8/14: Important series begins.

In what is a crucial series, one of our aces, Jon Lester, takes the mound against Kevin Millwood. Lester has been awesome of late, and Millwood has had a nice season, although somewhat lucky. Take two of three, Red Sox.

8/11: The battle of young, talented arms.

Junichi Tazawa makes his first Big League start against Rick Porcello. Let's see what Tazawa is made of...

8/7: Beckett vs. Burnett. Again…

Josh Beckett hopes to get the Sox back on track until our next questionable starter takes the hill...

8/6: The first game of “The Series.”

John Smoltz and his good FIP take to Yankees Stadium, trying to finally put together a quality start. He will square up with Joba Chamberlain. The Red Sox need a split, but want even more...

8/5: Trying to bounce back.

The Red Sox try to bounce back from a game that not only exhausted their bullpen, but also may have exhausted their fans :)

8/4: Battle of the Arms.

Lester faces off against the tough righty Matt Garza.

8/2: Clay hopes to develop further.

Buchholz hopes to evolve as a starter. Hopefully that fastball command can improve--hasn't been great in his first few starts of the season.

8/1: Beckett takes the hill.

BOS 5, TB 3: Beckett’s back

Any questions about Josh Beckett returning to his 2007 form were answered against the Tampa Bay Rays. At least for one start.

Poll: Who wins the first “AL East Showdown”?

Today we pick right back up where we left off last season; playing the Tampa Bay Rays. For those of you who don't believe early season matchups matter over the long haul, I'll remind you that when it comes to the 2009 AL East three teams are fighting for what will likely be two playoff spots. The difference between October baseball and some late season tee times could likely come down to only a handful of games. That handful starts today.

With that in mind, our first "in season" poll question asks "who will draw first blood in the AL East"?

As always, the poll can be found in the left hand sidebar. Votes will be tallied tomorrow.