Pregame Around the Horn

It's a battle of aces tonight. A rubber game match up on national TV with the Sox in need of a win to not only take the series, but to keep pace with the Rangers who beat the Rays earlier today. The first two games have been lopsided affairs, but tonight's match up should be a good one....should be (and now that I've typed that, both aces will be out of the game by the fourth inning). It doesn't get much better than this. So with that, let's quickly go around the horn:

-Both Ortiz and JD are out of the lineup tonight. I understand the difficult lefty match ups, but Ortiz is hitting absolutely everything right now, and actually has good numbers against fat boy CC. I guess it's just Tito being Tito....at least I can scream ROCCO! tonight.

-Tito said that Lowrie will begin his rehab with Triple A Pawtucket on Monday. I'm still not sure what the heck is wrong with this guy's wrist, but I don't think it really matters anymore. If Tito tries to start him over Gonzo I'll walk down to Fenway and make a scene.

-Tito also mentioned that Dice-K will start Monday for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox...which I'm pretty sure is a made up team. Dice-K is probably somewhere in Japan throwing 180 pitches to loosen up. Either way, per Tito... "He is significantly stronger in his shoulder," and "He is significantly leaner in his body. He is significantly stronger in his body." There was no word if he used the word significantly in the next sentence, which would have gotten him bonus points.

- John Smoltz started for the Cardinals today...and of course went 5 fantastic innings, striking out 9, surrendering only 3 hits, and not giving up a single run....now that he's away from Boston I'm sure he'll blow up like Eric Hinske or Tony Clark when they went to the Yankees.

- Brad Penny is headed to the bullpen (thank god), but apparently his days in the rotation may not be over....according to Tito "We don't just want to turn him into a reliever. That's not in anyone's best interest." Sure sounds like it would be in the best interest of my health Tito...not quite picking up what you're putting down.

I'm not truly upset with Tito, he's had an extremely trying season full of injuries, steroids, and drama (what else is new)....but a little healthy criticism can't hurt.

So here we go, it's time for the ESPN announcers to drive us crazy, I just hope the Sox can help me keep it together with a win.

Go Sox.