When I arrived this morning, I got a nice little email. This is all that was included:

If I was feeling poorly before, now I'm totally depressed.

The events of the last four days have been, well, humiliating.
After what the Chicago Tribune called an old-school beating, The Boston Herald's Steve Buckley boldly declares that these Sox are not worthy of October.

The Yankees out-pitched, out-hit and out-scored the Sox.

Most importantly they out-coached them.

As I write Eric Hinske just lined a double to centerfield. Welcome to Boston.

Hinske is playing right field. Not exactly what I want to see. Wily Mo has done such a good job lately that it seemed to make more sense to start him in place of Mike Lowell at least for Game 1. But hey, what do I know, I'm just a fan, but it seems curious considering the numbers.

Jason Johnson is pitching particularly well, so well in fact I doubt he'll be sent down anytime soon. Besides, who would pitch on Tuesday.

Game 2 pits a rookie against washup.

I guess the Toronto Blue Jays have given up on the season. Why else would they send Eric Hinske to a division rival?

Hinske is not horrible. The 2002 rookie of the year still has some life left. His left-handed bat is musch needed since the disabled list grabbed Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek.

Granted he is no Bobby Abreu. I wasn't surprised that the Sox went this route as opposed to acquiring Abreu. Since the 2005 All Star break Abreu's power numbers have dropped considerably. The rap on him is that he also has not played up to his full potential, dogging it over the last two years in Philly. I'm not sure how much of that is true. If there's any truth to it, there's no room for him in Boston.

Eric Hinske on the other hand seems to play hard whenever given the opportunity. He'll get opportunities beginning this weekend, perhaps as early as today during the double-header. Though he has not been added to the 25-man roster as of this post. They'll probably wait until after the first game and then boot Johnson's butt down to Pawtucket.

But that could be a little late considering Hinske has killed Wang's pitches (.545 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs in 11 AB). And has fared pretty well against Ponson too (.333)

Mike Lowell on the other hand has a .222 AVG. against Wang and hasn't got a hit vs. Ponson yet.

Boston is a little pitching heavy right now and correctly so, but I'm curious as how they plan on taking advantage of the newest member of the team.

Today I have nothing but questions. How do YOU think this weekend's series will go? The USA Today has a preview. As does half the country.

The Sox are now only 1 1/2 games out of the division lead and in the best of worlds could be 3 1/2 up on the Yankees. Though, a reality check is needed.

The Boston Herald offers that reality. It states that the Sox simply don't matchup with the better teams.

I strongly believe that the Sox could win three of five cutting the margin down to 1/2 a game by Tuesday.

But which three?

Regardless of The Big Jab's attempts to bring hope to the Red Sox fans by stating Chien-Ming Wang and Sidney Ponson's Fenway records (which both stink, frankly), it is unrealistic to think we can take two today.

Wang has 13 wins with a sub-4.00 ERA. Not too shabby for a fourth starter.

However, Wang may not be the pitcher everyone thinks he is. His wins have come at the expense of the AL West and sub-.500 teams, accept for one particular win at Yankee Stadium against the Sox. He also has a win against Toronto, but the Yankee offense bailed him out (he allowed four runs in six innings).

His last two outings have not gone so well - a no-decision against the White Sox and a loss vs. the Angels.

But it's that June 6 win against Boston that is particularly troubling. He went seven strong innings allowing eight hits and one earned run. Wang is also a workhorse, going deep into games, allowing his team many chances to win.

The same can not be said for Boston's Jason Johnson.

What a great game. It had everything - clutching hitting, a Big Papi home run, beautiful relief pitching and the all important win.

With the series Detroit series behind, the Sox can now turn their attention to New York.

This day off is also most important. The bullpen needs a rest as do Manny, Coco and the boys.

Coco, by the way, may have turned the corner. Since the sweep by Kansas City, Coco has hit .360 with two dingers and five rbis. his throwing still desturbs me however. Yet again, his throws to the infield reach on multiple hops. Holding the ball much to long, his timing of release is most definitely off. This usually happens when he rushes to make a play. He needs to relax a bit out there.

Coco has not done exactly what I expected. It pains me to write this, but he is virtually half the player Johnny Damon is. Though the numbers are skewed because of the lineups. Damon has had the benefit of hitting ahead of Derek Jeter - who is batting a hefty .340 - every day.

Coco has not had such luxury. When he first came back from injury he was placed in the eight hole ahead of Gonzalez and now he leads off ahead of Loretta's and his .303 (not too shabby). The Boston Herald agrees.

Coco's hand injury may have just now fully healed. I think it took a lot longer than any expected and he was gutsy enough to play through the injury. I hope he can take this momentum forward through the weekend.

The lineup to me is bit off. Why is Pena batting so low in the order? He should be right behind Manny Ramirez, sending Youkilis to the seven or eight hole. This is not meant to be punitive, but instead give more meat to the middle of the lineup. Plus it gives the lower part of the order much more presence.

Baseball is all about ebb and flow. It's a long season for a reason. No one is expected to win every game. Not the Red Sox and not the Yankees. It simply can not happen.

What's unfortunate is that the Red Sox have had too many ebbs. They had a five-game losing streak (to two of the weaker teams in the league) and are in the midst of another brief slump. It won't last. It can't. The team is too good to allow that to happen. The Boston Herald says the team as some real problems.

As advertised last night's game pitted two of the best pitchers in the game against each other. Jeremy Bonderman was a force. Curt Schilling fought the good fight.

I loved the tension, the defense and the pitching. I even enjoyed listening to Dennis Leary go nuts in the NESN booth with Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo. Funny stuff.

There was really only one problem - The Sox lost.

Terry Francona says: "That's the first time all season someone has even asked me about a decision that De[Marlo] (Hale) made."

And hopefully it's also the last time. See MLB for the complete story.

In the eighth inning, the Sox were rallying back and had a chance to load the bases with Wily Mo coming up at the plate but it was all for not as Manny lumbered to home way after the throw to home. Out by a mile and a half.

That was the end of a terrible evening. Hale defends himself in the Boston Herald.

I'm not too surprised at the results. What is surprising is the fact that Beckett lost without giving up a home run.

Something is not right with Beckett. I'm sure he is healthy enough. He's either changed his delivery to the point that he is tipping his pitches or has lost all confidence in his curve thus reducing the amount of pitches in the arsenal.

Turning down Red Sox tickets is not something I'm in the habit of doing. But when your wife is nine months pregnant and could go into labor at any moment, you only have one choice to make.

As a result, I've missed a couple of opportunities. I am most certainly bummed I won't be at the diamond when the Tigers come to town. (that sounds funny, doesn't it.)

At the beginning of the year all those people who thought they got "stuck" with this matchup have got to be rejoicing today.

The Tigers hold the best record in baseball. They lead their division by 5 1/2 games and look to be the team to beat.

If they gave comeback of the year awards to teams, the Tigers would certainly be the odds-on favorite. Let's not forget that Detroit only a season ago had lost 91 games. In fact, the Tigers have had 12 consecutive below-.500 years.

The Boston Globe questions whether the Tigers are for real.

Though most of the baseball world is surprised by the Tigers resurgence, they shouldn't be. The Tigers have done a few things right over the last few years.

I have a hard time writing "worst team in baseball," when referring to the Kansas City Royals. It is obvious, at least these last three games, that they are better than advertised.

What is going on?

The Sox have put a bunch of crooked numbers on the board but somehow, someway have found a way to lose.

There is simply no way that Boston should be losing these games. No matter how much I'd like to believe that Kansas City is a major league club that is capable of beating the Red Sox, on paper it is not true. Sure on any given day a team may beat any other team, but thrice? Give me a break.

Perhaps some, like the Hartford Courant, may look at the onslaught of injuries as a factor. But every team in basebll faces injuries. It is a fact of professional sports. If injuries were indeed the reason than we would not see the Yankees atop the division.

One may be inclined to blame the losses on individuals: Lester on Tuesday, Papelbon on Wednesday, Schilling on Thursday. That's way too easy. A team wins as a team, loses as a team. Papelbon may have faced a different situation if the passed balls or wild pitches didn't allow a run. Javy Lopez is still learning the pitching styles of the staff. The Boston Globe writes about his learning curve. Sure Schill was tiring and should have been relieved, but at the start of the eighth he had not thrown 100 pitches. And well, I've already written about the young Lester.

I strongly believe that the inaction at the deadline is resulting in losses. Not wanting to mortgage the future, the organization opted to perhaps sacrifice the season.

I don't by the fact that they didn't want to part with Manny Delcarmen or Craig Hansen or any number of other minor league players. They traded two potential stars this year already (Hanley Ramirez and Andy Marte). Those two "prospects" were higher on the charts than the two "rookie" pitchers.

The Sox have been filling holes with water instead of cement (i.e. Jason Johnson).

Now, the Yankees are three up and the Sox are two games back in the wildcard.

All is not lost. There is still plenty of baseball left. Coming back to Boston will most certainly help, though watching David Wells on the mound may be more painful than watching the last five games.

A side dish:
According to the Kansas City Star, Maine's own Gov. Baldacci is sending 41 lobsters to David Ortiz - one for each of his home runs. Apparently Big Papi likes his seafood, so the lobsters are a way to entice the slugger to come and visit the state. Eat well.

The Sox have reached bottom. Not only are they 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees, they are also a game back in the wild card behind Chicago and the surprisingly strong Twins.

Losing to the Royals was just about the last straw. The Hartford Courant story which I found via the International News Service in Australia asks if it gets aby worse? Like the rest of the world, I think not.

The Royals are the worst team in baseball, perenially rebuilding for the future. So low in fact, that they could win the remainder of their games and still fail to make the playoffs.

Yet, they can put six runs on the board vs. a potential title contender. Amazing. George Brett must be proud.

If K.C. could find some pitching they could get themselves out of the cellar. The home field is still pretty deep, so it is a little surprising that they have allowed more runs score than any other team in baseball. In fact, the second team on the list (Baltimore) allowed 40 fewer runs.

The hitting isn't that much better. K.C. does get on base more than nine other clubs, but they have no power. Only two players on the roster have double-digit home runs (Mark Teahen and Reggie Sanders). To put it in better perspective: The Royals have a team total of 84 HRs (15 hitters). Manny, Big Papi and Mike Lowell have 85.

Some positives:

A few things came to mind as I watched the game from the comfort of my air-conditioned livingroom. At times I paced, moving from the couch to the rocker to the sofa. Sometimes I cursed. But more times than not, I sat in awe.

I was hoping the trading deadline would have passed with a loud bang. But instead, all I heard was Theo Epstein's whimper. He seemed utterly disappointed. He's probably asking the same question, everyone else is = "How could the Red Sox let the deadline pass without any trade?" It seems irresponsible to me.

On the surface Epstein makes some sense. Most of the teams, sensing desparation, asked for too much. Epstein and the boys did not want any of that. I'm a little perplexed as to why they value their current staff so highly.

Granted the team is in first-place, albeit marginally. And yes, Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen have been very steady hands in an otherwise shaky bullpen. But are they truly the future of the franchise? Can they bring us a pennant or better yet another World Championship?

Now I'm not privy to what was set on the table. I'm not sure who the Sox were talking about or what players were involved, Seems to me that something, anything should have been done to improve the 40-man roster.