Now we can go 161-1...

Now that is a little more like it.

The Red Sox, now .500 on the season, defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-1. Josh pitched 5 strong giving up 1 earned run. He might have been able to go another inning if he didn't have to get 5 outs in the 3rd because of Mike Lowell's two errors. Mike had 3, THREE, errors yesterday, after having 6 all of last season. I'm going to hit him some ground balls in Texas this weekend though, so we'll get that worked out. The bullpen pitched well with Lopez, Snyder, Romero, and Pineiro giving up no runs. And in other news, Coco Crisp is 0 for the season.

if anyone hasn't seen the Dice-K Nike commercial yet, I highly recommend you go to www.nesn.com and watch it. Can you say goosebumps?

*Gordon Edes has a game report, saying tht the Sox withstood the cold and errors.

*Mike Lowell talks about his errors with Michael Silverman and Nick Cafardo.

Dice-K takes to the mound for the first time in a Red Sox uniform today. Because of Continental Airlines ridiculous $100.00 fee to change your flight times, we will not be in attendence in Kansas City today. And because I'm taking off the next 3 days, I will not be watching the game on TV either. And because of blackouts, I can't watch the game on MLBtv either. But that's fine, really, it is. (grr). Also, who makes the MLB schedule? Boston is playing a day game in Texas tomorrow and the Royals are playing a night game in Detriot. Both teams are going relatively close places, so wouldn't it be in MLB's best interest to have this be a night game?

My prediction: 7IP, 93 pitches, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K's.

*Shaughnessy talks about Dice-K.

*Silverman says that Dice-K isn't worried about the cold. High in KC today is 42. I have to say, an unexpected storm coming through KC around 1 and pushing Dice-K's start a day wouldn't hurt my feelings. (sadly the forecast looks clear).

*Gordon Edes had a chat yesterday.

"BillBatts__Guest_: Any predictions for Dice-K and Beckett for this year?
Gordon_Edes: BB, Beckett is my darkhorse to win the Cy Young this season--I think he's on the verge of putting it all together, and he put out a great positive vibe all spring. Dice-K? Every sign points to him being an elite pitcher right out of the chute. He's met every challenge in his career to this point, embraces the big stage, and has a repertoire that most pitchers would die for. It's going to be a great show.

modifiedbear__Guest_:Hey Gordon, it's obviously very early but I'm just wondering what the tone in the clubhouse is with this team. It seemed like the team was pretty disillusioned by the end of '06, and didn't really have any Millar type personality to lighten things up. Is this year's bunch just as solemn, or do the new guys like Lugo and Drew really change the club atmosphere?
Gordon_Edes: Bear, Drew's got a little Nomar in him--a quiet guy who just likes to go about his business. Lugo is a live wire, and fits right into the bodega with Papi, Manny and Wily Mo. This is a good clubhouse, where Ortiz is the guy who crosses all borders, Lowell is a strong presence, Varitek takes his captaincy seriously, the bench guys accept their roles, and the pitchers are veterans with strong work habits. Chemistry comes with winning; these guys win, we'll be talking about their great chemistry"

A few things here...first, Josh is my darkhorse to win the Cy Young too. Two, I like the word darkhorse. Three, I really thought I would hate J.D., but he has been growing on me steadily, and now Gordon compares him to #5.