10/01/04 at Orioles W 8-3

Will the Red Sox 4th starter please stand up? That's what happened tonight when Tim Wakefield pitched better than he has in over a month. From all indications, he had the flutter back tonight, and just in time with the playoffs starting in a few days. I think this has got to lead everyone to believe that Derek Lowe will be the odd man out of the playoff rotation. A note of congratulations has to go out to Wake, who won more games this year than he had since 1998. A remarkable season from a guy that was out of baseball 10 years ago.

Toot, toot. Another game, another hit. Manny extended his current hitting to 11 games, while Papi hit another dinger and Sheffield took the night off.

Orlando Hernandez has a lazy shoulder and that spells BIG trouble for the Yanks. It looks now like Hernandez may not be available to pitch in the playoffs. Clearly, a week ago he was considered their #1 starter.

I can't say I'm very happy watching the Angels stride toward the AL West crown. They are on quite a winning streak, and I would much rather see the Sox face the weak hitting A's who they have handled quite easily this season. The Angels on the other hand can hit with just about anyone with Anderson & Guerrero in the heart of their order, and the Sox had a difficult time winning in Anaheim this season.