BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox left Fenway Park last night for Yankee Stadium with a clear mission:
Polish off the division.
Imagine, before Memorial Day, the Sox, who finished off a 2-of-3 weekend with fierce National League rival Atlanta with a 6-3 demolition yesterday, can drive a stake in the Yankees' heart and the rest of the AL East's meeker links.
Tim Wakefield, Julian Tavarez and Curt Schilling lead the Sox into the Bronx over the next three nights. A sweep and Roger Clemens becomes $19 million sideshow, arriving within weeks with the impact of a rookie reliever from Triple A getting the September call-up.
With or without Clemens, the reeling Yanks stand no chance, chasing the Sox with a cushion that moves to 14 games, projecting a sweep.
Baltimore? Not without quality starting pitching.
Toronto? With Roy Halladay's appendix?
And Tampa? Sorry. Even with Carlos Pena (.307, ninth homer yesterday) scalding the baseball, the Rays are a ways away.
Nope, the Red Sox, now a stunning 30-13, hit Broadway at just the right time, with the Yanks bumbling, having lost seven of the last nine headed into last night's ESPN Sunday nighter with the Mets.
"I'm not surprised the way we're playing baseball," said infielder Alex Cora. "It's been this way from the get-go. This is a great baseball team - not just the big guys, everybody."
Three late May games have never meant so much.
To think, this summer could serve as nothing more than a series of showcases for the most powerful team in baseball. First things first, though.
Boston will need to deal with New York's top three starters - that is three of the Yanks' 11 starting pitchers so far this season. Rookie Tyler Clippard, called up from Columbus, took his turn last night against the Mets.
Mike Mussina opposes Wakefield tonight, with Tavarez tackling Chien-Ming Wang tomorrow and Schilling hooking up with Andy Pettitte in the finale.
"They're going to play much better (than they have been)," added Cora.
The Yankees are counting heavily on their pitching trio.
Wang finally looked like Wang, dealing seven innings of six-hit ball in his last start to beat the White Sox. His ERA is also nearly two full runs lower when pitching at Yankee Stadium.
Polish off the division.
Imagine, before Memorial Day, the Sox, who finished off a 2-of-3 weekend with fierce National League rival Atlanta with a 6-3 demolition yesterday, can drive a stake in the Yankees' heart and the rest of the AL East's meeker links.
Tim Wakefield, Julian Tavarez and Curt Schilling lead the Sox into the Bronx over the next three nights. A sweep and Roger Clemens becomes $19 million sideshow, arriving within weeks with the impact of a rookie reliever from Triple A getting the September call-up.
With or without Clemens, the reeling Yanks stand no chance, chasing the Sox with a cushion that moves to 14 games, projecting a sweep.
Baltimore? Not without quality starting pitching.
Toronto? With Roy Halladay's appendix?
And Tampa? Sorry. Even with Carlos Pena (.307, ninth homer yesterday) scalding the baseball, the Rays are a ways away.
Nope, the Red Sox, now a stunning 30-13, hit Broadway at just the right time, with the Yanks bumbling, having lost seven of the last nine headed into last night's ESPN Sunday nighter with the Mets.
"I'm not surprised the way we're playing baseball," said infielder Alex Cora. "It's been this way from the get-go. This is a great baseball team - not just the big guys, everybody."
Three late May games have never meant so much.
To think, this summer could serve as nothing more than a series of showcases for the most powerful team in baseball. First things first, though.
Boston will need to deal with New York's top three starters - that is three of the Yanks' 11 starting pitchers so far this season. Rookie Tyler Clippard, called up from Columbus, took his turn last night against the Mets.
Mike Mussina opposes Wakefield tonight, with Tavarez tackling Chien-Ming Wang tomorrow and Schilling hooking up with Andy Pettitte in the finale.
"They're going to play much better (than they have been)," added Cora.
The Yankees are counting heavily on their pitching trio.
Wang finally looked like Wang, dealing seven innings of six-hit ball in his last start to beat the White Sox. His ERA is also nearly two full runs lower when pitching at Yankee Stadium.
Pettitte, too, has stepped it up, with little to show for his work. The lefty has thrown seven innings or more in his last three starts, but is 1-2 for the effort.
Mussina's numbers for the year, in five starts, are up like his 5.64 ERA. In 22.1 innings, he's walked five and struck out only 10, allowing 26 hits.
"We don't need to worry about anyone," said David Ortiz yesterday, talking about the upcoming set. "Everybody needs to worry about us. We're playing well right now, just thinking about winning games."
The Yanks will be facing a lineup that is hitting in some strange places.
Manny Ramirez remains mired in his annual April-May doldrums at .245, but the Sox continue to lead the AL in hitting at .277 and rack up runs at an alarming rate of 5.4 per game.
"Pitchers are saving their best for the two of us," said Ortiz of him and Ramirez in the Nos. 3-4 spots of the lineup. "They forget this whole thing is about nine guys, and the rest of these guys are making them pay."
These next three games might be about desperation. The New Yorkers, even though the kids still have a month left in school, are at the ruination point of their summer.
Things could get ugly fast.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox remain loose, smiling and mainly swaggering.
"We've found ways to win and we've been fortunate," said Jason Varitek, nursing the usual postgame icepacks on both knees, his right shoulder and right elbow.
"We're not looking at the standings. We need to play good baseball and win series."
Still, as the Sox touch down in the Big Apple, you get the feeling like they're ready to go for the kill. And for this point in the season, it has to feel pretty sweet to be behind them.
Hector Longo is a sportswriter for Eagle Tribune Publishing. E-mail him at hlongo@eagletribune.com.
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