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s*** like this is why Red Sox fans hate Yankees fans. When you've got nothing useful to say, you bring up the fact that the Yankees have won 26 world championships, or just say "1918." Please never post that crap on this board again. It's petty, stupid, and nobody needs to hear it. We understand that historically your team has had more success than ours, but this post just makes you sound like every other ignorant Yankee fan.

Game 7 will depend on game 6: 1. The Red Sox need to win game 6 to even get there. 2. Curt Schilling may throw 6 innings, he may throw 1. This will have a huge impact on any potential game 7 situation. The Red Sox obviously would love not to have to use Wake again, or Arroyo, and have them + Lowe available (on short rest for short work) in that spot. But Terry Francona and company HAVE to do do whatever is necessary to win game 6. Even if that means throwing EVERYONE. I think a dark horse in all this might be Ramiro Mendoza. He's pitched just 2 innings in this series, so between all pitchers on both teams, he's got the freshest arm. Terry doesn't seem to have a lot of faith in him, but he may need to give this team some innings before it's all said and done. The Red Sox need 6 or 7 innings from Schilling. If they can get that, depending on the score, the Sox can piece together the last few innings. Ideal scenario: Schilling/Leskanic/Mendoza/Myers can get the Red Sox to game 7, where they can start Wake, and have Foulke/Timlin/Embree/Arroyo ready for action. Let's face it, at this point, I'd take any scenario that gets us to game 7.

Hey sarasoxfan, let's try not to insult other posters? I know it's difficult sometimes, but it doesn't do anyone any good. I disagree that the Yankee bullpen is in BETTER shape than the Red Sox 'pen. All year long, the Yankees had 3 good relievers: Gordon, Quantrill, and Rivera. Rivera's still very very good, but Quantrill and Gordon have been shaky at best in this series. As a result, Torre's been forced to go to Rivera more than he'd like, and Rivera's been worked hard. He's thrown in 4 of the 5 games so far. As a Red Sox fan, the only reliever I don't look forward to seeing is Rivera, and even he hasn't dominated the Red Sox this season. Even in the games he DID save, the Red Sox had the tying run come to the plate. The Red Sox are hurting too, but they've outperformed the Yankee bullpen in both of the last two games. The Red Sox have an advantage over New York when it comes to overworked bullpens, because guys like Keith Foulke and Tim Wakefield don't tax their arms as much because they aren't power pitchers. Guys like Tom Gordon who throw 95MPH (and frankly, NEED to throw 95MPH) don't recover as quickly. I'm not saying the Red Sox bullpen is in great shape, because it's not. BUT I wouldn't be so quick to say the Yankee bullpen is better off.

wow. Talk about gut-wrenching, hard fought games... game 4 was only topped by game 5. I love how this team refuses to give up. I love how these guys play GOOD solid baseball. I love how they've made a series out of this one. Beaneater... you're getting ahead of yourself. Let's focus on being happy about game 5, and worrying about game 6. IF we can pull off a win in game 6, then let's talk about a game 7 senario. Someone else has said this already, but I'll repeat it. We're in the same situation we were in last year: headed to NY down 3-2. How we got there is DRAMATICALLY different, but that makes no difference in game 6. This team has made a very good effort to come back, but it's a long road ahead.

What do you expect from Gary Sheffield? He's an incredible hitter, I'll give him that, but he's always been an *******. He's always been that kind of guy to open his mouth when it wasn't wanted or necessary, and this is no different. He trash talks before every Yankee/Red Sox series. That's his personality. I really hope this helps motivate our beloved Red Sox to a dramatic series win.

2 things: What do you call Jeter's 3 run double against Pedro? That was the very definition of CLUTCH. Granted, he failed in a few other opportunities, but let's not go so far as to say the Yankees aren't clutch. The Red Sox and Yankees played 2 INCREDIBLE games, and thankfully the Red Sox came out on top. BUT let's not forget who still leads this series. With all do respect to the Red Sox team, they DID NOT come back on Rivera last night. He came in with a runner on third, and the Red Sox got a sac fly (just a harmless out if he'd come in with nobody on) to tie that game. They did their damage against Tom Gordon, who's been up and down this post-season (more down than up). David Ortiz has been beyond words for the Red Sox for the last 2 nights, but all it takes is an 0-4 night from him and the Sox could be in trouble. Nobody else on this team has been hitting well in key situations with consistency. Do I believe the Red Sox are capable of making history, and coming back and winning this series? OF COURSE. I believed it when we were down 0-2, and 0-3. Do I believe the Yankees are going to lay down and let us take it? HELL NO. I expect a hard-fought battle back in New York, and they will have the distinct advantage of playing in Yankee Stadium behind rabid, supportive fans. Also, as we Red Sox fans have realized the past two nights-- They get the last at bat, the value of which CAN NOT BE UNDERSTATED. I urge Red Sox fans to take the last two wins for what they were: Incredible baseball games with good outcomes, but not to get overconfident. We still need to win 2 games in Yankee Stadium against a very good Yankee team.

Guys, Calm down. The only thing the Red Sox have done so far is make a series out of this thing. WE HAVE NOT DEFEATED THE YANKEES in this series. It's a long way from being over, but Lieber dominated us last time out and WHO KNOWS what we'll get from Schilling. The Yankees STILL have guys that terrify me in the clutch situations: Matsui, Jeter, Williams, Posada to a smaller extent. The Yankees STILL have one of the best offensive teams in baseball. The Yankees still have Javier Vazquez and Kevin Brown just waiting to prove they can succeed in the bright lights of New York. The Red Sox have a leadoff hitter who's lost at the plate, a tired bullpen and rotation, and a manager who tries very hard, but sometimes looks completely lost oblivious. OK, there's all the negative stuff out of the way. The Red Sox HAVE played 2 incredible games, played their hearts out, and made this series a series. I said after we went down 2-0 that this team is too good to be swept, and I still believe that we are the better team, but winning 2 games at Yankee Stadium against this team will be VERY difficult. Possible: Hell yes. Easy: No way. I still believe that this series needs to be played one game at a time, and that's what these guys will do tonight. It's still a "win or go home" senario. We as Sox fans have got to believe Curt Schilling can find a way to work 6 or 7 good innings tonight, and the offense to give him some support. Let's go Sox!

Well, I think it's a distinct possibility this could end tonight, but I also think there's a chance this could go 7. It all depends on Schilling. Jon Lieber has proven that he can be effective in the playoffs. He pitched well against Minnesota, he pitched BETTER against the Red Sox. Schilling has GOT to match him inning for inning. A lot will depend on how much he's limited by his ankle. You fully expect the Yankees hitters to make him work. Schilling is a warrior, so I'm putting some emphasis on Terry Francona, too. If Curt is ineffective, even if he still THINKS he can do it, Terry's got to yank him. YES, the bullpen is tired. YES, Curt's the best pitcher he's got... but if he's throwing like he threw in game 1... we're better off with someone else. This has been a good series so far. I'm excited that the Red Sox have battled back to at least make a series out of it.

It's half an hour to game time... has everyone already given up? TODAY'S LINEUPS NYY D. Jeter, SS A. Rodriguez, 3B G. Sheffield, RF H. Matsui, LF B. Williams, CF J. Posada, C R. Sierra, DH T. Clark, 1B M. Cairo, 2B BOS J. Damon, CF O. Cabrera, SS M. Ramirez, LF D. Ortiz, DH K. Millar, 1B T. Nixon, RF J. Varitek, C B. Mueller, 3B M. Bellhorn, 2B Not much changed. I like Cabrera batting second. Let's go Sox!

me either. I tried not to get too pissed off after game 1, then again in games 2 and 3. Same with after last night. Not going to be too excited until it happens. It's a long road, and this team has to take it 1 game at a time.

The Yankees bullpen is just as beat up. I wouldn't be so confident about their bullpen. The top 3 Yankee relievers all pitched last night (yes, the top Red Sox pitchers did too). Both bullpens will be tired. It's the hitters job to tire the starters....

Both bullpens are tired right now. The key to this game may be how deep the starters are able to go. If Pedro gets knocked out early.... who pitches for Boston? Same deal with New York.... We NEED Pedro to be dominant. We need to work the count against Mussina. This CAN be done. It won't be easy.

As I've said: This series needs to be taken one game at a time. We need Johnny Damon to start hitting NOW. We need Pedro to pitch the game of his life. We need Francona to pull him in time. We need the bullpen to hold it. One game at a time. Pedro vs Mussina. It should be a great game regardless of who wins. Yankee hitters to watch (stats against Martinez): Gary Sheffield has hit .281 with 3 HR. Kenny Lofton has hit .317 Posada hits just .193 against Pedro, but with 4 HR and 10 RBI. Red Sox hitters to watch (stats against Mussina): This doesn't look good. Manny Ramirez has 5 homers, but hits just .203 Kevin Millar has a .348 career average. Everyone else struggles. Pedro seems to get Hideki Matsui out every time EXCEPT in crucial situations, this may be a key to tonight's game. Martinez is coming off an good outing when he battled hard through 6 innings and pitched well enough to win. Walks got him in trouble early and often. He walked 4 over 6 innings, 2 of which scored. A note to Terry Francona: Pedro's not QUITE as effective after 100 pitches. The Yankees have always had success against Martinez because they've been able to work deep counts, and make him work. They know that gives them the best chance. Pedro's got to keep his pitch count down and work deep into this game. C'mon Petey and company... let's make history-- One day at a time.

Well, It's possible that Mark Bellhorn has been overmatched because he only faces good pitching. Mark hit .254 against the Yankees over the regular season with 19 strikeouts in 59 ABs. So, considering he's was .264 hitter in 2004, he didn't play THAT much worse against the Yankees than any other club. In fact, he's 3 for 9 in his career against Mussina with 3 Ks, 4 BBs, and a homer... so I expect him in the lineup (that doesn't mean I agree with it). My guess with Bellhorn is that he's simply going through a slump right now. He's not this bad a hitter. So the dilema is: Do you let him hit ninth and hope he'll break out? Do you replace him with Pokey Reese, who's got better defense, but very little offensive production? It's a tough choice. If you take a look at Pokey Reese, he's struggled against Lieber, Kevin Brown, AND is 0-2 against Mussina. I'd venture to say a struggling Bellhorn is better OFFENSIVELY than Pokey Reese right now, and the lineup certainly isn't producing right now to the point where you can make that sacrifice. Bellhorn's struggled with 8Ks in 14 ABs, and has a .071 average. But is he the only person to blame? I think not. Johnny Damon has hit .056 with 5 Ks and just 1 BB.... and this is our LEADOFF HITTER! Both of these guys have sucked thus far in the series. It's not too late to turn it around for these two, and frankly... they are the Sox' best options. I love the idea of Cabrera hitting #2 behind Damon... I hope Bellhorn hits 9th again.

This team's got to be riding high after beating Rivera in the 9th. As frustrated as we've been with this team, it's an accomplishment to do that. Rivera's the best closer in the game, but for some reason struggles against the Sox. He even made games 1 and 2 interesting.... Derek Lowe really came through for this team. Without his pitching performance the Red Sox wouldn't be playing. Cabrera and Ortiz had clutch hits in this one. Let's face it, today's game is what we EXPECT to see when these two teams face off. Close game, back and forth, stressful senarios.... On to game 5 we go. Here's where we find out what our guys are made of, because every game is a must win. If they choke, it wasn't meant to be. If they triumph..... they'll be heroes.

sarasoxfan is right. One game at a time. If you flipped a coin 4 times, it is NOT likely that all 4 times will be heads... however, one thing that needs to be said is that EACH time you flip that coin, it has a 50/50 chance of being heads. Why do I say this? Because these teams are VERY close in talent, we've been having some bad luck of late, and to predict a winner is almost like a coin flip. Instead of looking at the dauting task of winning 4 games in a row (3 now), let's look at each game individually. Regardless of yesterday or tomorrow, you look at the chances of the team winning TODAY. That's the only thing that should be discussed at this point. Tonight: Pedro vs Mussina. Like always, we've got to expect Pedro to keep us in this game long enough to get some runs. Beating Rivera has GOT to give these guys some confidence and momentum. They've beaten him 3 times this year. The Sox beat Mussina twice last year in the ALCS, so it's possible. The Sox need a good effort from Pedro. I like our chances in game #5.

We have to keep in mind that the Yankees have only got good relief pitching from 1 pitcher: Mariano Rivera. Tom Gordon has been shaky as hell, and Sturtze didn't exactly hold us down either. The Yankees beat up on Schilling (an injured Schilling) and the Sox got into a defecit they couldn't overcome. Leiber outpitched Pedro. Tip your hat to him, but I'd take a Pedro/Lieber matchup anyday. Kevin Brown is an awesome pitcher who's been terribly inconsistant for NY this year, not to mention his bad attitude. Arroyo's been VERY good for Boston down the stretch. With a win tonight, we can be in the same spot we were a year ago: In a 2-1 deficit after game 3.... and that series went 7 games. The series didn't start how we (Sox fans) wanted it to... but there's still a chance, the Red Sox just need to turn it around tonight.

Sorry I'm behind on everything... but I like to throw in my $.02 It's official: Derek Lowe is the game 5 starter (if there is one). And let's face it. I'd rather have a healthy Derek Lowe than a hurt Schilling. The ankle is definately hurting his performance. The doctors say he's not going to make it worse by playing (now), but it's pretty bad. Yes, Lowe has struggled this season and got beat twice by the MFY in last year's ALCS... but pitching Schill while he's hurt is not good for this team.

Don't be talking crap like this. It's not over till it's over. I think Yeszir should ban the next person who tries to bring up all that curse crap. It's not over till it's over

Last week my boss (a Sox fan) told me he wanted the MFY because he wanted soooo badly to beat them. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he wanted revenge. I think all Sox fans (in their hearts) wanted the MFY to win so they could beat them. I think most Sox fans who don't think with their hearts wanted the Twins to win because they simply aren't as strong a team. I was one of those people. I wasn't on a computer to post that I was secretly cheering for Minnesota, but I was. I'm not proud enough to belittle an AL pennant because it didn't go through the Bronx. I'm a Red Sox fan for crying out loud, I'll take what I can get!

I think these teams have got the fighting out of their systems. Arroyo has faced the MFY since that day and nothing has happened. I think these guys realize that pitching inside is part of the game and they'll deal with it. Pedro Martinez hit A-Rod in Wednesday's game and nothing happened (except he trotted down to first like a good boy). I sincerely hope there's no fighting in this game. Personally, I think it's rediculous and immature.

Hey all, I'm back from vacation, and what can I say? The first 2 games sucked, Schilling may not pitch again, and there's a lot of things working against the Red Sox tonight. Here's the bright side of things: 1. We're coming back to Fenway. This team plays MUCH MUCH better at home, and needs to do so tonight. 2. Bronson has pitched well against the Yankees, and he's pitched well in the playoffs. 3. Bronson's good at controlling the running game (one thing that hurt us in game 2) 4. This team has bounced back from losses before, why can't they do it again? 5. This team beat up on Kevin Brown in his last outing. 6. Mariano Rivera has gotten the job done, but he hasn't dominated. Tom Gordon has looked VERY hittable in the playoffs. All we need is a few lucky bounces, and we're in business. Joe Torre has shown that he doesn't have a lot of confidence in the Yankee bullpen (other than Rivera). Boston has got to get Kevin Brown out early. Work the counts, get some hits, do whatever it takes! The Yankee bullpen is vulnerable! Things look bad, and I have to admit I was too pissed off to even post here yesterday. But keep this in mind: Giving up when things look bad is what Yankee fans do. I still believe we have a better team (even though we haven't played like it) I end this post with one of the most famous quotes from a very popular baseball icon, and one that Red Sox fans know all too well.: "It's not over till it's over." Yogi Berra

It's GO time. Anyway, this is my last post until next Thursday. Hopefully the Red Sox will still be alive!

The Cardinals are dangerous, and so are the Astros. I'd be surprised if these two teams don't face each other in the NLCS. I think you've got to give Houston a fighting chance, because they do have 2 very good starters in Oswalt and Clemens. However, their bullpen is weak. Lidge has been a reliable reliever, but who's going to get him the ball with a lead? Also, this team has been desimated by the loss of both Wade Miller and Andy Pettite. This is a much less dangerous rotation without them. No offense to Brandon Backe, but he's not exactly the guy Houston dreamed of being their #3 starter in a VERY important game back in April. I have a TON of respect for Craig Biggio, he's one of those guys who really plays the game the right way. But his struggles in the playoffs have been HISTORIC. He's going to need to kick it up a notch if Houston wants to go deep into October. St. Louis' rotation isn't a whole lot better, when you look at guys like Jeff Suppan, Matt Morris, and Jason Marquis determining your fate... But this team has proven that it can slug its way to victory. In a potential Astros-Cardinals 7 game series, Houston's got a shot to win whenever Oswalt or Clemens pitch. Considering that it's unlikely that they'll win EVERY time those two pitch, they'll need either Backe or Pete Munro to step up and be this team's #3. The Astros can ride Clemens/Oswalt to the World Series (in fact, I predicted that earlier in this very thread I believe) but they'll need some help from guys like Biggio, Bagwell, Kent, etc. I'm still predicting Houston over Atlanta, St. Louis over Los Angeles, Yankees over Twins, Red Sox over Angels... nothing's changed there. I'm starting to have doubts about Houston over St. Louis though...

IF the Sox lose today, it would be Wake tomorrow. If they lose tomorrow, it would be Schill on Sunday. Let's hope it doesn't get that far.