Starting Pitcher Wanted- Experienced Preferred

Take a way the 2-hour rain delay, and last night's game between the Yankees and Red Sox wasn't much different from the last time Mike Mussina squared off against Josh Beckett. Though this time Mussina was worse, only lasting 3 innings. But Manny Ramirez did the big damage to him and the Yankees again, hitting a pair of home runs by the time the 3rd inning was over.

But the final score of Red Sox 7 Yankees 5 didn't indicate just how far apart the two teams were in this game. The Red Sox have their own question marks about their pitching staff, but they have no questions about their ace. Josh Beckett gives the Red Sox something the Yankees don't have, a dominant ace. The Wanger is a very good pitcher, but he can't go out there and blow fastballs by people. On a night when you don't have your best stuff you can still win with a dominant fastball.

It also helps when you have a man possessed. Ramirez worked out hard in the off-season and has stated he wants to play six more year...in Boston. That's quite a reversal of the nonsense that has gone in years past. With David Ortiz hitting just .111, Man-Ram is carrying the team.

Ramirez blasted a Mussina offering to deep center for a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. Moose hit Jacoby Ellsbury with one out in the 3rd, and the Red Sox rookie promptly stole 2nd and moved to 3rd base on Chad Moeller's errant throw. Dustin Pedroia singled Ellsbury home for a 2-0 lead with the big guns coming up. But Ortiz is still a pop gun right and bounced into a force out. That brought up Ramirez with a man on 1st and two out.

Mussina shouldn't have even been throwing anything near the strike zone if he didn't want to internationally walk, ala Barry Bonds, to move a man into scoring position. But instead, the once dominant pitcher threw one right into Ramirez's wheelhouse, and Manny being Manny, he slugged it out of the park for his 495th career home run and 4-0 Red Sox lead. The Sox weren't done in the inning, however, as Kevin Youkilis, J.D. Drew, and Jason Varitek stroked consecutive singles for another run. Sean Casey finally flied out to end the inning and Mussina's misery.

Beckett, meanwhile, was dominant. He cruised through the first three innings, allowing a single base runner. In the 4th, the Yankees put two aboard on singles by Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez, but Beckett blew a strike three fastball past Jason Giambi and caught Jorge Posada looking at a called third strike.

The Sox seemingly put the game out of reach with a couple of runs off of Jon Albaladejo in the 5th before the Yankees bats finally got back into the game in the 5th. Derek Jeter singled home a pair of two-out runs and Abreu followed with an RBI double. But Rodriguez, just 1-15 with runners in scoring position this year, fouled out to Varitek to end the the threat.

Jon Papelbon allowed 2 runs in the 9th in a non-save situation, including a solo home run by Melky Cabrera.

News and Notes

Joe Girardi is already considering splitting Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy in the rotation so as not to tax the bullpen, but Mike Mussina is not helping him out. Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte are going to have off nights such as Wang did on Wednesday, but when neither your number 3, 4, or 5 guys can guarantee innings, you're in trouble.

Manny Ramirez is 10-19 (.526) against the Yankees this season with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in 5 games. The only game he hasn't done damage in was Chien-Ming Wang's masterpiece on April 11. Ramirez had reason to be motivated this off-season. He's, in effect, in a contract year. The Sox have two $20-million options on him, which they will not take. A more like scenario is a long term deal for a bunch of cash.

Harlan Chamberlain continues to improve and there is still no timetable for Joba Chamberlain's return. If God forbid you have ever been in this situation, and we have, you know you would much rather be with your family than at your job, no matter how exciting it may be.

Kyle Farnsworth finally heard some cheers from the Yankee Stadium crowd, but not for retiring any batters. He threw an upper 90s fastball behind Ramirez. We love buzzing a guy up and in, but throwing behind someone's back, even unintentionally, is just an asinine act. All it did was set up a future situation where A-Rod or Jeter or whomever, will get drilled.

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