Game time: 1:05 pm

Scheduled starters: Chien-Ming Wang (13-5, 3.84) v. Jason Johnson (3-11, 6.26)


The game will be on ESPN as well as on NESN and YES.

Boston weather: 9 am obsevation at BOS: Wind out of the southwest at 7 mph, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 7,000 feet, 15,000 scattered, 20,000 overcast, temperature 71F, DP 62F.


Forecast: The high cloud cover we've got right now will start to break up by late morning as some cooler air moves in from the northwest. It will be a mostly sunny day, with winds out of the south at less than 15 mph. It should be in the upper 70's or low 80's by game time, depending on when the overcast breaks up.

A south wind blows across from right to left.

Game thread up before 10:00 AM.....the Yanks must be in town....Damn this should be exciting!!

Wang v. Johnson. We're in for a real cockfight today. Go Sox!

Normally I'd take my Johnson over anyone elses Wang but I'll admit, I'm a little worried about today. However, since I'm going to Game One, I will be standing firmly behind my Johnson.

GO !!!

*MOJO* - BOS vs NYY Five Day 1



The Yankees come to town for a huge 5 game series at the Fens this weekend. With how these teams have been playing, this is a virtual ALDS for the American League East... except it's only August.

The first game of today's double header features a matchup of phallic proportions, as Johnson faces Wang. The two will try and pound the zone, and hope their balls don't get batted around or stroked too deep. The one who can keep the ball down and in will most likely come out on top. Despite their differences, there is one thing the two will certainly agree on: they are happy that there are no childish individuals who would make crude innuendos for their game today.

As for why the five fingers for today: Jason Johnson has yet to find any success in a Boston uniform, despite his talent. He isn't this bad. He just needs to remember how to pitch effectively, which is stored deep in his muscle memory. And if that doesn't work, he can still win the crowd over at least by delivering a message to the Yankees.

What did the five fingers say to the face?



A-ha ha ha. It's a celebration, bitches.

[codebox]NY Yankees Boston
---------- ------

Pos Player HR RBI AVG. Pos Player HR RBI AVG.
--- ------ -- --- ---- --- ------ -- --- ----
CF Damon, Johnny 18 59 .289 CF Crisp, Coco 6 26 .281
SS Jeter, Derek 10 71 .338 2B Loretta, Mark 4 46 .303
RF Abreu, Bobby 1 6 .361 DH Ortiz, David 42 113 .286
DH Giambi, Jason 34 93 .253 LF Ramirez, Manny 32 93 .320
3B Rodriguez, Alex 25 86 .285 1B Youkilis, Kevin 13 60 .293
2B Cano, Robinson 7 34 .327 3B Lowell, Mike 14 60 .283
C Posada, Jorge 15 59 .270 RF Hinske, Eric 12 29 .264
1B Wilson, Craig 2 5 .277 C Lopez, Javy 8 35 .265
LF Cabrera, Melky 7 38 .292 SS Gonzalez, Alex 9 41 .272
P Wang, Chien-Ming (13-5, 3.84) P Johnson, Jason (3-11, 6.26)[/codebox]


08/18 12:10:11 ET

Gotta love the Torre quotes...

Hinske in RF - thats one way to go. WMP better be playing the 2nd game. Should have put Hinske at 3B instead of RF though IMO.

With Johnson on the mound, I'd rather have Hinske in RF.

My bad I forgot Johnson was pitching the first game - should have Cora at 2nd then too or Pedroia (wishful thinking).

Breslow was optioned to Pawtucket to make room for Hinske.

Sox Press Release



In his blog on Boston.com, Eric Wilbur is speculating that Johnson goes down after the first game to make room for Foulke. That may be why Johnson was switched to the first game.

This could be the end of the Jason Johnson era in Boston. How fitting an opponent.

I just beat the NYY on PS2, so we're a lock for game 1!

Johnson went 6.2 with 3 ER and Breslow, MDC and Paps carried the pen the rest of the way.

SEAN MCDONOUGH ON ESPN!!!!!!

SEAN I MISS YOU!

What does Breslow's demotion do to the PS2's prophetic prediction?

I'm invoking AWK for the 5 game SWEEP!

Terrific start

Well, I mean, do we really want to set the tone for this series with the worst pitcher in the ML this year, who probably knows he's going to be DFA'd after the game?

The game's not on WEEI! They've got the Jimmy Fund telethon on! Is the game on radio at all?

New rule for today:

For those of us who can't watch/listen/gameday today's game, SAY WHAT HAPPENS!! Did Damon hit a leadoff home run?

Blow it up, Theo.

How close was it to a dinger?

It wasn't close to a homer. It bounced in the triangle.

Damon hit it to the triangle, could have had an inside the parker since Coco kicked it around, and then threw the ball about 12 feet in, but held him. Instead Damon scored on a single up the middle by Jeter that was smoked.

Now Jeter's about to steal second, and the count is 2-0

Leadoff triple to the triangle. Batted in by Jeter who's on first with a single

Sorry for replying to myself, but I found the game on 1280 AM, whatever station that is.

Anni

It's 70 degrees and cloudy and Giambi is sweating like a baboon.

AM 680 Anni

Yes, I've got the home town broadcast on gameday audio.

Get Snyder up

All three players with the 20/20 first two letters of their first and last name are B, O, or A

BObby BOnds, BArry BOnds, BObby ABreu.

Wierd, huh?


Edit: The game is on 650 ot 680 or whatever it is. Their AM sister station.

Well, at least it can only go up for here, right?

At least Wang has shown ample suckage over his past two starts, not Johnson suckage, but suckage all the same. Besides, what's Wang's ERA at Fenway this year? 8.18? Let's hope it continues because we are going to need to it.

Belt high meatballs. Every pitch in the strike zone.

Well, he only pitched to Damon in the 7th... so not too much I guess...

Why am I watching this monkey sh!t fight?

Jason Johnson: Worst Theo acquisition ever (Jeremy Giambi is a close 2nd).

I'm surprised that not more is made of this; what the hell was Theo going on when he traded for him (even if he gave up little). I mean he does have the worst winning percentage of ALL TIME with 100 or more decisions. Jason Johnson is a poor man's Matt Young. Ugh.

I'll put the over/under for first inning runs surrendered by Jason Johnson at 3.5.

Who takes the under?

well at least arod is up, double play time thanks

I have a question for everyone...

Jason Johnson... is he the worst, or second worst player in the majors?

How about a double-plA-Rod?

Nice to see Johnson's going to single-handedly ruin the bullpen for the series all by himself.

Not me. The real question is whether he manages to get the under on pitches. As of now, he's on target for 60 for the inning...

I beg to differ, Jeff Suppan is the worst, Jeremy Giambi is #2, Johnson is #3... I mean, Johnson cost us nothing, those guys cost us some things. Suppan cost us the NL batting leader, and we got weasled out of an excellent lefty reliever, Giambi cost us a potentially useful pitcher, and Johnson cost us nothing.

thanks lopez that would have been strike 3, honestly, combining javy and johnson is deadly

Don't blame that on Johnson, he just struck out A-Rod but Javy dropped it...

sweet pop ups work

Yeah but he hung two curves that A-Rod jsut missed

I am not enjoying the Javier Lopez or J Johnson eras. On the other hand, I don't think the Yankees enjoyed that A-Rod pop-up.

A-Rod pop-out. 2 down

Can an MVP ever been taken away retroactively? If so, I think AROD should get his MVP awards taken away as a sort of lifetime unachievement award sort of thing.