So...anything exciting happen when I was gone?

Welcome back Timmy! It's great to have you back, Wake. It's a real boost to our team to have you back in the starting rotation! I hope the rib's healed up. Yeah? Great. What? What's the latest? What's been going on with the team since you've been on the DL? Well, um...it's like this...

Tim Wakefield pitched last night for the first time in 49 games (isn't that his uniform number?) and lost 4-0 to the Orioles, who appear to have a pitching stud in the making in Eric Bedard. When Wakefield left the team in July to let his cracked ribs heal, the Red Sox were 3.5 games up in the East, and had the second-best record in baseball. In the 49 games since, the Sox have gone 18-31 and have fallen completely into irrelevance. I know we've argued that correlation is not causality, but in a post a couple of weeks ago, I did try to pin this free-fall at least in significant part to Wakefield's disappearance. He wouldn't have reversed the trend, but he sure as hell would have saved some of the pitching staff from their complete collapse.

It was good to see him back- not in vintage form, but at least an approximation of where he left off. It was nice of the offence to pick up where they left off with Wake, though. Before he left, he had as many starts and as many innings pitched as Beckett. Beckett had an ERA over 5, and Wake had one in the low 4's. Beckett was something like 11-3 and Wake was 7-8. Thanks, hitters! I suppose that at least this is one way that you can connect the fates of Tim Wakefield and Roger Clemens.

Meanwhile, the season continues its downward slide. I noticed this the other night during the first game with the Orioles- when Kason Gabbard had to come out of the game. I know that every team has injuries, but it just gets worse and worse. Gabbard had some sort of back or side problem. It was announced that Schilling will probably not pitch against the Yankees, with an apparently "sluggish" arm. Coco- who seems to be the only one actually hitting these days- looks like he's in tremendous pain with every swing of the bat on that heavily-taped finger. Wily Mo got hit on his surgically-repaired wrist, possibly re-damaging his hammate bone. I know that Terry Francona is trying to keep the guys motivated and playing the game the right way- he was quoted as saying "the season doesn't wind down. It comes to a screeching halt," meaning that you don't take it easy, even if you're out of the playoff race. But seriously, at some point, these boys need to just call it a day. Otherwise, you might see more than the season come to a screeching halt.

Meanwhile- over in the AL Central, things may have taken a serious late-season turn for the Twins. They had been surging, closing the gap on the Detroit Tigers and pulling ahead of the White Sox for the wild-card lead. Last night, though, rookie phenom (and the reason my fantasy team made the playoffs this year) Francisco Liriano had to shut it down for the season. He had been 12-3 with an ERA around 2.20, but elbow problems will shelve him until next spring. I don't know if this is enough to turn the tide completely and embolden the White Sox to pull back in front, but even if the Twins make the playoffs, this has got to seriously affect their chances. As recently as last week, you could make a reasonable argument that with Santana and Liriano pitching three games in a five-game series or four in a seven-game series, the Twins could legitimately go all the way. Without Liriano, well, would you bet the farm on Brad Radke? He's a solid pitcher, but he ain't exactly Schilling to Santana's Johnson...