Up against it

Well, well, well. Here we go again.... Red Sox vs Yankees. First, the pitching matchups for this weekend's series:

Friday:
NYY: Chien-Ming Wang (3-4, 4.13 ERA) vs. BOS: Tim Wakefield (5-5, 3.36)
Saturday:
NYY: Mike Mussina (2-3, 5.86) vs. BOS: Curt Schilling (5-2, 3.68)
Sunday:
NYY: Andy Pettitte (3-4, 2.51) vs. BOS: Josh Beckett (8-0, 2.65)

It's hard to say who has the pitching edge, considering every pitcher involved, with the exception of Beckett, has been up and down this year. But the Sox's bullpen has been incredible so far, while the Yankees staff keeps giving up leads late in games, including three straight against the Sox a few weeks ago. New York really needs to sweep the series to keep their division hopes alive, especially since they won't see the Sox again 'til August.

Things are not looking good for NY. They're 13.5 games back, Giambi's out for the season, Abreu can't hit, Phil Hughes somehow hurt himself worse WHILE he was hurt and will be out even longer, Melky can't hit, Jeter has become an error machine, Cano can't hit, Damon's banged up, and A-Rod is reportedly cheating on his wife AND the baseball gods. Clemens is supposed to save this mess? Doubt it.

I always get excited AND nervous when these two teams meet. I HATE seeing the Red Sox lose to the Yankees, I'd rather get swept by the Devil Rays. Boston has a chance to bury 'em this weekend, let's hope this downward spiral continues for the Evil Empire.