Five Swings: Still Your Daddy

The Red Sox swept the Angels, but return to the Real World with the Yankees making their second trip into the Hub.

1. Overconfidence? The Red Sox cracked the .500 mark yesterday, and fell back into the crack today, with the Yankees taking the locals to the woodshed. Josh Beckett rolled along, with five strikeouts in the first couple of innings, but then Nick Swisher took a hanger into the camera well, and the Sox could never get it going.

2. When the going gets tough. Last year the Sox beat up on the weak sisters en route to the playoffs. But against the good teams, they struggled. It's looking like deja vu all over again, as first the Rays and now the boys from the Big Apple made mincemeat of the Bostons.

3. Better dead than red? Are they selling a lot of red jerseys with the Friday night Red Sox red softball jerseys? I hope so, because it was Friday night lightweights tonight. Phil Hughes with his strong start now looks like the real deal, while the Yankees sent impostor Ian Kennedy out of town after the stuff didn't match the hype. Superstitious? No. But what's the Friday night alternate jersey record.

4. Illsbury? Jacoby Ellsbury's working on 26 days of inaction as he heals from multiple rib fractures.  Although criticizing him seems 'easy', do Sox fans want him to return and re-injure himself because he came back prematurely? Rib fractures are extremely painful and outfielders get the 'chance' to dive, run into walls, and of course swing the bat.

5. "Rest" of the story. Trying to come up with a positive, I'll note that the Sox didn't exhaust the bullpen. Josh Beckett's ERA soared to 7.46, but Tim Wakefield got some work with three good innings. David Ortiz had a pair of RBI, and the much-maligned J.D. Drew sees his OPS now at .845.

As for the 'rest' of the Boston sports scene, the Celtics got slaughtered by the Cavs to go 1-2, and the Flyers sent the Bruins to a fifth game with an overtime win as the B's lead the Philadelphias 3-1.