The Boston Globe's Dan Shaugnessey writes "Stirring finale was impressive windup". Impressive indeed. The Red Sox pitching proved to be dominant, even with Derek Lowe's poor outing. However, I do not blame him. Manager Terry Francona should have thought about using Derek Lowe before Sunday. 10 days had expired between his starts. Had Francona used a different philosophy we might have swept the Yankees. Michael Holley of the Globe agrees, "Fault here rests with the brass".

The Sox got to the best of the Yankees' pitching (Javier Vasquez, Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown). I was especially impressed with Monday's game against Brown. When I saw the lineup that included Crespo, Kapler and McCarty, I was a bit worried. Who would have thought that two of those guys would be the difference in the game? Especially when Kapler forgot to run with two outs. The Globe says he was concentrating on the game within the game. Concentrating or daydreaming? Regardless, after knocking in the winning run Monday, he is a hero for a day.

Cesar Crespo, who had a tremendous spring, seems to be getting in the way of some players. He bumped into David Ortiz one night and on another occassion made a backhanded catch that should have been caught by Johnny Damon in centerfield; Crespo was playing second. He is eager but risks making a costly mistake. He needs a little more coaching.

Crespo's eagerness had no ill effect on the game. In fact, he exhibited some fantastic plays while at playing second. Unlike the Yankees infielders.

The New York Post says the Yankees can't defend this loss. . Uncharacteristically, the team made some costly errors, including their stars - Derek Jeter and A-Rod.

Do you fear A-Rod now? The New York Times suggests Rodriguez is still awaiting that big hit." Going into Friday's game A-Rod was a career .174 hitter in Fenway Park. His average just got worse. Alex Rodriguez went 1 for 17 in the series. As a Yankee, he is batting .160. Wow! This is the AL MVP. The Globe's Gordon Edes thinks After this series of events, Rodriguez glad to go. A-Rod, you're trying too hard to justify the off-season trade. Relax. Jason Giambi fell into a similar situation when he joined the Yankees, too. I guess it's tough not to be the man. Did the boo-birds get to you?

Enough about the Yankees. All that really matters is that the Red Sox won! Boston is a half-game out of first trailing the Orioles. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to that team. Nah.

From Boston we go to the Great White North, eh. Pedro Martinez vs. Toronto's Roy Halladay. This should be good.

The Toronto Star reports that some seats are going for two dollars. At two bucks, Cy versus Cy is a bargain, says the Star's Dave Perkins. Wow. You'd think with this matchup the Blue Jays would want to charge more, not less. However, in Canada, baseball is competing with hockey. The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing in the NHL playoffs tonight against Ottawa. Nobody in Canada is thinking about baseball, yet. It is unfortunate. Now that the Bruins have lost perhaps Red Sox fans will make the trek to Toronto.

Pedro should be back to his old self tonight, especially against the Blue Jays. The Toronto Sun tells us that the Jays' are struggling at the plate and looking for reasons for the slow start. I do not expect them to find the answers tonight.

It is indeed worth the two dollars.

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