Morning Brew, NY House Blend

A good morning all around. I recommend putting in the headphones and reading these headlines and snippets to a playlist of old Beatles. Start with I Feel Fine and you won't be sorry. Enjoy the weekend.

NY Post, Oh No! '09 Feeling like '04. "In every way, the Red Sox have the mental and physical edge now over the Yankees. This was shades of the 2004 ALCS when everything started going Boston's way...Listen to manager Terry Francona talk about this win and the roll the Red Sox are on and the way his team battled: 'There were a lot of key things,' Francona said. 'CC pitched like we didn't want him to pitch. He was strong and he was on all of his pitches and really good. And things happen, like we've seen happen here before.' A clear reference to 2004."

NY Post, What a Joke! "The Yankees insisted the Red Sox didn't rip their hearts out last night at Fenway Park with a come-from behind capper to a three-game sweep. As they packed for the short flight home, CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher and manager Joe Girardi spoke of having a lot of schedule left. Yet, there was no ignoring that a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss to their blood rivals in front of 38,153 not only stretched their 2009 losing streak to the Red Sox to eight, but inserted a morsel of doubt."

NY Post, Subway Rivalry a Battle of No. 2's. (This has got to be my favorite angle of the day. Yes, it's my adopted home city, but we've got a love-hate thing going. I mean, I love Riverside Park and Tribeca after a good rain and the Film Forum and the taquerias and everything, but seriously, with 50% taxes and that smell in August, I'm gonna have to see you suffer a bit, New York.) "The three-game set be tween the Mets and Yankees that opens tonight in The Bronx will popularly be known as the Subway Series, but we've got a better name for it. The Consolation Round. We've got the Yankees, who cannot beat the Red Sox, going against the Mets, who cannot stay with the Phillies. This is baseball's Second Place City."

NY Post, Yankees in Denial About Big Picture. (If you feel like it's safe to enjoy this a bit since you won't have to reckon for the gloating until late summer, this is the one to read.) "Hey guys, I am here to tell you this: The Red Sox are the big picture. They have been for most of the last century and certainly for most of the last decade. CC Sabathia said, 'You don't like to get swept by a team in your division.' This is not just a team in the division. This is Boston. This is your main rival and now your measuring stick, and on this measuring stick the Yankees could not be any tinier. The Red Sox are embarrassing the Yankees. Ever since they became the first team ever to rally from 0-3 down to win a playoff series in the 2004 ALCS, Boston has seemingly been searching for new ways to humiliate the Yanks. And the Sox have come up with a doozy for this season. They are trying to go 18-0 against the Yanks. "

NY Daily News, Pitiful! (This one was the back cover. Nice morning subway ride that must have provided.) "If the Yankees and Red Sox are headed for a date with destiny in the ALCS as many believe, then Boston should start making World Series plans."

NY Daily News, Is Everyone Juiced Up for the Subpar Series? (All right, I can't get enough of this theme. I really enjoy the Strand, but I also have to walk through Times Square sometimes to get to the subway, so screw you, New York.)

NY Daily News, CC Comes Up Big, Yanks Don't. (This is the John Harper column for the morning. The best part of the Daily News's coverage? The fact that among the columnists, only Harper could bring himself to write about this series. Maybe Lupica normally takes Friday's off. Possible, but I'd like to think he just couldn't do it.)

NY Times, Yanks Will Have a While to Think about this One, After Red Sox Rally Late. "They have 55 days to let this settle, 55 days of killing time until they meet the Boston Red Sox again. For almost two months, the Yankees will live with the rancid aftertaste of another sweep by their rivals. No matter how the Yankees handle other teams, the notion that they cannot beat Boston will rattle around somewhere in their brains."

NY Daily News, Fenway Flop! Sox Sweep Yanks as 'Pen Collapses.

Going Around the Horn

Fresh off a three game sweep of the Yankees, and riding a 10 game winning streak, the Sox are in Cleveland tonight to face Cliff Lee, last year's CY Young award winner.....who appears to have found his minor league form again. They're likely pretty tired after they were busy out-classing the Yankees all weekend, but the Sox have their best starter (thus far) on the mound tonight in Tim Wakefield....with that, let's quickly go around the horn....

-Julio Lugo has been activated by the Sox but is not in tonight's starting lineup. No need to rush anything this early in the season, especially with T Murphy's boy Nick Green playing well.

-JD Drew is sitting out tonight's game with a tight left quad. Jeff Bailey (who has been studly) will take his place in right....insert JD band aid insult here.

-Dice-K threw long toss today and will participate in a bullpen session on Wednesday. If all goes well, he'll be making a rehab start down in Triple A next week....which sets up the question of what to do with Masterson. His best value appears to be as a starter, but he's likely to go back to the bullpen, at least for this year. Tito might be right when he says this Red Sox team goes 18 or 20 deep on the pitching front (see Bowden, Clay, Bard, etc).

- The NY media appears to be up in arms about Jacoby stealing home, the curtain call, and the laughter in Boston's dugout. They're crying in New York and saying that the Red Sox "rubbed it in" and "there should be retaliation". Let's keep in mind this is their media, and not the actual players...but come on, your team got swept, your bullpen looks terrible, best starter got rocked, all world closer is hanging his head in shame, and lineup is looking old. See Tony Mazz's article for additional takeaways from the weekend series..... your team was handled, deal with it.

Go Sox.