Silver lining II (real rainclouds)

The rainout tonight was a good break for the Yankees, for a couple of reasons. In addition to the home field advantage (which is lessened in a day/night doubleheader), the Sox had a pitching advantage the way the rotations had shaken out. In Game one, their number three went against the Yanks number four. Admittedly the Yanks should have won anyway, but they didn't , and tonight their number 2 against our number 3 would have presented a greater challenge. All the more so since Sheffield probably would still have been sitting and Torre would have probably felt compelled to play Bernie. Of course they'll have Crisp back next time, but I like the trade-off. Sheffield's average against Boston is 395 and he regularly goes over the green monstrousity. Finally, the extra day off means that Torre can, and should, go directly from Chacon to Johnson and Mussina. Do not pitch Wright; do not go to jail. Of course the Sox will be able to skip Denardo, but they've been overpitching Shilling (133 pitches on game) so they probably won't.

Oh and one more thing, maybe by the time the rescheduled game is played in August, Johnny Dreamboat will have figured out that Boston is the the opposition now and he's supposed to try and beat them. He certainly wasn't playing that way last night, when he seemed far more concerned with preening for the crowd than displaying his legendary hustle.

Meanwhile the AL Central now has three teams you would have to favor over the Yanks or the Sox in a playoff series--Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago. Add in the Angels, whom the Yanks can't ever seem to beat, and the A's whom neither the Sox nor the Yanks fare well against, and the rivalry seems to be a pretty intramural affair this year.