Round 1: Loss

What a display of great baseball and pathetic baseball on the same stage. I know it isn't the end of the world, but the Sox did not look that good tonight. Everyone seemed a little off except for a few players. The top 3 of the lineup went a combined 0 for 12 with 4 Ks, Mueller went 0 for 3, and Bellhorn struck out 3 times and left 4 men on base. The Sox made 2 errors and had to use 7 pitchers.

For anyone who doesn't know, after every game, I reward a Man of the Game (MOTG) and a Bitch-Goat. The MOTG is simply the player on either the winning or losing team who stood out the most and had the best game. The Bitch-Goat is "rewarded" to players who contribute to the Sox losing. There is 1 Bitch-Goat point per game but it is divided into tenths. If I feel a player/manager/coach/umpire is partially responsible for a loss, they will get 0.1 or 0.2 B-G points. If a player is very responsible for a loss, I will give them 0.7 or 0.8 or even 1.0 B-G points. Both MOTG and B-G will be kept track of and at the end of the year, a Man of the Season will be determined and the biggest Bitch-Goat will be determined.

For this game, Hideki Matsui was the Man of the Game. His 2 run HR in the 8th sealed the victory for New York. His catch in the 2nd of a ball destined for the seats stopped the Sox from gaining any momentum and allowed Johnson to get into a groove. He went 3 for 5, scored 3 times, and knocked in 3 runs. He was a big part of the Yankees 3rd inning rally which was where they won the game, in my opinion.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
David Wells: 0.4 - couldn't throw strikes or pitch 5 innings
Blaine Neal: 0.2 - allowed the Yankees to build on their lead
Johnny Damon: 0.2 - Error, 0 for 4, K
Edgar Renteria: 0.1 - 0 for 4, K, 2 LOB
Manny Ramirez: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 2 K

The Sox play New York again as Carl Pavano goes against Matt the Missile Clement Tuesday night in the Bronx.

The Celtics are starting to slip into a troublesome area. If they don't shape up, they may lose the divisional lead. If this happens, they either won't make the playoffs or will come in as an 8 seed pitting them against Miami.