9.05.02:  As I look forward to the start of the Patriots' title defense, a couple last head scratchers as we shovel dirt on the Sox.

Did we acquire Cliff Floyd to be a platoon player down the stretch? Would Tony Clark be getting September at-bats on any other team in the Majors? Not any other contenders, and other team?

If Cliff can pinch hit, he can play. This is absurd. He doesn't get any more days off, Grady. Zero. And Tony Clark gets no more starts. Zero. No more starting three No. 9 hitters.

The latest "nail in the coffin" loss can be distilled down to four pitches, two 3-1 pitches and two 0-2 pitches. In the top of the second Jason Varitek and Tony Clark both worked the count to 3-and-1. They both got nice "hittin' speed" fastballs from Andy Pettitte, 89-90 m.p.h. and right down the middle. Varitek popped to second. Clark popped to short. Assuming you are sitting fastball and get a mediocre one in a good spot to hit, how do you not at the very least hit the ball hard? Oh, right, you suck. Varitek has now gone 91 at-bats without a home run in this stretch run. The guy is listed at 237 pounds for chrissakes! He's a frickin' slap hitter who strikes out a lot. Yuck. And Tony Clark... yeesh. How does this guy get a start in a crucial game?

In the bottom of the third Derek Lowe quickly got ahead of No. 9 hitter Juan Rivera 0-2 but left a pitch up and over the plate and Rivera whacked it to right for a double, igniting a three-run rally that was capped when Jorge Posada drove in Bernie Williams. Williams reached when an errant 0-2 breaking ball from Lowe glanced off his shin.

So there it is. We had two guys who couldn't hit the ball out of the infield, never mind reach base, on fat 3-1 pitches. And they had two guys not only reach base but score runs despite being down 0-and-2. And that's how you lose close games.

The Sox are pretty much done. This idea that they'd play .900 ball down the
stretch is a fantasy. The Jays are much better with the kids and we can't beat the O's Rodrigo Lopez. Assuming the Angels and Mariners play .500 combined against the amazin' A's and last-place Rangers, the Sox will be stuck watching one of them win each time they play. No way to gain ground on them both. Burkett is brutal. Castillo is brutal against everyone but the Yankees. And Pedro can't lift his leg.

Still, Petey slide-stepping for 90 pitches still gives us a better chance to win than those other two guys.

But, as we all knew, there was no way we were going to overcome that 5-20 stretch in one-run games. The grim truth is that $115 million bought the sixth-best team in the American League.

Go Pats!