The ten-game swing through tough opponents in Toronto, Detroit, and New York is almost done. So far, the Red Sox have gone 3-3, and seem to be righting the ship a bit after two disastrous games in Toronto. After salvaging the finale of that game, the Sox headed to Motown and took two of three behind Curt Schilling and Matt Clement, although nods must be given to Kevin Youkilis and Jason Grilli for handing the Sox both games.
Josh Beckett (v. Mike Mussina), David Pauley (v. Chien-Ming Wang), Curt Schilling (v. Jaret Wright) and Tim Wakefield (v. Randy Johnson) will battle it out in the four-game series coming up. With the Red Sox in first by a half-game, a sweep by either team will create incredible momentum for the victors and demoralization by the Yankees. If the Yankees get swept with the decimated roster they’re running out now, their streak of eight wins in 11 games despite massive injury losses will be but a distant memory, and changes will start being made.
If the Red Sox are swept, the call for a dependable starter is going to increase in chorus, as David Wells still looks a ways away from retiring, and despite Matt Clement’s start today, Clement remains a fairly risky play. In essence, a sweep is going to engender changes in either ballclub. The Red Sox need to do their best to knock the Yankees down. That goes without saying, as they should do that all the time, but it should be especially important now, with the offense struggling as it is with injuries. Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez, and Gary Sheffield are all either not playing or day-to-day with injuries. The time to strike is now.
