Its the Pitching, Stupid.

Timmy-Timmy Wakefield had it going on tonight. The Sox got it done the old fashion way, with good pitching, beating Minnesota 2-0. Big Papi went deep for his 8th of the year, and JD Drew added a triple in the ninth, and scored on Coco's single. Other than that, it was all Timmy-Timmy all the time.

Tonight marks the second game this season that I didn't get to see even one pitch of. A friend of mine was out at a birthday/graduation party, so, you know, obligations and all. It was fun, and it was even more fun to give the guy at the bar in the Mariano Rivera shirt some crap when I found out that his Yankees lost 15-11. (15?!?)

Its becoming pretty clear what the Yankees achilles heal is this season, and oddly enough it lines up directly with the strength of the Red Sox. The Red Sox can always go out and get a bat at the trade deadline if they need it (though I'm not sure they do), but good luck getting a top of the line pitcher at the deadline or anytime before.

The only guy who might be available is Clemens and do you think he's going to want to play for the Yankees (12-15, last place), the Astros (12-16 0.5 games out of last place), or the Red Sox (19-9, first place)? I know, I know, its early in the season, but its not early for Roger. Its May 5th. If he's going to pitch this season before mid-June he's going to have to make a decision in the next few weeks. Even if Clemens signs with New York, its not like he'll be pitching every day. They have more holes than he can fill... that sounded much dirtier than I intended it to. Anyway... thats a topic for another time.

Tonight, the Red Sox played a good team on the road, only scored two runs, and won anyway. That and a Yankees loss makes it a good night. Maybe one of the best.

AL East: The Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays lost while Baltimore, through some cosmic accident, won. Somewhat conveniently, the Red Sox now lead every team in the division by 6.5 games. With the win, Boston goes to 19-9, the best record in baseball. They have won three games in a row.

Today (Saturday): The Red Sox play game 2 of their 3 game set in Minnesota. Two-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana goes for the Twins, while the Red Sox counter with... *gulp*... His Craziness, Julian Tavarez. The carnage begins at 8pm EST.