For everybody in New England who’s worried that the Patriots season may have ended before it started, I’d like to remind you that there’s still almost two months of baseball left! We’ve got pennant races, followed by playoffs, and as of right now the Sox are only 1.5 games behind the Devil Rays and are 6.5 up in the Wild Card race (not to mention 8 games up on the MFY).

Wake’s 500th appearance wearing the Olde Towne Jerseye was less than memorable on Saturday, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a two-out collapse like that. He retired the first five of the game, and then allowed the next nine batters to reach base (seven of them scoring). The offense tried to come back and make a game of it, but, who are we kidding, Chris Smith, Mike Timlin and David Pauley are not going to hold down a AAA offense, let alone the Rangers. I just hope that these outings by Timlin are remembered if and when it’s time to put together a 25-man roster for the playoffs. Here’d be my little cheat sheet of the bullpen for Tito:

Paps > Masterson > Oki > Lopez > Delcarmen > Chris Smith > David Pauley > JD Drew > Timlin

Sunday was a different story. In Arlington, with 93 degree heat, the AL-leader in HRs allowed (30) on the mound, and the most potent offense in the majors, you might expect a replay of the August 12th game where the Sox and Rangers scored a combined 36 runs. Instead, Byrd carved through the Texas lineup (with a very dull 84mph knife) going 6.2 scoreless innings against the majors best hitting team. On the other side of the ball, the offense finally decoded Brandon McCarthy as some payback for when he dominated the Sox back in ‘05 as a rookie. And when I say “the offense” it really was an all-around effort. Cora with a 2-out RBI triple, Coco with a 2-out RBI single, and the regulars helped out as well. If the Sox can get this kind of production from the bottom of the lineup, watch out.

I’ll be honest, I was hoping for a 10-game sweep of the Rangers this season. You don’t get to do that very often. But I guess nine out of 10 aint bad.

So, let’s recap:

• Sox 1.5 games back in the division going into critical 3-game set vs. the Devil Rays

• Sox 6.5 games up in the Wild Card
• Football season hasn’t started
• MFY 8 games back of the Wild Card

Remember folks, life is good.