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Baseball today: Friday, August 31

REALITY CHECK: They still have the best record in baseball, and the only lead bigger than theirs is the Angels' in the A.L. West. (And even at that, their edge is 5 and LA of A's is 5 1/2.) But things never feel rosy in Red Sox Nation after being swept by the Yankees, especially a sweep in which they managed only 13 hits and 3 runs in three games. It was all capped by a putrid offensive showing in a 5-0 loss yesterday. Sean McAdam thinks it's too early to tell if these were ''merely demoralizing losses. . . [or if] the division title has been put back in play.'' Fact is, the division title is the Sox' to lose; their remaining schedule is such that if they simply go out and take care of business it would take an unprecedented hot streak by the Yankees for them to be overtaken. But the New York Post's George King sums it up pretty well when he writes: ''The $200 million elephant dressed in Yankees pinstripes is in the room and the Red Sox can’t ignore it. The Yankees might not catch them, but the Red Sox know their blood rivals can beat them.'' The Sox get three chances -- Sept. 14, 15 and 16 at Fenway Park -- to prove the opposite.

Dustin Pedroia and hitting coach Dave Magadan watch the final inning of the Sox' final loss in New York from the top step of the dugout. AP Photo

HERE WE GO AGAIN: But, as the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy writes, it's never just baseball with these two teams. As an example may we present Joba Chamberlain getting ejected after throwing a pair of pitches over the head of Kevin Youkilis in the ninth inning. (projo.com) The Yankees, as expected, were righteously indignant, saying there was no logical reason why Chamberlain would be throwing at Youkilis and that the rookie was just nervous. (New York Daily News) The Daily News' John Harper agrees, saying the Red Sox are ''crazy'' if they think the pitches were intentional. In the Post, Mike Vaccaro says Chamberlain was an innocent victim of this rivalry's heated past. But the Red Sox, says the Boston Herald, aren't buying it. And the Globe's Nick Cafardo thinks Chamberlain ''knowingly or not, seemed to kick the Red Sox when they were down . . . [And] there will be reverberations that will spill over to the next series Sept. 14-16 at Fenway.''

I WONDER . . . Peter Abraham is one of the few New York media members not willing to parrot the Yankee party line on the incident. On the LoHud Yankees Blog he writes, ''I am not accusing Chamberlain of anything. But there’s plenty of evidence that suggests this may not have been an accident. Pitchers have been trying to make hitters think for 100 years.'' He also notes that Chamberlain lockers next to Roger Clemens and ''Roger is as old school as it gets in baseball. I have no idea if Roger told him to dust Youkilis. But would I bet my house against it? Would you?''

AMEN: Abraham concludes: ''This is why Yanks-Sox is what it is and the rest of baseball [can] only envy the passion. There is nothing like it in the sport.''

THE REAL NEWS: What the Yankees actually did over these last three days was take control of the wild-card race, writes Bill Madden of the Daily News.

SILENT TYPE: Even though we're at a point in the season when people would be very interested in what he has to say -- like about yesterday's start in New York -- Curt Schilling has pretty much stopped posting to his Web site. (He's only made three entries in August.) He's still talking to the mainstream media, though, and the Herald's Steve Buckley reports Schilling was disappointed in his performance, even though he only allowed two runs in six innings.

WHIPPING BOY: Not a day goes by without somebody, somewhere, trashing the disappointing, underachieving J.D. Drew. Today it's the Herald's Tony Massarotti.

SEE YOU SOON: Royce Clayton has joined the PawSox in anticipation of a September callup to Boston and is looking forward to joining the Red Sox. (projo.com)

MANNY'S REPLACEMENT . . . while he's recuperating from a strained oblique muscle may be Jacoby Ellsbury. He's played left field for the PawSox for the last couple of games -- concidence? -- and last night saved the team's 3-2 win over Buffalo with a diving catch in left-center field, after which he got up and threw out a runner at second base for the final out. (projo.com)

BREAKING THE RULES: The Yankees have decided to amend the Joba Rules and won't be quite as strict about his usage patterns. (New York Daily News)

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED: The Post's Joel Sherman says the Yankees are paying the dividends of the 180-degree shift in organizational philosophy instituted by Brian Cashman in 2005.

SO WILL EXPERIENCE: FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry lists 36-year-old Jorge Posada on his All-Underrated Team.

HE SPEAKS! Mike Mussina ended his two-day media boycott and discussed being lifted from the Yankee rotation. (New York Daily News) He said the move caught him ''off-guard'' and that he needed a little time to ''simmer down'' before talking publicly.

THE GODS ARE WITH US: The New York Times reports that the squirrel that was climbing the right-field foul pole at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night may be, according to Norse mythology, a bad sign for the Yankees.

TO THE RESCUE: The Orioles come to town tonight and, as the Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck details, there may not be a team performing as badly as Baltimore is right now.

WHY THE YANKEES ARE THE SECOND STORY IN NEW YORK: The Mets are imploding with a suddenness that defies rational belief. The Philadelphia Daily News' Paul Hagen says logic dictates the Phillies can't catch the Mets, but then asks ''[are] you going to believe what history and common sense and cold, hard logic tell you? Or are you going to believe your eyes?'' Eyes were popping all over Philly yesterday as the Phils scored three runs off Billy Wagner in the eighth and ninth innings and completed a four-game sweep, cutting New York's N.L. East lead to two. (Philadelphia Daily News) Rhode Island's Jim Salisbury, the Inquirer's main baseball writer, asks ''Do you believe yet?'', and adds that the Phillies do. As for the Mets, David Wright says they have to turn the page quickly . . . or else. (New York Daily News) The Post's Jay Greenberg, though, thinks there's plenty of time to right the ship.

THE RACES -- A.L. CENTRAL: The Tigers won yesterday and Jim Leyland thinks there's plenty of time for his team to climb out of the hole its in. (Detroit News) But they didn't gain any ground on the Indians, who scored in the bottom of the ninth to beat the reeling Mariners. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

I'M WITH YOU: Seattle has lost six straight and is plummeting in both the A.L. West and wild-card races. But their former manager, Mike Hargrove -- who lives in Cleveland and spent years with the Indians as a player and manager -- says he feels ''more a Mariner'' than he does an Indian and still follows the team closely despite his abrupt resignation two months ago. (Both stories Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

THE RACES -- N.L. CENTRAL: The Cubs beat the Brewers (Chicago Tribune) and the Astros beat the Cardinals (Houston Chronicle).

WISH LIST: SI.com's John Donovan examines what each contender needs to have happen down the stretch. For the Red Sox, it's that J.D. Drew and Kevin Youkilis start hitting.

OZZIE BEING OZZIE: Ozzie Guillen launched into quite the tirade against his players after they lost Wednesday night. (Chicago Sun-Times)

LOCAL BOYS: The blog The Good Phight gives a little love to Davey Lopes.

QUICKLY: Esteban Loiaza is shocked to be leaving the A's (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . Oakland's Rich Harden says he's came back too soon from his arm woes and is going to be more cautious this time around (San Jose Mercury News) . . . Vernon Wells may need shoulder surgery (Toronto Globe and Mail) . . . The Tigers are mulling whether or not to bring back the declining Ivan Rodriguez (Detroit News) . . . The Rangers are happy with manager Ron Washington, and they proved it by picking up his 2009 contract option (Dallas Morning News).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:52 AM | Permalink