Its not often that the home stretch of the baseball season - the last week that is - is really a home series. But it is. And with 6 games to play, the Red Sox magic number is at 5. Very attainable, though at this point, the magic number doesn’t matter a whole lot. With all 4 AL playoff teams clinched, its all really just a matter of deciding who plays who, when that happens, and who gets home field advantage.

OK, so I guess those things are pretty important too. I’d like to know what day my playoff tickets are for personally. I have a schedule here! If I’m going to have to be at Fenway at 1:00 next Wednesday, I want to know today.

But all other things aside, I am hoping the Red Sox can get hot this week, being at home and all, and ride some momentum into the playoffs. You would have thought that these two games with Oakland would have been a big deal when you looked at the schedule back in March, but Oakland hasn’t made their typical Billy Beane comeback in the second half, and are coming in with a record of 75-82, almost as bad as the Rangers! And the Sox are going up against two of their most mediocre pitchers in Calude Gaudin and Joe Blanton, both who may be making their last starts of the season. These are two very hittable pitchers (at least sometimes) and I have a feeling the Sox are going to be coming out on fire.

The real question that is haunting me, and I’m sure you, is when will Manny and Youk be back. Getting those guys back in the lineup should be just what the doctor ordered. Or, more like getting Eric Hinske out of the lineup has a real benefit. I know he’s a decent utility player, and I appreciate what he brings to the table, but honestly, this guy is as close to an instant out as you get. Losing Manny/Youk and forcing Hinske to play is like spotting the other team a run every time you go out. It just can’t happen, and they both need to be ready to go in the playoffs.

Now, everyone go ahead and do your Yankee’s lose dance and hopefully the number 3 will be leading tomorrow.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 10:05 am and is filed under General Postings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.