The Yankees were rained-out last night and will play a two games today–Chien-Ming Wang will start this afternoon, while Jaret Wright goes this evening (the Big Unit will start tomorrow). The Bombers gained a half-a-game on the Red Sox, who lost 2-1 in Oakland last night (now, Beckett starts to pitch well, right?). It was the fifth straight loss for Boston and the 11th in their last 13 games. Manny Ramirez and Willy Mo Pena returned to the east coast to undergo medical testing while David Ortiz will be carefully monitored at Mass General. I hope that Ortiz will pull through and be able to resume his career. The Yankees are thinking about him as well:

“It’s never comforting to know a player has a physical problem, even if we are competing with them for the East,” Joe Torre said. “Certainly I like the fact that he’s not playing but I don’t like the fact that he’s not playing for that reason.”

…”He’s very important in that clubhouse,” said Mike Myers, who also came over from the Sox during the offseason. “You can’t ignore his numbers and all he does for the team. And within the clubhouse when I was there . . . he was one of the best personalities to have.”
(Roger Rubin, N.Y. Daily News)

The Red Sox, however, may be looking toward next year already; according to the Boston Globe, they are reportedly listening to offers for Boomer Wells. Injuries and lousy pitching have simply devastated the Sox.

Meanwhile, while the New York papers continue to harp on the Carl Pavano story, Hideki Matsui will take live batting practice today in the indoor batting cage at Yankee Stadium:

Matsui said he is generally pleased with how he’s progressing. “In terms of being pain-free, that’s something I definitely feel good about,” he said before last night’s Yankee game with Detroit was rained out. “I’m very satisfied.

“I’m still working on my mechanics and little things. That’s kind of where I’m at right now. I’m definitely still being conscious about the wrist when I swing. Eventually I’ll really move on to working on my mechanics thoroughly.”

Matsui said the actual mechanics of his swing aren’t that bad, but he needs to improve his timing.
(Michael Morrissey, N.Y. Post)

Matsui will likely be relegated to DHing when he returns but it now seems as if we’ll see the return of Godzilla before all is said and done this year.