Red Sox / Yankees Game 2

Whew - that was a tough one.

It was a tough one to lose. The Yankees hurt Clement mostly due to a Edgar Reneria error in the third (Nomar, Omar or Pokey would have had it - just kidding). The Sox out hit the Yankees but couldn't plate any runners. By the way - I knew that Varitek was going to go yard on Mariano Rivera in the 9th (no I don't have any witnesses).

It would have been a tough one for the Yankees to lose too. Carl Pavano looked very sharp. So did Gordon but something about the Sox takes the cape off the Superman closer Rivera.

As far as hitting is concerned - I have two observations:

1. What's up with Manny? He's looked awful so far. I'm sure he'll bounce back in a big way but right now he's killing my fantasy baseball team.

2. What's up with Jason Giambi? Has Giambi decided that his penance for using steroids is to get hit with as many baseballs as possible this year? That's three HBP in 2 games.

I think Giambi is intentionally not getting out of the way of those high and inside pitches. In the book Moneyball there was a chapter called Giambi's Hole (which come to think of it would be a good name for a gay bar in New York). That chapter spoke about how the best place to pitch Giambi was high and inside. Maybe Giambi has decided to take away that hole by simply not getting out of the way of the pitch. As they used to say when I was in Little League - a hit by pitch is just as good as a walk.

Giambi struck out twice and left 4 men on base today. The Yankee fans have tried being supportive but how long is that going to last if Jason Giambi continues to hit like Jeremy Giambi?

The Red Sox officially now have the worst record in baseball (at least for a few hours). Fiddle-de-dee - tomorrow is another day.