BIG sigh of relief

OK. Here's The Monk sitting contentedly on his ample arse with the Yanks up 8-0 top 7 thinking maybe he should hit the TiVo equivalent if the Mooooooooooose gets another coupla outs . . . then comes Bellhorn's double, notsobad b/c Moooooooose got 19/27 of the way to a perfect game. Then with two out fatboy2, who's 3-for-35+ against Moooooooose gets a hit. Uck. Then Millar, the guy with the raccoon's butt on his chin, whacks a double, Trawt Nixon gets a single and all heck is breaking loose. By the time the blasted satellite goes out with fatboy2 up in the 8th as the tying run -- the TYING run at the plate after Moooooooose whacked the first 19 guys he faced and the Yanks had run up an 8-0 lead.

WTF.

Thank goodness for Rivera.

Some thoughts and observations from the game:

(1) I liked Varitek better when he was 0-for-the-Stadium, I feared that he'd hit the bomb off Sturtze that he did because Varitek was WAY overdue and Sturtze will give up his share of bombs.

(2) Jeter, Arod, Sheffield combined for 0 RBI, Matsui, Williams and Posada had 9.

(3) Why does Millar only kill the Yankees? I liked him better when he was on the Marlins.

(4) If I'm Francona, Schilling starts game 5, regardless of the game count as of game 4. Why? The Yanks allowed 74 runs in 10 games at Fenway this year. Do the math, the Yanks can't pitch there. Therefore Schilling is a luxury. Plus, the Yanks usually cannot hit Wakefield, just look at last year's ALCS before the Boone at bat. If the RedSawx lead 2-1, they're better off with him going in game 5 so they can count on at least a 3-2 lead; if they trail 2-1, it's no big deal b/c the Yankee chucker will be Vazquez or Duque -- a stiff or a rust bucket -- against Wakefield, who got some work tonight.

(5) Rivera is awesome. The rest of the Yanks' bullpen cannot get the RedSawx out. Tom Gordon has given up 11 ER in about 11.1 postseason innings in his career; Rivera has allowed 8 ER in about 102 innings in postseason play.

(6) The RedSawx scored more runs in the 7th than they had in 8 of 9 games at the Stadium this year.

(7) I've been a critic of Bernie Williams since his awful ALDS against Cleveland in '97 (yeah, I can hold my grudges), but he's been very good in the last three games -- 6 RBI and clutch hits.

(8) Matsui should have caught that triple Ortiz hit in the 8th; he makes some nice plays but he also honks some flyballs when the centerfielder is near him. But Gordon should not be giving up those kinds of hits.