Blue Jays Exact Revenge, Win 11-0

Well, not much to say about that one. Jon Lester, who has become Mr. Reliable in 2008, hit a speed bump on his way to proving he is worthy of Cy Young consideration this season. Lester just couldn't get out of his own way yesterday, and the Jays took advantage. Chris Smith (whose name, when said quickly, makes one think of happy times exchanging gifts in front of a crackling fire, eating candy canes, and listening to seasonal songs) took over for Lester in the 3rd inning, and pitched barely well enough stay in the game himself. Between the two, they allowed 11 runs in the first 6 innings.

Mike Timlin, Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen got in an inning of work each, but their three innings of scoreless work, which would have been praised to the highest mountains in a close scoring game, will vanish in history as if they never happened.

Why? Because the number one rated pitching staff in the AL (yes, the Blue Jay's staff), shut down the Red Sox lineup (who must have missed having Mike Lowell and JD Drew in there yesterday). The Red Sox managed only four hits on the day, and only threatened once or twice to score even a single run.

That's what you get when you play a team that has your number, on the road, with less than a full lineup. Meanwhile, the Rays won (yet again) to extend their lead in the AL East to 5 1/2 games and the Yankees (surprisingly) won to creep a game closer. The Yankees are still 10 1/2 games behind the Rays, but now only 5 games behind the Sox for the Wild Card. With 3 games coming up against the Yankees, they certainly have a chance to catch up quickly with a sweep. Luckily, the White Sox lost yesterday, so they remain 1/2 game behind in the Wild Card race.

Tough pitching match up today with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing off against AJ Burnett. A win is not imperative, but sure would be well timed.

Meanwhile, the Sox have Monday off before facing off against the Yankees on Tuesday. So, tune in Tuesday when I'll re-examine my analysis of the Yankees that I published earlier in the season. Let's see how well the analysis stood up through this point in the season.