The game last night between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees was rained out but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any good news. Thanks to the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland A’s, the Red Sox have picked up a little ground in the AL Wild Card standings.
With the Blue Jays beating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1, the local nine now has a 2.5 game lead over the Rays with six games remaining (Rays have five). The magic number (any combination of Red Sox wins and Rays losses) for the Red Sox in regards to the Rays is now at four.
The A’s beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3-1 which pushes the Red Sox lead over the Angels in the wild card to 3.5 games. The magic number for the Angels to be eliminated is three.
With all of the rain that has encompassed the east coast, the Yankees actually took the Red Sox into consideration when calling this one early. Shocking I know but it was the right thing to do on the Yanks part.
As much as you don’t want to play a doubleheader, you also don’t want to have your players up until all hours playing a game with a quick turnaround. Plus with a wet field, which it’ll probably be anyways on Saturday, there’s always the risk of injury.
The Yankees are already in the playoffs, the Red Sox aren’t (yet!).
A win today for the Red Sox would be huge especially with Tim Wakefield and John Lackey starting the doubleheader on Sunday. Nothing against Wake, but he hasn’t been all that great lately. But despite all of this, you’d much rather have to battle-tested veterans on the mound instead of the youngens.
You’ve got Jon Lester on the mound this afternoon after being bumped after the rainout. He’s had good success against the Yanks.
We just need to hope he can replicate that again and again.
And oh yeah, a little help again from the Blue Jays and Athletics would be pretty nice too.
We’ll be back later with this afternoon’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
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Red Sox face race against time as season winds down [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Clay Buchholz braces for bullpen uncertainty [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Sox rained out in the Bronx [Boston Globe]
Turmoil won’t shake Francona [Boston Globe]
Management course [Boston Globe]
Buchholz may pitch in a game next week [Boston Globe]
Bosses denying any rift [Boston Herald]
Theo, Tito are two good [Boston Herald]
Yankees to give no gifts [Boston Herald]
Clay Bucholz’s day may be near [Boston Herald]
Sox scramble to adjust after rainout [CSN New England]
Rainout could have ripple effect for Lester [ESPN Boston]
Buchholz, Lester, the rotation and other Friday notes [Full Count]
Theo Epstein, Terry Francona Both Deny Any Reported Issues Between Them [NESN.com]
Red Sox-Yankees Rainout Likely to Alter the Future Plans for Both Teams [NESN.com]
Video: Theo Epstein, Terry Francona Shoot Down Any Rumored Problems, Both Focused Solely on Winning [NESN.com]
Video: Theo Epstein Calls for Red Sox to Get Up ‘Off the Mat’ Like They Did in April [NESN.com]
Friday game rained out; doubleheader set for Sunday [Providence Journal]
Epstein: No problem with Tito; ‘Team can turn it around’ [Providence Journal]
A choke for the ages? [Providence Journal]
Major-league lesson: Don’t show up the pitcher [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Francona goes with gut on Lackey [Providence Journal]
Rain throws Red Sox, Yankees a curve [RedSox.com]
Taking swings, Youkilis, Drew make strides [RedSox.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNE, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
Photo credit: AP Photo
