Red Sox / Yankees

Last night the Red Sox spanked the Yankees 14 to 3. The game did have some interesting subplots though:

- Randy Johnson went 3 and 2/3 and was awful. He was only charged with 2 runs but gave up 7. He had 5 walks to only 3 strikeouts. After the game Dennis Eckersley on NESN said Johnson looked "horrible" and like "an old man" and the Eck hoped that maybe at least Johnson had an excuse like a bad back or other injury to fall back on. So far this year Johnson is averaging just 5 2/3 innings per start. I agree with Eck and think Johnson may have a bad back but if that's not the case then the Yankees won't even beat out the Blue Jays for second place in the AL East.

- A-Rod comes up big in a big game! [sarcasm off] A-Rod's error in the second inning really opened the flood gates. Without that error - Johnson gets out of the inning and may have a chance to settle down. Instead the Big Unit leaves down 7-2 and had to take his 3rd loss of the year. A-Rod actually made 2 errors in this game while Mike Lowell made a great bare-handed grab and throw. If A-Rod finishes above Lowell or Eric Chavez in the Gold Glove voting this year - then you know the voting is fixed.

Speaking of Lowell vs A-Rod - Mike Lowell leads A-Rod in the following categories H (39-29), 2B (19-4), batting average (.339 to .259), OBP (.398 to .382) and SLG (.557 to .455). A-Rod leads just in runs (26-19 - A-Rod has had Sheffield and Matsui batting behind him while Lowell has Alex Gonzalez and his .221 batting average) and HR (6-2). It should also be noted that Lowell is batting .333 with runners in scoring position while A-Rod is just hitting .270.

- Mark Loretta looks like he's broken out of his April slump. So far in the seven games played in May - Loretta is hitting .375 (12 for 32). That's the player we all expected. I will say that Robinson Cano looks like the real deal with the bat and even if Loretta is back to his 2004 form - the Yankees may have the offensive edge at 2nd base.

- Worcester's Tanyon Sturtze continues to struggle against the Red Sox. So far this year he's pitched in both games but now has to carry a 36.00 ERA and the Sox are hitting a blistering .667 off the Saint Peter-Marian grad. For his career - Sturtze has a 5.90 ERA against Boston and the Sox players are hitting .312 off the big righty.