Yankees 19 - Red Sox 8

Somehow, amidst all the rain and speculation, last night's game was fit in, and all 9 innings, too. The game itself wasn't pretty, with David Pauley, David Aardsma, Mike Timlin, Chris Smith, and Devern Hansack combining to allow 19 runs on 20 hits and 5 walks. But Ellsbury went 4-5 with a double and a homer and Youkilis hit his 29th homerun of the year, knocking in his 115th RBI in his chase for the MVP award (which is now wide open in the AL with Quentin getting hurt).

Due to the weather Ortiz was scratched from his 1B start and Lowell had one AB before bowing out of the lineup. And although the loss forced the Sox into the Wild Card (the Rays lost to the Tigers), there was no reason to take a chance on the health of players who have been hurt this year. Drew was held out of the lineup, too, and Dice-K's start has been moved to this afternoon. Once again, rain threatens to cancel the game, but with no rain having fallen yet, I expect to see some baseball today.

Pitching Matchup: Daisuke "9 walks, 9 strikeouts" Matsuzaka vs. Sidney "How the hell do I keep getting work?" Ponson*

*Sidney Ponson has a career 90-106 record with a 4.96 ERA. No one on the Vendorball staff has any clue to how he keeps on finding a team to pay him money to pitch.



Update written by Kyle Baxter: International Man of Myserious Habits