On Deck (Game 45): Sox @ Yanks (Part Nine)

The rubber game of this three-game set between the Sox and the Yanks features the best pitching matchup of the lot. Curt Schilling is having almost as productive of a year with his arm as he is with his mouth. Pettitte has pitched to tough luck all year long, and I feel bad for him, but you have to deal with what your given. If the team only scores three, you better make sure you only give up two.

Pettitte understands this, and he’s the last guy who will ever complain about lack of run support and/or relievers blowing his leads. Tonight is a huge game for the Yanks. I’m not going to make any ridiculous Nowitzki-esque statements about the season being over if they don’t win, but for my sanity alone, this one is a must-win.

The bats woke up for three straight games, then fell asleep again last night. If this one is going into the win column, they need to batter Schilling and get him out of the game by the seventh.

On another note, how many people out there check ESPN.com for game previews? They have this nifty statistical regeneration whatchamacallit that predicts the outcome of games (pictured below).

Above is the machine's prediction for tonight, unfortunately, it always seems to spit out the Yanks as a favorite, no matter who they're playing. Which means it's been wrong about 23 times so far this year. Damn machine.

Sox blog-of-the-day: The House That Dewey Built

In other news: Giambi apparently likes the greenies too.