Junkees Batter Wakefield, Cut Lead to 9.5

When Wakefield pitches, it's all or nothing. Either he's fabulous, or he gets tatooed. He's been that way throughout his career, and Monday night was no exception. The Junkees took advantage, stealing some bases, and Boston had no chance.

While watching the game, Wang looked impressive, but looking at the stats, he wasn't exactly Cy Young. He gave up 7 hits and walked 3 in 6.1 innings, and was lucky to get out of some jams. Still, he deserves credit for the end result.

The Junkee offense did just enough to get by. Nice to see Mientkiewicz (0 for 4, .212 batting average) continue to stink up the joint. Wow, picking him up was the ultimate PR move. Ex-Met, guy who caught the last out of the '04 Series for the BoSox, and a character. And that last name ... you think he'd be a Yankee if his name were Doug Smith?

Anyway, the way I see this series is this - the worst that can happen is that the Junkees sweep, in which case they'd be 7.5 games out. But even if Boston takes the next two, that would increase the lead to 11.5. And I would still be uncomfortable. I've learned to never count out the Junkees. Until I see them mathematically eliminated, I'll continue to be paranoid.

Looking ahead, you have Julian Tavarez, another guy with whom you don't know what you'll get, taking on Mike Mussina, for which -- if you think about it -- the same can be said. So expect a high scoring contest on Tuesday.