This is looking to be a very good series because of three interesting pitching match-ups ...

• Pedro vs. Millwood: two pitchers struggling to come back from injury last season, Pedro hoping to return to his dominating ways, and Millwood hoping to live up to some high expectations. Although Millwood will be looking to improve on his so-so year, Pedro's shoulder feels great, and he's very hungry for a win. Edge to Pedro.
• Burkett vs. Maddux: Two former teammates with very similar pitching styles. But let's face it, as good a pitcher as John Burkett is, and with all due respect, John Burkett is kind of a poor man's Greg Maddux. Burkett's stats to date are actually a bit better (Maddux 6-2 3.44 ERA, Burkett 7-1 3.94 ERA), but owes much of his success to some great run support. He won't be getting much with Maddux on the mound. Edge to Maddux.
• Glavine vs. Lowe: This is the best of the three, featuring the two pitchers with the lowest ERAs in their respective leagues. It also pits the hometown boy (Tommy Glavine was born and raised in Massachusetts, and still has some serious roots here) against Boston's ace. They've both put up some sick numbers this season: Glavine 11-2 1.53 ERA, Lowe 10-2 1.89 ERA. Between the two, I'd say it's a jump ball, so it'll come down to hitting. The Braves have been hitting pretty good, whereas the Sox bats run hot & cold. Against a pitcher like Glavine, I say they run cold. Edge to Glavine.

Eek! Did I just predict that the Braves would take 2 out of 3 fromt he Sox??? No way does a team with an .800 road record lose an away series. I'll defy logic & reason and say that Lowe gets the win Sunday.

Any thoughts, all ye Braves and Sox fans???

[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: BoSoxRudy ]

I'll also pick the Sox to take 2 outta 3, but I'll give the 2nd win to Burkett - I think he's gonna be hungry to show the Braves they shouldn't have given up on him. Lowe has certainly exceeded expectations, but this may be the game where he comes back down to earth. But I'd love to see him start the All-Star game, tho!

Too bad Manny's bat will be spending the week-end in Pawtucket. The Sox need him back in their line-up toute-de-suite.

Two first place teams going head-to-head, but, of course, the Mets/Yank-Me's Series is gonna get all the media coverage this week-end.

Eek! OK, Millwood did pitch well, but I didn't think he was hurling unhittable stuff tonight. The Sox bats have been a bit anemic as of late. The team pulled together and stepped out during the first few weeks of Manny's stint on the DL, but half the team seriously slumping right now(Hillenbrand and Daubach, the two who most "filled in" during Manny's absence at first, are in particularly bad streaks). Only three starters have been hitting, Nomar, Damon, and Merloni, but they collectively went 1 for 10 tonight.

Well, that still leaves two great pitching matchups. It'd be nice if the Sox offense would spark up a bit. I saw Manny's at-bats down in Pawtucket, and there's no way he's coming back next Tuesday as originally predicted.

Prediction (made late Friday night):

OK Braves took the first game 2-1.

Saturday game: Braves 4, Sox 3. Only because it's "shirt off your back" night at the end of the game. I hope I win Furcal's sweaty shirt. Or Javy's.

Sunday: This could go either way but I'm going to say Braves 8, Sox 5.

All of this might just come down to a battle of the bullpens, which I don't have the expertise to predict!
I will also confess that I have already learned something about myself during this series: even though I've been following the Red Sox since moving to Cape Cod --from Atlanta-- last fall, my past loyalties emerged and I found myself rooting for the Braves. Javy, Raphael, Chipper & Company have been melting my heart for so many years, it seems, and when John Smoltz came in as the closer for game 1 --even though he nearly blew the lead-- I realized I was still a one-team guy.
It's mere dumb luck, as well as quite a rare luxury, to find myself in the position of being a fan of two teams in first place in their Divisions, one in each League. Purely out of courtesy I figure I ought to be throwing my support behind Boston, though, since the Braves enjoy a more comfortable lead against the Mets, as the Red Sox have the Skankees hard on their heels. This series is a great match-up of teams and players, no matter what the outcome...

Ouch! when the series started, I naively ignored the Sox's slumbering bats (don't mind me as I whistle past the graveyard) and predicted the Sox'd win two of three. Now we'd be lucky not to get swept!

ROYGWM, the two pitchers with the lowest ERAs in their leagues, and you're predicting a score of 8-5??? I'd say you're crazy, but you did come awfully close in predicting tonight's score (you said 4-3, it was 4-2). For a high-scoring game like 8-5, both Glavine and Lowe would have to come out of the game pretty early because the chances that two quality pitchers both suffer meltdowns have to be pretty slim.

We're awfully fond of native son Tommy Glavine around here. I hope he pitches a great game, say 2 runs in 8 innings. And I hope the Braves score only one.

PS: any Braves fans out there know the scoop on Maddux and my beloved Javy? I heard one of the announcers say that Maddux insists on the backup catcher for all his starts. Man, you know Maddux has gotta be straight, because if I were on the hill (and in whatever other situation as appropriate), Javy would always catch for me.

[ June 15, 2002: Message edited by: BoSoxRudy ]

The great dilemma for a Braves fan is hoping that you take 4 or 5 out of 6 every year against Boston, while praying that it doesn't help the Shmankees.
I have to admit that I've ignored baseball all of this season, but suddenly decided to watch the interleague rivalry games. IMHO, these series are the most interesting of all the regular season games.
I can't believe I'm saying this but, "Go Mets!"

Phhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That enormous sigh of relief is thanks to the amazing Derek Lowe, who saved the Sox from getting swept for the second time in interleague play. Lowe has a way of dominating teams, yet without looking the part because he gets so many ground-ball outs. He did show a little flash today though, by getting a season-high 10 strikeouts. Lowe is definitely beefing up his resume as the staff ace. Even former staff ace, Pedro Martinez, has graciously said that early on in the season, he had picked Derek Lowe as "my Cy Young."

Unfortunately, the loss came at the expense of native son Tommy Glavine, who still refers to the Red Sox as "my hometown team". I read a great bit on Glavine. When the Billerica High (Glavine's alma mater) football team went to the Super Bowl (the MA high school football championship, not the Big One) in 1999, Glavine had a nephew on the team. Well, before the game, Glavine bought his nephew and the rest of the team special turf shoes, since the game was being played on artificial turf at Boston University's Nickerson Field. Billerica High won the game, 37-15.

Hello BoSoxRudy--

Greg Maddux and Javier Lopez enjoy good relations as teammates. Braves' manager Bobby Cox has decided to "spell" Javy by letting Lopez rest during one game of the five-pitcher rotation. Maddux has such a clear idea of all the pitches he wants to throw, to each batter he faces throughout the game, that Maddux is the natural choice to be given a catcher who is less experienced than Lopez in "calling" the pitches.

Aw-right Derek! Like Rudy said, Lowe held the Braves to 1 run on 7 hits. It looked like he's been taking batting practice, getting on base with a single, his first big league hit. Quite the man.

Glavine gave up 5 of the 6 runs the Red Sox scored, for our only win of the series, a reason for Sox fans to love him even more.

Tonight at 8, Go Mets!