Glass half full in the AL East

With one game left in the series, the potentially epic Red Sox v Yankees four game showdown could end up in a damp squib tie, 2-2, if Lester does the business tonight. Most Sox fans were hoping for a sneaky 3-1 win on the basis of the pitching matchups, however Dustin Mosley (who!?) out-pitched Beckett and now we’re staring down the barrel of a 1-3 reverses, or 2-2 tie if Johnny L is on his game.

Disaster?

Not so fast! As Boston and the Kajillion Dollar Bronx Bombers slugged it out in the City where money can buy you anything and anyone except LeBron, Tampa were busy completely and utterly self destructing up in Canada.

They were (very) almost no hit (again) last night by the completely underwhelming Brandon Morrow, they have lost five in a row and Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis are possibly heading to the DL. That’s 19 wins total subtracted out of their banged up rotation. Meanwhile supposed ace ‘Big Game’ James Shields is hemorrhaging runs like a BP Oil platform.

I have to say I have never ‘got’ the ‘Big Game’ tag that has been applied to James Shields. Where does this wafer thin reputation come from, exactly? He is 10-10 this season with an ERA hovering around 5 (4.91). Looking at his game log, ‘Big Game’ has given up at least 2 earned runs in every single start bar just one this season. Every other game he has started he has given up at least 2 runs! Is that the stuff of a front line starter?

'Big Game' doing what he does best - giving it up

To get back to the point, Tampa’s implosion couldn’t have come at a better time. A steady few weeks, a couple of winning series from Boston, and they could leap frog Tampa for the AL Wild Card spot.

Just shows, there is always a bright side to every day, despite not making up ground in the AL East, Boston has shown that they can win in the Bronx and has also put themselves in a position to overtake the suddenly panicking Rays.

Stay tuned, it’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks in the East.


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