G141: Red Sox 9, Yankees 2

The magic number is 18.

Against the White Sox last Monday, Curt Schilling started strong, but tired around the fifth inning. Facing the Yankees Saturday afternoon, he was sharp for eight innings. He allowed only one hit through the first six, and when it seemed he was fading -- a walk and two singles to start the eighth -- he quickly returned to form, needing just five pitches to retire the side.

Manny Ramirez belted a two-run home run in the top of the first and he and his mates added six more in the fourth (the 27th time the Sox have scored 5+ runs in an inning). That frame featured two Yankee errors, including a dropped fly ball in left by Hideki Matsui (when he looks bad in the outfield, he makes Manny look like Clemente (almost)).

Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for Boston, though I was sort of hoping to see the reliever Tim McCarver referred to as "Keith Falk" -- I figured he'd come out of the pen wearing a rumbled raincoat!

Wakefield / Big Eunuch at 1:00.