Jonathan Papelbon

After blowing a nine-run lead Tuesday night, the Red Sox showed the Orioles how it feels as Boston rallied in the ninth inning Wednesday to win 6-5.

Baltimore starter Brad Bergesen pitched lights-out through eight innings. The rookie held Boston to just one run on four hits, no walks, and six strikeouts. He left the game with a 5-1 lead.

"Not only the Bronx, but anywhere, I think anywhere is a possibility..You always have to keep that in the back of your mind because you can’t just be one-sided and think that, ‘Oh I’m going to be in a Red Sox uniform my entire career.’ Because nowadays that is very, very rare. . . .

Two months into the MLB season, few people would have guessed the Red Sox would be looking to get their third sweep of the Yankees. With Boston up 7-0, it is time to look at how they're getting it done. 

So, what exactly makes the Red Sox so unstoppable when playing New York?

First, when comparing the team's batting lineups and offensive attacks, no major difference can be drawn. 

Can you ever have enough starting pitching?

For some Red Sox fans, yes.

In Brad Penny's last start against the Twins, he pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs and striking out seven for the win. Immediately following that outing, speculation began to fly that Penny was expendable as the Red Sox had a "surplus" of starting pitching.

Penny has certainly pitched better as of late. And with the dominant Triple-A performances of Clay Buchholz and the imminent return to the majors by John Smoltz, the Red Sox do appear to be well-stocked with starters.

My daughter, Kaitlyn, came home with her mid-term progress report the other day. Not sure why the teachers pick on her so.

Last time I checked 66, was not a C as she has been telling us since September. And she did do well in Music, Art and Gym. I'm sure that will get her into an Ivy League school.

In any event, her poor with an occasional gust to fair grades, has whet my appetite to grade the Red Sox at the end of the first month of the season.

Here, I give you my MLB power rankings through week 3 of the 2009 season.

1. Boston Red Sox (11-6)

I honestly think the Red Sox forgot how to lose a baseball game. A nine-game winning streak will get you an automatic top five spot no matter what in my opinion. Their offense is coming together. Strong rotation, good bullpen. Life is good in Boston.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (13-5)

In my previous piece, I said I tend to gloss over outfielders. If that's true (and it is), I flat out ignore pitching. Those of you looking for sturdy analysis of more than just the super-elite starters and closers should look elsewhere because I'm just going to hit the aces of the aces.

In other words, these are not the previews you're looking for (with a wave of my hand).

It should hopefully be a fun read though...

THE PITCHERS

Round 5

Jonathan Papelbon is the best closer to own, end of story.  He plays for one of the three best teams in baseball, he strikes out people at a ridiculous rate, and his ERA has never been above 2.65. His saves have increased over the last three seasons, and given the talent on the Red Sox, he could top his 41 saves from last year.

This is gonna be a little experiment driven by necessity.

I'm borrowing the idea of joint and several liability from law to solve an irritating little glitch. The idea is to write a single article, lop it in two, and have the two parts work autonomously. More accurately, it's to write two articles at the same time that are the product of a single thought process.

It may work or I may thoroughly confuse myself and end up writing about the National Football League by the end. We'll see.

“Mr. Epstein,” said the ace reliever, Jonathan Papelbon. “There is a cancer on your baseball team.”

It sounds like something out of the Nixon Administration so many decades ago.  Back then it took a brave man named John Dean to go into the lion’s den and tell the President of the United States that his Administration was suffering from a fatal disease.

A failure to act condemned Nixon and his tenure in office.