Say it ain’t so, a sweep in the opening rivalry series of the 2007 season at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. As bad as that sounds, what was more discomforting was the back-to-back-to-back-to-back homerun performance started by Manny Ramirez in the third inning, a record first time in Red Sox history. But as the dust begins to settle on an unmemorable weekend, I have a feeling Yankees fans have a little more to smile about than most would think.

The Boston Red Sox have been boasting a rejuvenated rotation this season that has been dominant early on. Starting their 1-2-3 against New York worked out well for Boston as a depleted Yankees rotation appeared well overmatched in the series. With the exception of Andy Pettitte’s performance in the series opener, Yankees pitching was dreadful, from the rotation through the bullpen. But did we honestly expect much from twenty-four year olds Jeff Karstens, who was making his first start of the season fresh off the disabled list, or Chase Wright making only his second Major League start? Look at the scoreboard, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6, not bad considering the Yankees threw their worst and faced Boston’s best. And speaking of Boston’s best, how about their performances? Curt Schilling got roughed up for 5 runs on 8 hits and Josh Beckett faired about the same, giving up 4 earned runs on 9 hits. And there was Boston’s secret weapon, Dice-K. The Yankees lineup hardly looked intimidated, even with two of their top hitters out of the action they still managed 6 runs on 8 hits off of Matsuzaka. Four games into the season and I don’t think Dice-K has quite lived up to a $100 million dollar price tag. A generous 2-2 record and 4.00 ERA doesn’t quite translate into the hype we have all been led to believe. Sure he has 31 strikeouts in 27 innings, but he has also given up 25 hits in those innings and is starting to appear more as the Wily Mo Pena of the pitching staff, strikeout or hit.

Nevertheless, series one of rivalry baseball has left its mark on the 2007 season with the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees right out of Boston. As humiliating as it was, the Yankees will look to avenge the series in New York this coming weekend. And with Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina coming off the disabled list, New York fans will expect the Yankees to return the favor.

(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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