have been a huge break for Boston but they really didn't do anything about it.

The Bruins outshot the Hurricanes 16-3 in the third and Ward made a couple dandy saves, including a left leg pad save on Michael Ryder during a power play.

Staal scored an empty-netter with 28 seconds remaining.

Game 3 and 4 shifts back to Carolina starting Wednesday night. It's the first real adversity Boston has faced this postseason so time only time will tell how they deal with it.

Never leave the House

It took seven excruciating games but the Boston Celtics finally subdued the Chicago Bulls last night at the Garden, 109-99, to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

After a classic series, Game 7 probably won't be remembered for much more than the final result. The Celtics' much-maligned bench finally showed up, outscoring Chicago's bench 30-25.

Eddie House had by far his best game of the playoffs so far. House was 5-for-5 on 3-pointers and 4-for-4 from the line for 16 points with three steals, two assists and two rebounds.

Brian Scalabrine helped Boston's key 22-2 run in the second quarter that gave the C's the lead for the rest of the game. Scal had eight points in the game and three boards. Even Mikki Moore made a quick appearance and scored four points.

Ben Gordon led the Bulls with a game-high 33 points but he was 7-for-23 from the floor and 15-for-15 from the line. Derrick Rose added 18 points, Kirk Hinrich had 16 points and John Salmons notched 12 points.

Other than the solid bench play, another reason the Celts prevailed was because they kept the Bulls' big men in check. Joakim Noah had seven points and 15 rebounds and Brad Miller was held to nine points and seven boards.

None of the Celtics' starting five went off but they each did something well. Ray Allen led Boston with 23 points and seven rebounds. Paul Pierce added 20 points and nine rebounds. Glen Davis posted 15 points and Kendrick Perkins added another double-double: 14 points, 13 rebounds. Rajon Rondo's worst game of the series was probably game 7: seven points, 11 assists, five rebounds but it didn't matter.

Chicago got off to a hot start as they led 28-23 after the first quarter. Boston used its best quarter of the series to take command. They outscored the Bulls 29-11 in the second. True to form over the last two weeks, the Bulls fought back in the third (33-26) but Boston (31-27) did enough in the fourth to hang on.

The C's shot 44.9% to 39.0% for the Bulls. Boston was 52.9% on threes and Chicago was 29.2%. Boston had five more rebounds (45-40) and eight more assists (25-17).

There will be no time to rest for Boston as they face Orlando, starting tomorrow night at the Garden. It is not going to be easy but I really don't fear the Magic. Dwight Howard is a beast but they're a finesse team and they haven't done much in the playoffs the last few seasons. Should be another interesting series.

It can't be this easy, right?

There is apparently no such thing as a layoff affecting NHL hockey teams in the playoffs. All three squads that swept first round series, won in the first game of round two.

The Boston Bruins had nine days between games but they came out last night in Game 1 vs. the Hurricanes and dominated from start to finish, en route to a 4-1 win at the Garden.

After cruising past Montreal, the B's were facing a team that basically stole Game 7 from the New Jersey Devils. Common sense was that Boston would be rusty and Carolina would be playing well after their dramatic win. Eh, not so much.

Just 1:34 into the game, David Krejci deflected in an Aaron Ward shot. Michael Ryder also assisted.

Basically the only time the Hurricanes showed life Game 1 was at 18:50 of the first period when Jussi Jokinen finished off a rush with Ryan Bayda and Joni Pitkanen assisting.

In the second period, Marc Savard (from Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic) and Ryder (unassisted) gave Boston a commanding 3-1 lead. Savard whipped a shot from the slot past Carolina goalie Cam Ward (20 saves). Ryder's was a spectacular individual play as he stole the puck at the Canes' blueline, skated in and snapped a shot over Ward's glove hand.

Tim Thomas (26 saves) had a relatively quiet night in goal. It was nice to see that the break didn't seem to effect the probable Vezina trophy winner one bit.

In the third, Savard put it away after a nice drop pass from Kessel.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at the Garden. I'm not going to say it's a must win for Carolina since they'll play better at home but you don't want to go down 2-0 to the Bruins right now. They look phenomenal.

Triple OT? Sure. Game 7? Why not?

Before Game 6 had even tipped off last night of the Chicago Bulls vs. the Boston Celtics, many were already saying that this was the best first round playoff series of all-time. All the teams proceeded to do was go to triple overtime at the United Center in the best game of a now epic series.

Chicago won 128-127 and forced a Game 7, winner take-all bloodbath tomorrow night in Boston (where the green beer will be flowing like St. Patrick's Day).

The Bulls as per usual for the last few weeks, refused to go down as they erased a eight-point deficit late in regulation. Boston stubbornly hung around too as Ray Allen (career playoff-high 51 points) went crazy, tying it in the second OT on a ridiculous 3-pointer but not enough of his teammates stayed in the game (three fouled out).

Did anyone outside of Philadelphia, his entourage (I'm assuming he has one) and family know that John Salmons had this much game? He played a game-high 60 (out of 63) possible minutes and scored a team-high 35 points with six boards and four assists. Derrick Rose was also great with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

The biggest individual surprise of the six games has been Brad Miller. The washed up center notched 23 points and 10 rebounds last night. Ben Gordon was held to 12 points before fouling out, Kirk Hinrich added 11 points and seven assists while Joakim Noah went for nine points and 15 rebounds.

Noah also had the play of the game that will be replayed for all eternity (provided the Bulls win tomorrow night). He stole the ball from Paul Pierce at midcourt in the second overtime, dribbled in and threw down a vicious dunk while being fouled. His free throw put Chicago up by three and Pierce was done with his sixth foul. It pains me to admit it but Noah is a very solid NBA player.

The trio that fouled out all played well for the C's: Glen Davis scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Pierce notched 22 points and nine boards. Kendrick Perkins had another double-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.

Rajon Rondo had a terrible scoring night (8 points), but he tied Bob Cousy's team playoff record of 19 assists and threw in nine rebounds.

When Brian Scalabrine (7 points) is your most effective bench player in a playoff game, you're completely fucked. Once again, Chicago's bench outscored Boston by a huge margin: 35-11.

The Celts have a better starting five but if any of them are ineffective or in foul trouble, the Bulls depth really starts to show up as they can make up for bad nights from their stars (Rose, Gordon).

Chicago jumped out to a 37-26 lead after the first quarter but the Celts cut it to two (59-57) at the half. The Bulls took the third quarter (24-19) but the C's did what they had to do in the fourth (25-18).

For the game, Chicago shot 49.5% to Boston's 43.4%. The Celts made two more threes (11-9) and three more free throws (24-21).

At this point, what can you possibly expect in Game 7? All signs point to another classic game in a once-in-a-lifetime series. Hopefully the home-court advantage of the Garden will be just enough for Boston to come out on top.

Orlando beat Philadelphia last night to advance to the second round where they'll face the winner of this series.