It worked out, Beck got the double play ball to end the game, but he should never have stepped on that field yesterday. We all know that with Sabes starting tonight he's going to be on a strict pitch count, so the pen is definitely going to be a big part of this one. So why throw two of your most tired and best arms in the pen the night before when you don't need them? Jimy made a big mistake last night and I just hope it doesn't come up and bite us tonight.

Hideo Nomo (7IP 4H 1R 1ER 4BB 10K W): The guy has been phenomenal, has numbers up there with the best #2 pitchers in the league. Last night he ran his home record to 7-0 and his record after a Sox loss to the vacinity of 5 or 6-0 (not real sure). Also is the first Sox starter to pitch seven complete innings since July 1st. Ugh!

Trot Nixon (1-3 R 2BB): Nothing particularly stellar in his line for the night, that is, if you only read the boxscore. Trots emergence since Carl's injury has been nothing short of a godsend. Needless to say, without him we'd probably be 8-9 games back instead of 2 1/2. Last night really showed how far Trot has come in a real short period of time. In the seventh with two out, Trot drew is second walk of the evening (making it the third time of the night he got on base with two outs). With the walk he allowed Manny to hit with a man on base (which is always a good thing) and as you all know, Manny promptly hit one out of the yard. Unless you were really paying attention to details, that at bat was probably the most overlooked of the night, yet it was also probably the biggest one as well.

Jose Offerman (1-4 R BB): Another line with nothing especially sparkling about it, until you look closer. I know what your going to say, had Stewart fielded the ball cleanly Offy was probably dead and we'd all be ticked this morning. Yeah, that's probably true, but the aggressiveness is also exactly what caused Stewart to muff the ball out in left, he tried to throw it before he had it.

As for Jose going thru the stop sign for home, well, lets all just be glad that Stewart has a lousy arm, and I'm thinking that Offerman probably knew it too.

Shea Hillenbrand (3-4 R RBI 2SB): He must be feeling the heat from Nomar or something, because ever since Nomar got within a week of returning, Shea has turned it on big time. Maybe it's just a little spurt, but at the moment I'd say Merloni is the #1 candidate to head back to AAA when Nomar returns.

Return of the Saberhagen: I am fortunate enough to have tickets for this one and I'm not sure if I've been more excited for a game this season. What a boost it would be if Sabes can go out there and give us 5 solid innings and grab this first of three with the Chi-Sox. His return ovation will be second only to Nomar's next week.

paul@redsox2000.com