Down to the Wire Sports Chowdah- Lavranway or the Highway in Baltimore; Buffalo Shuffles Off to 3-0 Start After Upsetting Pats

RED SOX: After dropping two out of three at Yankee stadium (their sole win in that series being decided by a Jacoby Ellsbury 3-run homer in the 14th inning late Sunday night) the Red Sox headed headed down to Baltimore for the final series of the regular season. Only the way the Red Sox had been playing in September, it could very well end up being their season finale altogether. Monday night was pretty gruesome, with the Tampa Bay Rays closing the gap, the O's roughing up Beckett and Saltalamacchia leaving the game after taking a foul ball off the throat.

Tuesday night saw ex-O Eric Bedard get the start against his former team, only lasting 3 and ⅓ innings against a persistent Baltimore offense. However, the Red Sox were even rougher on O's starter Zach Britton. In the top of the 3rd, Jacoby Ellsbury let his bat do the arguing for him in the AL MVP discussion, belting a 2-run homer to take a 2-1 lead. However, in the top of the 5th, with Big Pappi and Adrian Gonzalez on base, Red Sox rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway would increase the lead with a 3-run shot to make it 5-1 Boston- his first big league home run. As sizeable a lead as theat turned out to be, the Red Sox would need even more as Baltimore would counter with a 2 run homer off the bat of catcher Matt Wieters to make it a 2-run game.

In the top of the 6th, Carl Crawford's 1-out triple was followed by a homer off the bat of Marco Scutaro to increase the lead to 7-3 in favor of Boston. Baltimore would respond with a solo homer off the bat of Adam Jones in the bottom of the 6th to make it 7-4.

Leading off the 8th, Lavarnway would double his career homerun total with a solo shot to make it 8-4. After 3 and ⅔ innings, Alfredo Aceves was replaced by Daniel Bard on the mound to face Baltimore. The O's managed to get two runs with two away in the bottom of the 8th to once again make it a two-run game with Boston now leading 8-6.

Things would get even more tense in the bottom of the 9th when Papelbon came on to close out the game and gave up a single to JJ Hardy. Hardy would make his way to 2nd on a Markakis groundout and then to 3rd on a Vlad Guerrero single, reaching home on a Matt Weiters bunt that Lavarnway threw to 1st for the out. Papelbon would then get JJ Hardy to ground out to end the ballgame by the final of 8-7.

It was a win they would need, too, as the Tampa Bay Rays managed to hold off a late rally by the Yankees to preserve the tie for the AL Wild Card (the Angels were eliminated from contention on Monday night).

Wednesday's game- the final of the regular season- will have Jon Lester (15-9; 3.49 ERA) going up against Alfredo Simon (4-9; 4.85 ERA). The Red Sox need a win to at least force a 1-game playoff with the Rays on Thursday- Tampa is going up against a Yankees team that's already clinched the AL East and aside from determining who makes the playoff roster doesn't have alot to play for.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: According to gossip site TMZ.com, Red Sox starter John Lackey and his wife are filing for divorce. Court papers were reportedly filed in Texas last month citing 'conflict of personalities'.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Over in the National League, the Wild Card there hasn't been determined either. The St Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves are deadlocked for the NL Wild Card with one game remaining for each team (Atlanta has the Phillies while St Louis has the Astros). If the deadlock in the standings remains unbroken by tomorrow night, then there will be a 1-game playoff in St. Louis on Thursday night.

Reportedly, if a one game playoff is required for the AL or NL Wild card, the game will be televised on TBS. First pitch would be 4:07 PM ET in Tampa for the Red Sox and Rays and 8:07 PM ET in St. Louis for Braves/Cardinals.

WHITE SOX: White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen was released from his duties by the White Sox this week. There had been speculation that Guillen wasnt long for the organization as well as rumors that he was interested in becoming the manager of the Florida Marlins. This seemed to be confirmed by Guillen himself via twitter as he informed followers about his arrival in Miami.


NFL: For the first time since 2003, the Buffalo Bills have managed to defeat the New England Patriots. Although the Patriots managed to get out to a 21-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, the Bills managed to whittle that down to 21-10 by halftime. Buffalo would come back to tie the game at 24-24 early in the 4th before taking the lead when CB Drayton Florence ran back a Brady INT for a quick 6 on New Engalnd's following possession.

The Patriots would then take nearly 7 minutes to march down the field, tying the game up on a 6 yard pass from Brady to Welker on 4th and goal with 3:25 left in the 4th. However, that would be enough time for Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to engineer an 80-yard drive that sputtered at the one, but all that was needed was a chip shot FG from Bills kicker Rian Lindell as time expired to give Buffalo the 34-31 win.

So heading into week 4, Buffalo stands alone atop the AFC East (Sunday's meeting was the Bills 1st matchup of the season against an division opponent). As a measure of consolation, the Jets would go on to lose against the Oakland Raiders that afternoon as well.

Speaking of Oakland, the Patriots will travel to the East Bay to take on the Raiders this Sunday. The game will be televised on CBS and kicks off at 4:15 PM ET, 1:15 PM PT.

NBA: With players not reporting to training camp at the usual time due to the lockout, the NBA has postponed training camp indefinitely and cancelled 43 preseason games. Meetings between the league and player's association ended without a collective bargaining agreement last week, putting the preseason games and possibly the start of the regular season in doubt.

Extra Helping of Sports Chowdah for Aug 7th- Chronicles of Reddick; Westmoreland Making Strides; Poker in the Rear

RED SOX: After dropping Friday night's series opener, the Red Sox set up a Sunday night rubber game after winning Saturday afternoon's affair by a 10-4 final.



Sunday night's nationally televised game on ESPN featured Josh Beckett starting against Freddy Garcia. As with most Yankees/Red Sox games, this served as a reminder to those being introduced to the sport of baseball that the game has no clock.



The Red Sox seemed to be getting to Garcia early, but were only able to push a solitary run across the plate after loading up the bases with nobody out. Marco Scutaro was able to drive in a run on a single, but after taking the 1-0 lead Boston would do no further damage against Garcia.



The Yankees got the equalizer on an Eduardo Nunez solo homer hit into the Monster seats in the top of the 5th and Beckett left after 6 innings with the game knotted up at 1-1. From there the Bronx Bombers took a 2-1 lead when Matt Albers served up a solo homer to outfielder Brett Gardner.



However, the Sox bats were able to get to Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th. Shortstop Marco Scutaro led off the bottom of the 9th with a double before moving over to 3rd base on Jacoby Ellsbury's sac bunt. Dustin Pedroia flew out to left center, but it was deep enough to bring home Scutaro and tie the game up at 2-2 and send it to extras.



Daniel Bard had a 1-2-3 top of the tenth to keep it a tie game. The bottom of the 10th saw Phil Hughes relieve Rivera. Although Hughes managed to get Youkilis to pop up to lead off the inning, David Ortiz hit a ground-rule double to put the go ahead in scoring position. Darnell McDonald was sent in to pinch run for Big Papi. After intentionally walking Carl Crawford to get to OF Josh Reddick. The rookie made Hughes pay with a walkoff RBI single that plated McDonald, giving Boston the belated win in dramatic fashion.



Despite the Yankees briefly jumping out to sole possession of 1st place with their Friday night victory, Boston wins the weekend series against the Yankees two games to one, giving them sole possession of 1st place in the AL East as of Sunday Night Monday Morning.



The Red Sox hit the road Monday night and head to the Twin Cities to take on the Twins for Monday night. In search of career win #200, starter Tim Wakefield (6-4; 4.99 ERA) goes up against Scott Baker (8-6; 3.01 ERA). The game will be televised nationally on ESPN and gets underway at 7:10 PM ET.



OTHER RED SOX NEWS: Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland has been making steady progress in his rehabilitation a year after surgery to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain stem. After some depth perception problems, Westmoreland was practicing hitting against soft toss and a pitching machine. Now, the organization feels his condition has improved enough to the point where he can face live pitching.



Facing a live pitcher would represent the biggest step this far in Westmoreland's rehab. No specific precautions are being taken with Westmoreland that aren't already in place for any other player.



As for fielding, Westmoreland has been taking full-length fly balls along with other Red Sox draftees at the team's facility in Ft. Meyers. Both the organization and Westmoreland say they're pleased with the progress thus far, but have not put an exact timetable for when he's expected to fully return to playing condtions



OTHER MLB NEWS: Noticeably absent from the weekend series was Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez who was recovering from surgery on his right knee. Of course, the knee reportedly isn't his only problem- reports are circulating that the big money infielder has been participating in an illegal poker ring.



However even if it can be conclusively proven that ARod participated in illicit poker games, unnamed league sources said that it's unlikely Rodriguez would face any fines or suspensions.

M-O-O-N, That Spells Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Cap 4-Game Sweep of O's; Jeter Becomes Baseball's Latest Mr 3000, USA Women Advance to World Cup Final

Parting contestants on Sox Appeal will recieve these 2011 American League All-Star Jerseys from Russel Athletic- AP Photo

RED SOX: Boston headed into the All Star break with a 1-game lead over the Yankees after finishing up a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in a 4-game series that could be described as confrontational.

A source of concern given his last couple of starts, John Lackey threw 6⅔ innings of shutout baseball on Saturday's 4-0 win against Baltimore. Sunday's game wasn't quite the same story, with PawSox callup Kyle Weiland only lasting 4 innings and giving up 6 runs in the top of the 2nd. The Sox were able to surge ahead and win by an 8-6 final for the final game of the first half.

Although the Red Sox have yet to play a game in the second half, they made some headlines today when MLB handed down four game suspensions to both David Ortiz and Kevin Gregg for their brawl (or attempted brawl) Friday night. The league also handed down one game suspensions to O's Pitcher Mike Gonzalez and manager Buck Showalter after the pitcher threw at Ortiz on Sunday's game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and John Lackey also recieved fines for their role when the benches cleared Friday night.

No word yet on whether Gregg or Ortiz plan on appealing their suspensions.

On a side note, the Red Sox have yet to play an inning in the second half of the 2011 season, but have already gained an additional half game on the Yankees after the Blue Jays thumped the Bronx Bombers by a 16-7 final at the Rogers Centre Thursday night. MLB network is reporting that this is the most number of runs scored in Blue Jays history without hitting a home run.


ALL STAR GAME: The All Star festitivities in Phoenix got underway with the Yankee's Robinson Cano besting Boston's Adiran Gonzalez in the Home Run Derby on Monday.

On Tuesday night, Gonzalez would provide the AL with their only run on the evening with a solo shot off of Philly's Cliff Lee in the top of the 4th inning to briefly put the AL on top 1-0. Beckett never made his scheduled appearence after being scratched from the midsummer classic after experienceing lingering soreness in his knee.

The NL would take the lead for good in the bottom of the 4th thanks to a 3-run shot off the bat of Milwaukee's Prince Fielder (who could very well have out Brian Wilson-ed Brian Wilson in the facial hair category). The NL would go on to win by a final of 5-1 and secure home field advantage for the World Series this year.


ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Between the weather and the matchup against Tampa Bay, I was having my doubts whether or not it would happen before the All-Star break, but Yankees captain Derek Jeter had reached the 3000 hit milestone. Firday night's game in the Bronx was rained out and wouldn't be made up until September and there was some doubts that the weather would hold for Saturday's game. However, the weather cooperated and Jeter was batting leadoff, getting hit #2999 in the bottom of the first.

Hit #3000 would come in the form of a game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the 3rd, making Jeter the first Yankees player to reach the 3000 hits milestone [kind of surprising, given the Hall of Famers that have put on pinstripes in the past- NANESB!]. Jeter went 5 for 5 with 2 RBI on the day in New York's 5-4 win over Tampa.

Heading into the All-Star Break, the Yankees captain surpassed the late Roberto Clemente for career hits and is closing in on Detroit's Al Kaline and his mark of 3007.

A rather disturbing side note to all this (which the NY media is treating as rather whimsical) is that the fan who caught Jeter's 3000th hit ball might have the IRS after him now that the Yankees have lavished luxury box seats and autographed memorobilia on him in exchange for the ball.

Yankees fan Christian Lopez, a 23 year old Verizon salesman from Highland Mills, NY was willing to return the ball to the team for free, but the Yankees decided to treat him and his family to luxury box seats for the remaining home games this season as well as autographed bats, balls and jerseys- all with an estimated value in excess of $30,000. While the Jeter ball would've easily fetched six figures on the open market, some say the IRS may view the seats given to Lopez as income, citing contestants on The Price is Right being taxed for some of their prizes as precedent [which makes no sense- there's some reasonable expectation you could walk away from a game show with thousands of dollars. No so much an afternoon at the ballpark. Trust me- NANESB!]


FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP- What did I miss? Just about everything, it turns out. The USA Women's team has been doing quite well in the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany this week (minus vuvuzelas, hopefully). The USA's Alex Kreiger helped the USA advance past Brazil in the quarterfinals in the penalty shot phase of the game to break a 2-2 deadlock on Saturday.

On Wednesday, they knocked out France in the semifinals by a 3-1 final. The win earns them a trip to the finals where they take on Japan for the title, after the Japanese team downed Sweden- also by a 3-1 margin- to advance.

Feisty Sports Chowdah Update For July 8th: Boston Pops- Sox Down Brawltimore in Fenway Slug-Fest; Sun Sets on Yao Ming Dynasty

RED SOX: After moving into sole possession of 1st place with a 10-4 win in the series opener Thursday night, the Red Sox took on the Baltimore Orioles for Game 2 of the 4-game weekend series.

Those of you who thought the fireworks were over and done with after the 4th of July were dead wrong. The Red Sox seemingly had this one put away early thanks to an 8-run offensive outburst in the bottom of the 1st.

But what had everybody talking about this blowout wasn't what happened in the bottom of the 1st as much as it was what happened in the bottom of the 8th. Baltimore starter Zach Britton was long gone and reliever Kevin Gregg was on the mound when he gave up a 1-out RBI triple to PawSox callup Josh Reddick to make it a 10-3 game.

Gregg then threw inside to David Ortiz with one away. Big Papi took exception and walked a few steps out towards the mound before the umpire warned both benches as they started to spill out onto the field. On the very next pitch, Papi flew out to center.

Gregg apparently shouted something to Ortiz and was immediately ejected by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook. However, Big Papi either didn't know or didn't care as he charged in from the first base line and started swinging. Gregg stood his ground against the charging DH and swung back, although both big men largely missed their intended targets. First base coach DeMarlo Hale held Papi back while the benches emptied once again, with umpires and managers attempting to separate the players. Personally I hadn't seen anything that freaky since the Pedro Martinez-Don Zimmer battle royale in 2003....the fact that neither Gregg or Ortiz successfully landed a blow just made it even MORE bizzare.

So some 20 minutes later, everything was sorted out and Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were tossed from the game along with Gregg and O's reliever Jim Johnson. The inning technically ended was Reddick was called out for abandoning 3rd base, but it took awhile to pull some of the players apart and sort through the ejections [didn't think the Bruins physical play would rub off on the Red Sox like that- NANESB!].

Boston wins by a final more reminiscent of a Ravens-Patriots score- 10-3. Beckett reportedly left Friday night's game with a hyperextended knee after pitching five complete innings and giving up 3 runs, walking two and striking out three.

Saturday's game will have the struggling John Lackey (5-8; 7.47 ERA) go up against the O's Alfredo Simon (1-1; 4.64 ERA) on Saturday night, 7:10 PM ET on NESN.

OTHER SOX NEWS: Another Red Sox player has been named to the 2011 All Star game in Phoenix. 3B Kevin Youkilis will replace the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez after A-Rod announced he would withdraw from the midsummer classic due to a right knee injury.

A-Rod won't be the only Yankee to pull out of the All Star game. Team captain and shortstop Derek Jeter- on the cusp of 3,000 career hits- announced Friday that he would not participate owing to a calf injury. Jeter will be replaced by Tiger's SS Jhony Peralta.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: A firefighter from Brown County, TX died in a tragic and bizarre accident at Rangers ballpark in Arlington, TX Thursday night. 39 year old Shannon Stone was at the park watching the Texas/Oakland with his 6 year old son Cooper. Outfielder Josh Hamilton fielded a foul ball when he spotted the father and son. Thinking they would appreciate a souvenir, Hamilton tossed the ball their direction, but while trying to catch it, Shannon lost his balance and fell 20 feet, landing on his head. The firefighter would later die from his injuries.

“Red flags go up in your mind because you take things for granted for so long because it doesn’t happen,” Hamilton said. “Then all of a sudden it happens and then you start thinking more about things. “You couldn’t help but think about it, You hope nothing like that happens again.”

Hamilton was back on the field for Friday night's game. The all-star outfielder, who became a born again Christian after a downward spiral of drug addiction and alcohol abuse early on in his career, said he plans on reaching out and contacting the family when they felt it would be appropriate.

The Rangers observes a moment of silence and wore uniforms adorned with a black ribbon as flags at the ballpark flew at half-staff Friday night. In the meantime, the Texas Rangers Community Foundation has set up a memorial fund in Shannon Stone's name.

NBA: Houston Rockets Cener Yao Ming has told team officials that he plans on retiring after several injury-plagued seasons in the NBA. Most recently, the Chinese star was sidelined with tendon problems last year. An uncertain labor outlook also probably provided Ming with disincentive to continue playing in the NBA.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- B's Upend Canucks, Finals Tied at 2-2; Yankees Knuckle Under

STANLEY CUP FINAL: While Monday's game was a hard act to follow, the Bruins continued to assert themselves against the Canucks at home.





Wednesday night's affair wasn't as high-scoring as Game 3, but the Bruins got on the board in the 1st thanks to a Rich Peverly goal at about the 12 minute mark.

Boston would then get some insurance in the 2nd with goals from Michael Ryder and Brad Marchand (Marchand's coming on a 4 on 4) less than two and a half minutes apart to make it a 3-0 game.

Rich Peverly would then put the game away late in the 3rd with his second goal of the night, making it a 4-0 game and chasing Roberto Luongo out of the net at the 3 and a half minute mark in the 3rd. Marblehead, MA native Cory Schneider would spell Luongo for the remainder of the game (aside from the final minute of regulation) and would turn aside all 9 shots he faced.

Getty Images/Boston Globe

Not surprisingly, the last couple of minutes for regulation were pretty physical including Tim Thomas giving Alex Burrows a 'love tap' in front of the Boston net.

The Bruins go on to win Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals by a final of 4-0, which evens up the series at 2 games each and essentialy making the Stanley Cup final a best of three series now.

While Tim Thomas managed to to turn aside all 38 shots faced in his shutout of the Canucks, Luongo allowed 4 goals on the 20 shots he faced, prompting rumblings of a goaltender controversy in Vancouver.

Luongo has allowed 12 goals in the last two games while the Canucks offense was only able to generate one goal throughout Games 3 and 4. While some might think that Vancouver will go with Schneider, early indications are that they'll be sticking with Luongo for Game 5 which gets under way on Friday night in Vancouver at 5PM Pacific, 8 Eastern. The game will be broadcast on NBC in the USA and CBC in Canada.


MLB: The venerable knuckleballer Tim Wakefield gave Boston five and a third innings on Wednesday night, allowing five runs on five hits while allowing three walks and striking out three batters on Wednesday night, which turned out to be good enough for the win thanks to copious run support from Sox batters.

Boston got off to the early 3-0 lead with a Big Papi 2-run homer in the top of the 1st followed up by a J.D. Drew sac-fly in the 2nd and a 3-run 4th inning before the Yankees started to rally and eat into the Red Sox lead with 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th.

Alfredo Aceves went the rest of the way for Boston, going 3 and 2/3rds innings while allowing 4 hits, an earned run, a walk and striking out four. However, Boston would get some insurance in the top of the 9th on homers by Carl Crawford and JD Drew to put the game away by a 11-6 final for Boston.

Game 3 of the series is set to take place Thursday night (weather permitting) with Josh Beckett [4-2; 2.01 ERA] going up against CC Sabathia [7-3; 2.80 ERA] at 7:05 ET with the game being televised on NESN and MLB network.

OTHER SOX NEWS: 2B Dustin Pedroia will return to Bostn on Thursday to have doctors examine his right knee. The second baseman said it had been bothering him for at least a month. Meanwhile, an MRI on SS Jed Lowrie showed no structural damage to his left shoulder, which Lowrie said had been sore since a May 29 collision with outfielder Carl Crawford.

Catcher Jarrod Salatlamacchia had been sent to the doctor's on Thursday night with flu-like symptoms, but was healthy enough to have returned to the stadium before the game was even over. Tests for appendicitis came back negative as well.

Big Ol' Bite of Sports Chowdah- Bruins Bite Back in Game 3; Sox-Yanks Resume in Bronx

STANLEY CUP FINAL- Wow- I'm pretty sure what happened on Monday night was what most people would call a 'statement game'.

Things got pretty quiet not too far into the first Stanley Cup final game to take place in Boston in 21 years after a late, open-ice hit by Vancouver's Aaron Rome on Nathan Horton. With his neck in a brace, the winger was wheeled out on a stretcher and Vancouver was shorthanded for 5 minutes, a penalty on which the Bruins weren't able to capitalize.

As it turns out, it was one of the few power plays on the night that the B's didn't score, including a couple of Canucks power plays.

Andrew Ference would break the scoreless deadlock just 11 seconds into the 2nd period. This would be followed by Mark Recchi's power play goal 4 minutes and 22 seconds in to make it 2-0.

Now- as glad as most Boston fans were that the Bruins got out the the early lead, they were also acutely aware of the Bruins inability to hold onto even bigger leads in significant games, and the last thing they wanted was to fall into an 0-3 series hole at home.

Brad Marchand allayed those fears with a nifty shorthanded goal at the 11:30 mark and just to make things even more interesting, David Krejci tallies and even-strength goal with just over 4 minutes remaining in the second.

And oddly enough- they were just getting started. The onslaught continued into the second half of the 3rd period, with the B's getting on the board thanks to ANOTHER shorthanded goal, this time from Daniel Paille at the 11:38 mark to make it 5-0. The Canucks would get their only goal of the night on a Jannik Hansen tally, but the Bruins would close out the game with three MORE goals (Recchi, Kelly and Ryder) to end Game 3 with an exclamation point and an 8-1 final. Boston takes a bite out of the Canucks series lead and now trails 2 games to 1.

Tim Thomas stopped 40 of 41 shots faced while Roberto Luongo allowed 8 goals on 38 shots on goal- leading some at the sports bar I was nursing a few Sam Adams to wonder if a cardboard cutout of The Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis advertisements might be able to spell Luongo for a bit.

Although it took a little longer than I had hoped, I'm glad to see such offensive production coming from the Bruins after getting shut out in Game 1 and losing in cringeworthy fashion in Game 2. Hopefully this is something they can sustain and Vancouver will have a difficult time adjusting to.

Alex Burrows seen postgame

OTHER STANLEY CUP BITS: Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome has received a 4-game suspension for his late his on Nathan Horton. Horton is expected to miss the rest of the Stanley Cup finals with a severe concussion.

Canucks winger Alex Burrows had managed to avoid suspension earlier in the series after biting the gloved finger of Patrice Bergeron during an altercation in Game 1.
MLB: The Red Sox trip to Yankee stadium got off to a promising start on Tuesday night when Boston got out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to a solo homer by Jacoby Ellsbury to lead off the game, followed by an Adrian Gonzalez RBI triple that plated Dustin Pedroia and a Kevin Youkilis sac-fly.

The Bronx Bombers were able to get a run back in the bottom of the 1st on a Robinson Cano RBI single, but the Sox managed to chase Yankees starter Freddy Garcia from the mound after a 2-out Dustin Pedroia RBI single made it a 4-1 game.

Luis Ayala came on to replace Garcia for an inning and a third (only giving up a walk) before being spelled by Hector Nosei who went 6 inning, giving up 3 hits- although one of them was a David Ortiz 2-run homer to make it a 6-1 game briefly.

Lester, in turn would give up a 2-RBI double to Nick Swisher in the bottom of the 5th and the Yankees would eat into Boston's lead to make it a 6-3 game. New York would get another run back in the bottom of the 9th with a Jorge Posada 2-out RBI single to plate Brett Gardner, but Papelbon would strike out Alex Rodriguez to end the ballgame. Red Sox hang on to win by a 6-4 final with Lester going six innings, giving up 8 hits, 3 earned runs, striking out five and walking one.

Although it wasn't pretty, Papelbon's save was the 12th of the season and career save #200. Papelbon reached that milestone in his 359th career game, becoming the quickest pitcher to reach that mark in the MLB (previously it was longtime Yankees closer Mariano Rivera who reached in 382 games).

Wednesday's game will be televised on ESPN at 7:05 ET and features Tim Wakefield (2-1; 4.40 ERA) going up against AJ Burnett (6-3; 3.86 ERA).

OTHER SOX/YANKEES NOTES: SS Marco Scutaro returned from the DL and a rehab stint in Pawtucket, where he was hitting .455 in 3 games. Scutaro went on the DL May 16th with a strained oblique and went 1 for 4 in his return to Boston.

-Yankees 1B Mark Teixera was struck by a pitch along the knee in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday night. He was helped off the field and Jorge Posada pinch-ran for him. X-Rays came back negative, although he will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.

- Papelbon faces a three game suspension for his conduct during Saturday's game against Oakland at Fenway Park after the closer rushed towards home plate umpire Tony Randazzo and bumped him while arguing balls and strikes. Papelbon is appealing the suspension and can still play until the appeal is dismissed.

-Sox Relief pitcher Bobby Jenks threw just 4 pitches on Tuesday night's game before leaving with back spasms. The pitcher is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday.

Sports Chowdah Update for May 16- Bronx Bummers For Yanks as Sox Sweep; Lightning Strikes Thrice- Take Game 1 of Eastern Conf. Finals; C ya Later

A-Rod: D'OH!

MLB: After their horrendous 0-6 start last month, the Red Sox have finally reached the .500 mark on Sunday night after comleting a 3-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the Bronx.

Friday night's game was something of a cliffhanger, with the Sox fending off a late Yankees rally to close out a 5-4 win. The following day, the Red Sox scored late and scored often in a 6-0 rout that pitted Josh Beckett against CC Sabathia. However, that gem was apparently overshadowed by the controversey surrounding Yankkes cathcer-turned-DH (and batting .165) Jorge Posada taking himself out of the game after it was announced he'd be hitting 9th in the lineup.

Sunday night's affair in the Bronx had Jon Lester on the mound against Freddy Garcia. The Yankees got to Lester pretty early, starting off with a Mark Teixeria RBI single in the first and giving up home runs to Andruw Jones and Curtis Granderson in the bottom of the 2nd to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. However, the very next inning, Kevin Youkilis belted a 3 run homer to tie the game up at 4-4 while Big Papi hit a solo shot to right in the 5th to give the Red Sox a 1-run lead.

Of course, given the potent Yankees offense, a 1-run cushion didn't feel like it was enough but the Sox were able to add to that when Pedroia went home an a fielding error by Alex Rodriguez to make it 6-4.

The Yankees would get one back in the bottom of the 7th, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia cranked a solo homer to right field in the top of the 8th to make it 7-5, and Papelbon would come on in relief of Bard to close out the game, giving Boston not only the win, but a sweep of the weekend series at the Bronx and putting them at .500 for the first time this season.

Even though Daisuke Matsuzaka had an off night on Monday, the Red Sox came from behind and won on 1B Adrian Gonzalez's 1-out 2 RBI walk off double in the bottom of the 9th at Fenway to put the Sox over .500 for the first time this season. Meanwhile, the Yankees woes continued with a 6-5 loss against Tampa Bay on Monday night. The loss puts them a game under .500.

The Sox will close out their quickie two game series against Baltimore on Tuesday when they face rookie southpaw Zach Britton (5-2; 2.42 ERA). Tim Wakefield (0-1; 5.40 ERA) is expected to fill in as starter for Tuesday's game.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: John Lackey, who was the scheduled starter for Tuesday's game against Baltimore, has been placed on the 15-Day DL with a right elbow strain. Although the team recalled Scott Atchison from AAA Pawtucket, it is expected that knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will get that start on Tuesday.

OTHER MLB NEWS: Hall of Famer and Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew announced over the weekend that he will no longer treat his esophageal cancer and has entered hospice care. The 74 year old announced back in December that he was battling cancer. Killebrew's major league career spanned 21 years with the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals, with 13 of those seasons being spent in the Twin Cities.

Killebrew had a career batting average of .256 with 573 home runs and 1584 career RBI and was named to the baseball hall of fame in 1984.

NHL: All that time off for the Bruins led to some concerns about 'rust' and it showed on Saturday night when the Bruins gave up 3 even strnegth goals in less than 90 seconds (Sean Bergenheim, Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell) in the first period.

Altho' Tyler Seguin would score late in the 1st, Tampa would get some insurance in the 3rd and skate to a pretty easy 5-2 win for Game 1 of the Eastern conference finals.

Game 2 gets underway on Tuesday night at 8PM ET at the Garden and will be televised on Versus

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Although head coach Claude Julien declined comment on his availability for Game 2, Patrice Bergeron returned for his first full practice since sustaining a concussion on May 6.

NBA: And just like that, it's over. Despite Rajon Rondo's gritty performace with a dislocated elbow in Game 3 and forcing overtime in Game 4, the Celtics season is over after the Miami Heat cruised to a 97-87 win on May 11 to win the series 3 games to 1.

The Heat now face the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals (and now trail 0-1 after Sunday night). Out west, the matchup will feature the Dallas Mavericks against the Oklahoma City Thunder in what I'm sure some columnist or blogger will call the I-35 series.

April Fool's Sports Chowdah- Manny Walks Away For Good; Sox Snap Back in Home Opener; B's Finish Regular Season w/Weekend Split; C's Fall to 3rd Place

MLB- While waiting for the first Red Sox win of the 2011 season, it was announced that Tampa Bay slugger Manny Ramierez had tested positive for a performance enchancing drug, the second such offense in just under two years. Rather than face the 100 game suspension that a second offense would've brought him, Manny abruptly announced his retirement from baseball on Friday.

After being traded from the LA Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox last season, Manny signed a 1-year, $2 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason. Manny had one hit, 4 strikeouts and an RBI in 17 plate appearences with the Rays in the very young regular season.

Jim Rogash- Getty Images

RED SOX- Apparently playing Cowboys Rangers and Indians was a bit much for Boston, hence the singularly unimpressive 0-6 start on the season. Honestly, I wasn't even going to do a sports-related update until the Red Sox won their first game series [I was blissfully unaware that I'd have to wait a full week, though- NANESB!] However, things looked like they were starting to turn around on the home opener Friday night when the Red Sox had a come from behind 9-6 win against the Yankees thanks in large part to Dustin Pedroia going 3-5 with 3 RBI. The Yankees won convincingly on Saturday, which set up the rubber game on Sunday and Josh Beckett vs CC Sabathia on the mound.

Beckett was just about flawless, dealing 10 strikeouts, two hits and a walk over 8 shutout innings. At times, run support seemed incredibly difficult to come by, with the Sox leaving a total of 16 runners on base. Throughout much of the night, Boston was clinging to a 1-0 lead after a bases-loaded Mike Cameron single drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the 3rd. However, Marco Polo Scutaro gave the Sox some insurance in the bottom of the 7th with a bases loaded 2-RBI double off of Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain that plated Big Papi and JD Drew to make it a 3-0 Red Sox lead. Big Papi would drive in Youkilis with an RBI double in the bottom of the 8th to make it 4-0 and Papelbon would close it out with a 1-2-3 9th inning, catching Mark Texiera looking at strike 3 to end the ballgame and give the Sox their first series win of the season some 48 hours after winning their first game.

Yankees starter CC Sabathia lasted 5⅔ innings, allowing 9 hits and one earned run while allowing 4 walks and striking out 4. New York will next take on the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles [even if it's only April, how often do I get to say that? -NANESB!] at Yankee stadium on Tuesday while the Red Sox will play host to the 1-8 Tampa Bay Rays Monday night at Fenway. NHL: The Boston Bruins finished off the regular season with a split of their final two games. On Saturday, Daniel Paille, Nathan Horton and Rich Peverly all scored for the Bruins and Tim Thomas stopped 31 of 32 shots faced to keep his save percentage at .938- surpassing Dominik Hasek's .937 from the 1998-1999 season.

The Bruins would skate to a 3-1 win over the Hapless-but-occasionally-feisty Sentators and Sens fired head coach Cory Clouston for missing the postseason in two out of the last three seasons.

With not much to play for on Sunday, the Bruins fell to the Devils by a 3-2 final at the Prudential Center in Newark on Sunday. Tukka Rask got the start in net, allowing 3 goals on 32 shots faced for the regular season finale. Rich Peverly and Chris Kelly accounted for the B's two goals in the regular season finale, and incidentally Sunday's game turned out to be the final for Jaques Lemaire as Devils head coach.

So the Bruins wrap up the regular season with a 46-25-11 record and 103 points- good for 3rd overall in the Eastern conference. The Bruins will match up with the Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs starting Thrusday of this week.

It's also worth noting that a week prior to the Saturday win, Micheal Ryder's go-ahead penalty shot against the Atlanta Thrashers helped Boston secure the Northeastern Division titleELSEWHERE IN THE NHL/STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: The First round matchups for the Stanley Cup playoffs are as follows:

#1 Washington Capitals vs #8 NY Rangers- series begins on Wednesday, April 13- 7:30 ET

#2 Philadelphia Flyers vs #7 Buffalo Sabres- Thrusday, April 14- 7:30 ET

#3 Boston Bruins vs #6 Montreal Canadiens- Thursday April 14, 7 PM ET

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Tampa Bay Lightning- Wednesday April 13, 7 PM ET

WESTERN CONFERENCE-

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Chicago Blackhawks, Wednesday April 13, 10:00 PM ET

#2 San Jose Sharks vs #7 Los Angeles Kings, Thursday April 14, 10:00 PM ET

#3 Red Wings vs #6 Phoenix Coyotes, Wednesday April 13, 7 PM ET

#4 Anaheim Ducks vs #5 Nashville Predators, Wednesday April 13, 10:30 PM ET

NCAA HOCKEY-None of the New England schools that made it to the NCAA Men's hockey finals advanced past the second round. Defending Champion Boston College was upended by Colorado College by a 4-8 final in the first round and Merrimack lost to Notre Dame by a 4-3 final. UNH and Yale both advanced to the second round only for the Wildcats to fall to the Fighting Irish.

Yale, on the other hand lost to eventual Champion Minnesota-Duluth in the 2nd round. UMD would go on to beat Notre Dame in the semifinals and face the Michigan Wolverines in the final. The UMD Bulldogs would win in OT by a final of 3-2 for their first ever NCAA Men's Hockey title.

NCAA HOOPS- After squeaking by Kentucky by a 56-55 margin, the UConn Huskies earned a showdown with Butler last week. The Huskies handled the Butler Bulldogs fairly easily by a 53-41 final last week for their first NCAA men's title since 2004.

The UConn women's team lost in the semifinals last week by a 72-63 final to Notre Dame- the Irish women's team would then go on to lose to Texas A&M by a 76-70 final in the women's championship game. Texas A&M also bested frequent UConn nemesis Stamford on their way to the women's final as well

NBA: After a pretty good week in which the C's were able to beat the Pistons, Wizards and 76ers (while losing to the Bulls) the Miami heat sent a message with the 100-77 win over Boston in South Florida on Sunday. The loss pushes Boston down to 3rd place in the Eastern conference; 1 game behind Miami and 5 games behind Chicago.

The C's will take on the Washington Wizards in the Nation's Capital on Monday night before finishing out the regular season at home against the Knicks on Wednesday night.

Upright Sports Chowdah Recap- Posting Gains in San Diego; Texas Sized Upset; NL Champs? They Might Be Giants; BC Spiral Continues at Turtle's Pace

NFL: OK now....you can unclench.

In the end, it looked like the Patriots wanted to give it away, but the Chargers were having none of it.

The Chargers were headed into week 7 hosting the Patriots in a must-win scenario after dropping two in a row. With 4 turnovers by the Chargers in the first half- including a botched lateral that nearly everybody on the field walked away from before realizing it was a live ball and rookie Richard Goodman leaving the ball on the field after his first career reception (a 25 yard pickup) San Diego was fortunate to be trailing New England by a 13-3 margin at halftime.

The Patriots opened up the second half with an eight minute drive culminating in a Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis TD run from the San Diego 1 yard line to make it a 20-3. But as badly as San Diego played in the first half, the came on strong in the 4th quarter, moving the ball down the field efficiently and outscoring the Pats 17-3. New England got the ball back at their own 40 after the Charger's kickoff went out of bounds, but couldn't convert on 4th and 1, turning the ball over on downs. San Diego was able to get the ball as far as the Patriots 27, running the clock down to 28 seconds in regulation in the process. However, a procedural penalty against the offense forced newly-signed San Diego kicker Kris Brown to attempt the field goal from mid-field. The 50-yard attempt hit the post and New England barely holds on to win by a final of 23-20 on the road.

The Chargers fall to 2-5 while the Patriots have a fairly spiffy 5-1 record. New England has an identical record with the idle Jets, while elsewhere in the AFC East Miami fell to 3-3 with a 23-22 loss to the Steelers in South Florida Sunday afternoon. Tom Brady went 19-32 with 159 yards and a touchdown. Pretty quiet day from Wes Welker, although on special teams Zoltan Mesko acquitted himself fairly well after a couple of bad snaps (including some one-hoppers).

I think when all is said and done, I'm going to have to nominate the right upright of the goal post at Qualcomm stadium as Sunday's MVP for the Patriots.

Next weekend, the Pats will be reunited with Randy Moss at Foxboro as the Vikings come in to town fresh off their Sunday night loss to Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

A picture's worth a thousand words- BWA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

MLB: So....has anybody gone with the 'Steers & Queers' World Series moniker yet?

All I can say is remember when a starting pitcher signing with or getting traded to the Rangers was more or less a career death sentence?

The Texas Rangers had Cliff Lee ready to go for Game 7 should the ALCS get that far. As it turned out, there was no need. With the Rangers heading back to Arlington, TX holding a 3-2 advantage in the ALCS, Colby Lewis got the start for Texas while Phil Hughes was given the start for New York in a do-or-die situation.

If you had heard of Colby Lewis prior to the 2010 ALCS and aren't from the Lone Star state, raise your hand. In which case, I'm probably going to say you're full of crap (altho' I had heard of him in passing after losing against the a close game Sox back in August). On Friday night, the journeyman Rangers starter went eight innings, giving up only one earned run and striking out seven with the growd chanting 'Col-by!' as the innings progressed. The only run allowed by Lewis came on a wild pitch (that apparently hit Nick Swisher) that brought Alex Rodriguez in from third to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the 5th inning.

That was as close as the Yankees would get.

Rangers 1B Mitch Moreland led off the bottom of the 5th with a single before moving to third on back-to-back groundouts. The Yankees decided to pitch around Josh Hamilton to get to Vlad Guererro with two on and two away. Vlad would make the Yankees pay with a booming double to center field. That was the end of the night for Phil Hughes, but the first batter David Robertson would face was Nelson Cruz, who homered to center to make it a 5-1 game. After an Ian Kinsler sac-fly in the 7th to make it a 6-1 game, there was no looking back.

Unlike Game 1, there would be no furious comeback by the Yankees. Neftali Feliz would close out the top of the 9th 1-2-3 (A-Rod was caught looking to end the game and series) good for the Ranger's first-ever World Series appearence and copious amounts of ginger-ale being sprayed everywhere.

Outfielder Josh Hamilton was named ALCS MVP after hitting .350 and belting 4 homers.

The Rangers would have to wait at least until Saturday to find out who they'd be facing in the World Series, with the Giants taking on the Phillies for Game 6 in the city of brotherly love.

Things were looking good for the Phillies as they managed to get two runs off of Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez in the first inning. The Giants would come right back with two of their own in the top of the 3rd, including Aubrey Huff reaching home safely after a fielding error by Phillies 1B Ryan Howard. Sanchez would get pulled and the benches cleared in bottom of the 3rd after hitting Chase Utley with a pitch.

San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy would go to the bullpen early and often, with Jeremy Affeldt, Madison Bumgarner, ex-Red Sox pitcher Javier Lopez and starter Tim Lincecum combining for a shutout before Juan Uribe gave San Francisco the go ahead run on a solo shot.

New Hampshire's own Brian Wilson came on in the 8th to close things out- he got Ruiz to line out into a double play to end the 8th, but was in for a hairy and somewhat wild 9th, where he had two runners on with two away and managed to strike out Ryan Howard to end the game and the NLCS with a 3-2 Giants win. Despite the electric and attention-grabbing start to the playoffs, it's all over for Philly as the Giants won the series 4-2. Neither defending pennant winner has advanced to the World Series this year.

Game 1 of the World Series is set to take place in San Francisco Wednesday night at 7: 57 ET. A well rested Cliff Lee gets the start against Tim Lincecum and the game will be televised on FOX.

So in either case, the 2010 World Series will end a long run of futility for the Rangers (who have never been) or the Giants (who haven't won a title since moving out to San Francsico in 1958).

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell was named the new manager of the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. Farrell will replace the outgoing Cito Gaston, who retired at the end of the season last month. Toronto finished the season 85-77, good for 4th place in the very difficult AL East in 2010.

NHL: After downing the Capitals 4-1 for their home opener, the Boston Bruins lost to the NY Rangers by a 3-2 score at the TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday. New York's Henrik Lundqvist stopped 35 total shots and held off the Bruins to win by a 3-2 final, handing the Bruins their first loss on American soil this season. Tukka Rask got the start and stopped 27 of 30 shots faced in the loss while Zdeno Chara and Nathan Horton had the only tallies for the B's.

The Bruin's record is now 4-2-0 and they next face the Maple Leafs, who are off to a 4-2-1 start, on Thursday night at the Garden.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Not a good weekend for New England's Division 1 schools.

BC Safety Wes Davis was strapped to a backboard after laying motionless on the turf for nearly 10 minutes on Saturday's game against Maryland before being wheeled to an ambulance. The school said that Davis had 'full motion', but remained hospitalized for observation.

After falling behind to the Terrapins 24-7 in the third, BC managed to score two unanswered TD's in the 4th quarter, but successive drives late in the quarter stalled in the 4th when the ball was turned over on downs. Maryland wins by a final of 24-21 in Chestnut Hill. Montel Harris had 27 carries for 116 yards and 2 TDs in the losing effort for the Eagles. This makes it 5 losses in a row, and things aren't looking too good for next week when the Eagles host the Clemson Tigers.

UConn actually did worse, getting shut out 26-0 by Louisville on Saturday. The Huskies will host the West Virginia Mountaineers this Saturday.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NCAA: The New Jersey Nets announced that they would be donating $75,000 towards a fund for paralyzed Rutgers player Eric LeGrand. LeGrand has shown no signs of improvement since being hospitalized.

Quicke Cuppa Sports Chowdah Update- Phil In The Blanks, Doc Holliday Throws No-No in NLDS Game 1; Pats Gather No More Moss

AP Photo

And there we were watching history with the sound off.

Long story short, I get together with some friends at the friendly neighborhood cantina for some Sam Adams and so I can show them the pricey and tax-free goodies I picked up while I was in New Hampshire last month. There's a flat screen over the bar that's showing the NFL network, and almost as an afterthought I ask the bartender if they can change it to the Reds/Phillies game. The barkeep obliged and we tuned in just in time to see Shane Victorino steal third and come home on a Chase Utley sac-fly in the bottom of the first.

By the time the bottom of the second rolls around, it's pretty clear that Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez isn't long for this game as he put two runners on with two away and facing his counterpart, Roy Halliday. The Philly starter helped out his own cause with the lumber when he hit an RBI single to shallow left to make it a 2-0 game. Volquez then walked Jimmy Rollins to put the Philly ace at 2nd and load them up once again. Shane Victorino then hit a 2-RBI single in which a jacket-wearing Halliday scored from 2nd before Reds manager Dusty Baker decided to pull Volquez for Travis Wood.

For those of us at the cantina who no longer had a dog in the fight, our attention began to turn to the more mundane such as the pricey shit I purchased in New Hampshire (did I mention it was tax-free) and vacation pictures that came out alot better than I thought. With the sound off, none of us gave the game on the TV much thought....until I happened to look up and see that TBS was flashing a graphic that pointed out the last time a postseason starter threw 7 no-hit innings was the Red Sox's Jim Longborg in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series against St. Louis. We figured that they wouldn't bother pointing that out unless Halliday was throwing a no-no.

Sure enough he was. The only runner he allowed was Reds outfielder Jay Bruce with a 5th inning walk. Halliday successfully continued mowing 'em down into the 9th, where he faced Reds 2B Brandon Phillips. Phillips chopped an 0-2 offering in front of home plate and sprinted towards first as Philly C Carlos Ruiz tore off his mask and deftly plucked the ball up from next to the bat laying down on the infield and managed to throw to 1B Ryan Howard in time for the final out of the game.

This marks the first postseason no-hitter since October 1956 when Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the Yankees against the then Brooklyn Dodgers in the '56 World Series.

OTHER MLB PLAYOFF GAMES: DJ Kitty was unable to weave his magic for Game 1 down in Tampa Bay. Cliff Lee got out of some early jams against the Rays and the Rangers win game one of that series 5-1.

The Yankees came from behind to win the first playoff game at Target Field in Minnesota by a 6-4 score.

Game one of the Division series between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves get underway tomorrow night at 9:35PM Eastern time.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Not surprisingly, there's been some managerial shakeups with the end of the regular season upon us. Ken Macha's been dismissed as Brewer's manager while the Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager John Russel after 3 seasons. In New York, Mets GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel were fired on Monday.

NFL: The biggest bit of sports news before Roy Halliday got Brandon Phillips to ground out in the 9th inning was the departure of WR Randy Moss from New England. The mercurial wide receiver departed for the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday in exchange for their 3rd round draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. So now he's the Viking's problem.

Moss was likely dissatisfied with his current contract status (a 3 year deal that would've finished up at the end of the year) while Brady, Banta-Cain and Gostowski among others received contract extensions. This in turn lead to all sorts of speculation about his future in New England and reportedly some loud exchanges with teammates and coaching staff. On the Minnesota end of the deal, Brett Farve was reportedly lobbying the Viking management to put in an offer for Moss.

Randy Moss is expected to start in time for the Monday Night game against the NY Jets and will return to Foxboro with the Vikings on Halloween [I used to scoff at the notion that the NFL is scripted, but nowadays, I sometimes pause- NANESB!].

Personally, I'm not glad to see him go, but if he doesn't want to stay then why bother forcing the issue. The Krafts managed to get a few relatively drama-free years from Moss, which was a few more than I anticipated when the trade from Oakland was announced in 2007.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: The Buffalo Bills traded RB Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks for a pair of undisclosed draft picks earlier this week.

While I Was Away Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Put Away For The Winter; Pats Celebrate Diversity, Rout in Miami; Uh-Oh and Two- BC Stumbles After Bye

Hey there everybody. Just because the last couple of weeks have been forgettable as far as New England sports have gone doesn't mean that I've suddenly forgotten about them. As a matter of fact, I got to see some of the train wreck against Baltimore firsthand at Fenway two weeks ago. If I were the kind of person to drop names, I could say that I attended the game with reigning Miss USA (and Ground Zero mosque opponent) Rima Fakih, documentarian Ken Burns and radio host Howie Carr. Of course, if I was 100% honest, I would mention that while my seats were good (by the Pesky Pole), they weren't that good, so I missed out on the VIP treatment.

O Captain My Captain! AP/Jim Rogash Photo

One had the feeling that missing out on October baseball in New England was inevitable once it was announced Youkilis was out for the season (or Pedroia, or Ellsbury or when the Sox dropped a bunch of game against division opponents or....take your pick). They were technically still in it until screwing the pooch against Baltimore and the White Sox, but they managed to play tough against the Yankees, taking two out of three at Yankee stadium the last weekend in September before hosting them for the season finale this past weekend.

John Lackey went seven and 2/3rds innings against the Yankees on Sunday and got plenty of run support thanks in no small part to homers by JD Drew and Jed Lowrie. Lowrie was 2-3 with two homers and 3 RBI while JD Drew went 1-4 with 2 RBI. Lowrie's 2 run shot broke a 2-2 deadlock in the bottom of the fifth before Ryan Kalish put an exclamation point on a 3-run 6th inning by stealing home to give the Red Sox a 7-2 lead. Daniel Bard would come on after Rich Hill couldn't get a batter out in the top of the 7th and Papelbon would close out the game, giving up a run in the process.

I got to catch the game on TBS Sunday afternoon and while the win didn't help the Red Sox secure anything, the loss cost the Yankees the AL East pennant as Tampa Bay rallied to beat Kansas City that afternoon for their regular season finale.

It was a good game considering there was nothing to look forward to the following week. Mike Lowell already announced his retirement effective Sunday and we're left to speculate about the futures of longtime Sox like Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield or Big Papi. There's also the matter of free agents like Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez.

Boston finishes the season with an 89-73 record, which might've been good enough for a postseason berth in seasons past, but only gets them third place in the AL East behind Tampa and the Yankees.

ELSEHWERE IN MLB: The first round matchups are set for the Division series, all but one of which will get underway tomorrow afternoon.

Rangers at Rays: 1:30PM ET
Reds at Phillies: 5:00PM ET
Yankees at Twins: 8:00PM ET
Braves at Giants: 9:30PM ET (Thursday)
[All Games broadcast on TBS]

With the Padres 3-0 loss on Sunday, we narrowly missed having a series of one-game playoffs to determine the national league wild card winner and NL West winner, since the Padres a game out of the NL Wild card and two games out of the division.

NFL: Wow....the first half was a real snoozer, but New England got creative in second half down in Miami on Monday night.

All the Pats offense had to show in the first half was two Gostkowski field goals, but as soon as the second half kicked off, it was clear that variety is the spice of life. To get things started off, Brandon Tate returned the kickoff 103 yards to paydirt to put the Pats up 13-7. But things were just getting started, as Patrick Chung blocked Miami's punt on the ensuing Dolphin's possession, giving New England the ball at Miami;s 25 yard line, which in turn made the Pats made it a 20-7 game with a 12 yard TD run from BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

The Dolphins came right back to make it 14-20 game after Chade Henne found Ricky Williams to just shy of the 9-minute mark in the third. New England responded with that with a 4+ minute drive capped by a Brady pass to RB Danny Woodhead for a 27-14 game.

If that didn't break it open, then the blocked field goal attempt run back 35 yards by Kyle Arrington for a TD. The exclamation point came when safety Patrick Chung intercepted a Chad Henne pass and ran it back 51 yards to make it 41-14 New England. Tom Brady went 19-24 for 153 yards with a touchdown. It was kind of a slow night for Moss and Welker, but that was more than offset by special teams plays from Chung and Tate.

It was so bad that the special teams coordinator for the Dolphins was fired the following day. No, really....he was. So the Pats make it two wins in a row against AFC East opponents (last week's game against the Bills turned out to be more of a nail-biter than this one) and head into the bye with a 3-1 record.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Speaking of byes, the BC Eagles have yet to win a game since their weekend off a few weeks back. Granted they weren't playing Kent State or Weber State, but had instead graduated to Virginia Tech and Notre Dame as opponents. Boston college has scored no more than 13 points in the last two games after getting shut out by the Hokies on Chestnut Hill by a score of 19-0 and this week to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a final of 31-13. The 2-2 Eagles will travel to Raliegh this weekend to take on the NC State Wolfpack.

UConn has had it a little better than BC, managing to beat the Buffalo Bisons 45-21 and the Vanderbilt Commodores 40-21 at East Hartford. The Huskies will travel to Piscataway, NJ to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights before getting the following weekend off.