Defeat the Empire

When John Olerud was a Met, I loved him.

When John Olerud left the Mets to sign with Seattle...I still liked him.

When John Olerud signed with the Yankees after being cut by Seattle...I still couldn't dislike him.

And now, I feel comfortable loving the guy again.

On a night when Manny Ramirez was out of the Red Sox lineup, and David Ortiz went 0-for-4, the Sox needed firepower somehow. They got it from an unlikely source.

Olerud's 2 HR's and 6 RBI made him the toast of Beantown. And, it also makes Omar Minaya look like a fool for going with Doug Mientkiewicz over Olerud, who unlike Dougie, can actually hit.

The long-struggling Bronson Arroyo got back on track tonight, too. He allowed just 4 runs over 7 innings to win his 11th game. With the way Boston throws up runs, if you can get it to the 8th inning without imploding, that's usually good enough.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched the 8th inning and allowed two hits, but struck out the side before allowing a run. Mike Timlin notched his 5th save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Before the game, the Red Sox activated four players, including Keith Foulke. The others were IF Alejando Machado, former Marlins LHP Matt Perisho, and RHP Chad Harville. Harville was claimed off waivers from the Astros earlier in the week.

.139/.258/.200
Those above numbers were the hitting percentages of Mariners' catcher Miguel Ojeda heading into today's afternoon game against the Yankees. Shitty, huh? Well, that means nothing to Tanyon Sturtze.

Sturtze allowed a seventh-inning, solo home run to Ojeda in the seventh inning that broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Mariners the lead for good. The M's were trailing for most of the first six innings until Jaret Wright was knocked out of the game after taking a ball to the collarbone off the bat of Raul Ibanez.

After that, two members of the 2004 Red Sox proceeded to give up earned runs, namely, Alan Embree and Ramiro Mendoza. With those two and strikeout king Mark Bellhorn, it looks like the Yankees M.O. for 2005 and on is to pick out of Boston's trash bin.

Here's a nice shot of Bellhorn in his Yankee attire:


Thanks for Game 6, Mark. But, you suck.

Today's Schedule

Orioles (Maine, 1-1, 2.70) @ Red Sox (DiNardo, 0-0, 10.80)

Lenny DiNardo makes a spot start for Boston, leaving us wondering, isn't there a better option? 5-6 IP, 5-6 ER should be the goal for DiNardo, and let the offense do the rest.

Mets (Zambrano, 7-10, 4.07) @ Marlins (Willis, 18-8, 2.61)

Can you blame me for not wanting to write about another depressing Mets loss? Talking about Johnny O and Miguel Ojeda just was a more entertaining endeavor. Zamby pitches for his life once more as the Mets take on Cy Young hopeful Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins.

Yankees (Leiter, 7-10, 5.75) @ Athletics (Haren, 11-10, 3.99)

The Yanks make their second trip to Almaeda County, but this time, the A's are good. Met folk hero Al Leiter, who's pitched decently as a Yankee, takes on former Cardinal Danny Haren. Haren was aquired in the Mark Mulder deal by the A's, and looks to be a fine young pitcher with a great future ahead of him.

Other Notes

-The Jets completed their preseason with a 37-14 win over the Eagles. The defense was very impressive, led by safeties Kerry Rhodes and Rashad Washington, who each had an interception. Chad Pennington rebounded from his poor performance against the Giants by leading a touchdown drive in his only action of the game.