In any series that features Lowe and Wakefield in the rotation, a split is the best you can hope for. Friday night Pedro looked good, with an umpire that gave him a few calls he deserved, he would have looked great. Yesterday, Schilling was awesome. He basically threw one bad pitch, and Molina made him pay for it. Of course, he paid Molina back in the eighth.

   Unfortunately, there were two other games in the series that Pedro and Schilling didn’t start, which is a big problem lately. Lowe, Wakefield and Arroyo have a combined win total of 5 in June and July. Pedro and Schilling have 5 wins each in that time period. Bronson Arroyo has been the most effective of the 3-4-5 starters, giving up more than 2 earned runs just once in his last 6 starts. Wakefield has given up 5 or more earned runs in 4 of his last 7 starts. Lowe has given up 4 or more earned in 4 of his last 5 starts, the exception being the game he gave up 6 unearned. Hard to believe there was anyone against the Sox trying to get Randy Johnson. I’d take Randy Quaid over Lowe or Wake at this point.

   Ortiz continues to be an MVP candidate, getting the Red Sox on the board with a 3-run blast in the sixth. It seems like almost every one of his league-leading 83 RBI were meaningful. Other bright spots in the series were Kapler and Nomar at the plate, and dare I say, Mendoza pitching well. The Yankees finished their season series with Detroit, losing 4-2 and letting the Sox back within 7.

   By the way, is everyone else as sick of the Foxwoods jingle as I am?

   Then there’s Manny, but I think that is best left to the creativity of those leaving comments…