SURPRISE! The marketing folks who brought you "September To Remember" and "Soxtober" last year have been flooding the NESN airwaves with their newest creation -- "Division Collision" -- in anticipation of this week's back-to-back series against the Rays and Yankees. But first there was the little matter of a weekend in Houston, and the Red Sox aren't exactly heading to St. Petersburg with a full head of steam. After a routine 6-1 win in Friday night's opener that gave no hint of the struggles to come, the Sox blew leads of 4-0 and 9-6 in losing to the Astros, 11-10, Saturday night, then were betrayed by Hideki Okajima -- yet again -- and their own offensive inefficiency in a 3-2 loss on Sunday afternoon in which Miguel Tejada (above, looking as stunned as anyone in the park) scored the winning run on a two-out, eighth-inning single off Okajima by old friend Mark Loretta. Sean McAdam provides all the details.

So when the Division Collision finally begins tonight, after a week of hype, it'll be the Red Sox chasing the Rays and not the other way around. Surprise, indeed.

OKIE-DOKIE . . . NOT! Okajima's weekend of discontent began Friday night when, entrusted with a 4-0 lead in the eighth inning, he gave up a two-out homer to Reggie Abercrombie followed by a hard line single off the left-field scoreboard by Tejada, which prompted Terry Francona to summon Jonathan Papelbon for a four-out save. Yesterday they had to do something -- bring in Okajima with a runner on base -- they hadn't done since since he'd surrendered the grand slam to Jay Payton back in May. It was a low-leverage situation (Tejada on first, one out), but Okajima promptly wild-pitched Tejada to second. Then, after recording the second out, he surrendered the game-winning hit to Loretta. Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald reports that "[since] returning from a sore wrist that sidelined him in mid-May, Okajima hasn’t been able to finish off his go-to pitch" -- the split-fingered fastball -- "on a consistent basis." It was a flat splitter that Loretta hit for the game-winner yesterday, and one of his Astros teammates described it as "a batting-practice fastball."

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER: McAdam wrote Saturday that, in light of Okajima's struggles, the Sox are, for the second time in as many years, casting covetous eyes at Colorado's Brian Fuentes. Fuentes, however, is looking a little like the one-eyebrow, wart-covered gal in the peanut commercial these days after he destroyed a miraculous Rockies' comeback Saturday night in Detroit by allowing two runs in the bottom of the ninth (Denver Post); Colorado had scored four runs in the top of the ninth, three of them after two were out, to take a 6-5 lead. It had the Rocky Mountain News' Sam Adams advocating the Rox dump Fuentes on anyone "looking for save-blowers." Even so, MLB.com reports Colorado's asking price for Fuentes is two quality prospects.

ALTERCATION: McAdam broke the news last night that Manny Ramirez was involved in an argument with Jack McCormick Saturday over ticket allotment that resulted in Ramirez' pushing the Sox' traveling secretary to the floor. McAdam reports Ramirez later apologized, McCormick accepted the apology, and all sides -- Terry Francona included -- say there are no problems.

CURSES? The blog Center Field thinks it's a case of The Curse of the Astros claiming another victim. But old friend Dan Lamothe of Red Sox Monster isn't going there.

HE WAS A CONTEST-WINNER, AFTER ALL: ShysterBall's Craig Calcaterra thinks of George Costanza every time he sees the phrase "traveling secretary."

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH: Loretta calls the Sox "as good a team as we've played all year" (Houston Chronicle), but, of course, he may be biased; he spent 2006 in Boston and often calls it his best year in baseball.

IT'S 'GO' TIME: The Sox have no time to mope over their disappointing Texas weekend because now it's on to central Florida for a three-game series with their newest rival. Steven Krasner recaps the three previous series between the teams this year, and the Sox players told McAdam they're going to The Trop to play baseball, not to resume hostilities. Maybe they are, but the Tampa Bay fans -- if their comments on this St. Petersburg Times blog are any indication -- are ready to rumble.

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN: Like their Red Sox brethren, the Rays players say what's past is past and these next three nights will all be about baseball. (Tampa Tribune)

THE UPPER HAND: And so far, the baseball has been all good for the Rays. They enter the series in first place after yesterday's 4-3 win over the Pirates (Tampa Tribune) and now they're ready for what the St. Petersburg Times is calling "potentially the biggest series ever played at Tropicana Field." More good news: Closer Troy Percival looks like he's back to 100 percent after being sidelined with a chronic hamstring injury. (St. Petersburg Times)

PINCH ME: In first place? At the end of June? A big series at The Trop? Finally, writes the blog DRays Bay, "it feels good to be a Rays fan."

PINCH ME TWICE: Another sign the Rays are in contention: They plan to be buyers, not sellers, at this year's trading deadline. (St. Petersburg Times)

ONE BATTLE TAMPA BAY IS ALREADY WINNING: Chad Finn writes that while he admires Jacoby Ellsbury as much as anybody, there's no way Ellsbury deserves the Rookie of the Year award over Evan Longoria. Besides, Ellsbury has hardly looked like a Rookie of the Year candidate lately. (Boston Globe)

REALITY INTRUDES: On a (far) more serious note, the Boston Herald reports black and Latin players on the Red Sox, two of whom were mentioned by name, were the targets of threats in this upcoming series in a letter mailed to the team with a Memphis, Tenn., postmark. Security teams from MLB and the Red Sox are with the club in St. Petersburg, and the FBI, along with the police departments in St. Petersburg, Boston, Memphis and Baltimore, have been apprised. The suspect is believed to be a Baltimore native living in Memphis.

IN OR OUT? That's the question the Boston Herald's John Tomase posed to a number of Hall of Fame pitchers regarding the Hall candidacy of Curt Schilling.

TAKING OVER THE TOWN: The Mets are the second team in New York, and that's not the boast of some braggart Yankees fans; that's according to according to none other than Mets manager Jerry Manuel. (New York Daily News) So he had to be pleased that the team WFAN's Steve Somers insists on calling "the Metropolitans" won the Subway Series from the Yankees for only the second time in 12 years with a 3-1 victory yesterday. (New York Post) Of course, Alex Rodriguez almost pulled it out for the Yanks, but his ninth-inning drive to left fell just short. (New York Post) The New York Daily News' Bill Madden says that if you're thinking these teams will meet again in October, well, forget it.

GROW UP: That's what many in New York are telling -- or screaming at -- Jose Reyes after his Little League-like, on-field tantrum in the wake of an error he made against the Yankees yesterday (New York Daily News) The LoHud Mets Blog's John Delcos says the reason Reyes acts like this is because the Mets let him, and have never moved to curb his behavior.

TALKING THE TALK: Another great interview on It Is About The Money, Stupid, this one with Yankee pitcher Darrell Rasner.

SEE YOU SOON . . . MAYBE: The Yankees have optioned Ian Kennedy to Class A Tampa and say he'll have have to earn his way back to New York. (LoHud Yankees Blog)

GOOD PLACE FOR HIM: Joe Posnanski's suggestion that the Royals sign Barry Bonds is drawing plenty of commentary on joeposnanski.com. That's the place for such talk, thinks Peter Abraham of the LoHud Yankees Blog, because his opinion is there's no way the Yankees should sign Bonds, as some are suggesting.

IF WE HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN . . . who would be in the first class of Hall of Famers? That's Posnanski's question and he gets some interesting answers.

YOU HAVE TO STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT: Baseball Musings' David Pinto thinks Billy Beane may have waited too long to pull the trigger on a Joe Blanton trade and that the haul the A's may get for Blanton won't be anywhere near as big as it would have been a few months ago.

MY MOMENT IN THE SUN: In light of the Dodgers' beating the Angels Saturday night despite being no-hit, the Los Angeles Times tracked down the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter and lose: Ex-Red Sox lefty Matt Young, who pulled the trick in while pitching for the Sox against Cleveland in 1992. Young remembers it well.

THEY MADE IT: There were times when it seemed impossible, but yesterday's victory over the Rockies got the Tigers back to .500. (Detroit News)

BEATS THE ALTERNATIVE: "Let's face it," writes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's David Andriesen, "the San Diego Padres stink. Not only that, they stink in the National League, which is considerably stinkier than stinking in the . . . American League." Still, he adds, sweeping a team that stinks is better than losing to them, so the Mariners are content after yesterday's 9-2 win, which completed a weekend three-spot in San Diego.

LOCAL BOYS: Rocco Baldelli is finished with the Vero Beach portion of his rehab and the Rays are studying baseball's rules to see what the next step should be (Tampa Tribune) . . . Paul Konerko is still in too much pain to begin a rehab assignment. (Chicago Tribune)

MEDICAL REPORT: Chipper Jones is headed to the disabled list (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . So is Magglio Ordonez (Detroit News) . . . And Michael Cuddyer (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) . . . And Lastings Milledge (mlb.com) . . . The Marlins' Dan Uggla will be sidelined a few days because of a sprained left ankle (Miami Herald) . . . Juan Pierre will have an MRI on his left knee. (Los Angeles Times)

HERE AND THERE: The Cubs will be without Aramis Ramirez the next three days as he returns to the Dominican Republic to tend to a family matter (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Jay Gibbons is alive and well and playing in the Atlantic League (Baltimore Sun) . . . The Cubs are looking for pitching (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Mets and the Yankees are both interested in Freddy Garcia (nj.com) . . . Could Juan Rivera be headed from the Angels to the Dodgers? (Los Angeles Times)

OLD FRIENDS: The Brewers have activated Eric Gagne (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Tony Armas Jr. is headed back to the Mets. (New York Daily News)

-- ART MARTONE

HOUSTON -- Maybe it's something in the water in Houston.

Days after Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon tackled general manger Ed Wade in the home clubhouse at Minute Maid Park, the visitors clubhouse was the scene of another player-club employee altercation Saturday afternoon.

Manny Ramirez shoved Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick to the ground in an argument over Ramirez' ticket allotment. Several onlookers moved quickly to separate the two.

Ramirez had asked McCormick for 16 tickets for Saturday night's Red Sox-Astros game, an unusually high number for day-of-game. In addition to handling all travel details for clubs, traveling secretaries also take player ticket requests for both home and away games.

When McCormick cautioned Ramirez that he might not be able to fulfill his request, Ramirez responded by shouting: "Just do your job!"

An argument ensued and Ramirez pushed McCormick, sending him to the ground.

Later, the two met behind closed doors and Ramirez apologized to McCormick, who accepted the gesture. No further disciplinary action is expected against Ramirez.

Asked on Sunday to comment on the altercation, Ramirez responded: "That's over. We're fine now."

"Sometimes things happen," said Terry Francona, "and when they do, we choose to handle them internally. I'm satisfied with how we handled this."

Added McCormick: "It was an unfortunate misunderstanding and it's over with as far as I'm concerned."

Ellsbury LF
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Ramirez LF
Lowell 3B
Youkilis 1B
Varitek C
Lugo SS
Lester SP

HOUSTON

Bourn CF
Pence RF
Berkman 1B
Lee LF
Tejada SS
Loretta 2B
Wigginton 3B
Quintero C
Backe SP

From the St. Petersburg Times: "I’m kind of baffled by it," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. Added pitcher James Shield, who sat out six games for hitting Crisp with the pitch that triggered Coco's charge to the mound: "I'm not happy about it at all . . . He's the one that instigated the whole thing (with his slide into second base the night before the brawl)."

From the Tampa Tribune: Jonny Gomes, one of the more enthusiastic participants in the fight that broke out, declined comment. Maddon said: "We're not going to cry about it, we're not going to raise a stink over the fact that the Red Sox were reduced and we were not."

The crying was left to the bloggers. Such as Rays Index, which said, "Huh wha?!? Crisp was the one that bowled over Aki. Crisp was the one that charged the mound. And he had his suspension reduced? By two games? Unfortunately Crisp will miss the upcoming Rays-Red Sox series at the Trop. We would love to see that idiot get another ball in the backside."

HOUSTON -- Some postgame tidbits . . .

-- Kevin Youkilis enjoyed the first four-hit game of his career last night with three singles and a double. Strangely, despite the four-hit effort, Youkilis didn't score or knock in a run. Over his last 11 games, Youkilis is hitting .432 (16-for-37).

-- Dustin Pedroia had his second straight three-hit game and is hitting .514 since June 18.

-- J.D. Drew's homer in the third snapped an 0-for-14 slump.

-- The Red Sox became the first team in the majors to reach the 50-win plateau this season.

-- Games in NL parks are usually shorter, but last night's clocked in at 3:22. "When the Red Sox come to NL parks," said Drew, "things change. We have a lot of fans coming to see us and we want to give them an extra 45 minutes or so."

HOUSTON – Last weekend, when Daisuke Matsuzaka was shelled for seven runs and failed to get a single out in the second inning, the Red Sox maintained they weren’t concerned.

The Sox preached patience, claiming Matsuzaka’s poor start was merely the result of some mound rust after a three-week stay on the disabled list, and not, as some feared, a sign of lingering shoulder issues.

Last night, they were proven correct as Matsuzaka tossed five shutout innings, during which he allowed just two hits, in leading the Sox to a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros.

"The ball came out of his hand real good, nice and crisp," said Terry Francona.

"Much better," said catcher Jason Varitek, comparing this start to Matsuzaka's last. "He had a good feel through the zone with his fastball and his breaking stuff. It was nice to have the same guy back."

Matsuzaka left after five innings as the Sox want to be careful to slowly rebuild his arm strength. Of his 87 pitches, he threw 54 strikes. He walked three, two in his final inning when two walks and a single by Houston catcher Humberto Quintero loaded the bases.

He managed to leave them full when he got David Newhan to pop to short, but by then, he was "gassed," according to Varitek.

Matsuzaka struck out the side in the first, with each strikeout swinging, and through the first four innings had allowed just two Astros to reach against him. He improved to 9-1 and is a strong candidate to be selected for the upcoming All-Star Game in New York on July 15.

Matsuzaka got the only offensive support he would need in the third when, with Coco Crisp (walk) and Dustin Pedroia (double) on base, J.D. Drew hammered his 11th homer this month, a deep belt to right.

The 11 homers match Drew’s total for all of last season, his first season with the Sox. Moreover, the 11 homers are tied for the third-most during the month in Red Sox history and the most in June since 1979. Jackie Jensen holds the franchise mark with 14 in June of 1958.

Drew, who will surely be named American League Player of the Month, came into last night leading all major-league hitters in homers, total bases, extra-base hits and slugging percentage. He drove a slider from Astros starter Runelvys Hernandez out for his 15th homer of the season.

"It’s been a nice month," said Drew. "I’ll just try to transition into the rest of the season when it’s over."

Drew sat Wednesday night against Arizona lefty Randy Johnson and said the two consecutive days off were helpful.

"That was huge," he said. "I was hanging in a little bit and I think Tito knew that. I was able to regroup a little bit and come back and keep things nice and simple."

The homer continued a pattern from last season, when Drew seemed to enjoy his best games in National League settings. He spent his entire major league career in the N.L. before signing with the Red Sox.

"I didn’t realize that," said Drew. "Maybe it’s some familiarity with the ballpark and I’m kind of comfortable in the environment."

Until the seventh, Drew’s blast was all the Red Sox had to show for themselves on the scoreboard.

Then Pedroia (three hits) singled to center with two out, scoring Julio Lugo with the fourth run. The Sox added two more in the ninth on a bases-loaded single from Mike Lowell

With Matsuzaka out after the fifth, the Sox needed four innings from their bullpen and got quality ones – for the most part.

Craig Hansen pitched a scoreless sixth and when Manny Delcarmen followed with a perfect inning of his own in the seventh, the Sox seemed on their way to their second straight shutout and ninth of the season.

But after Hideki Okajima recorded the first two outs of the eighth on flyouts, he gave up a mammoth homer to Reggie Abercrombie, followed with a hard line single off the wall for Miguel Tejada. The run ended the Boston’s bullpen string of 12 straight scoreless frames and represented the first run scored against the Sox pitching staff in 22 innings.

Francona said Okajima was having difficulty "finishing" his split-finger fastballs.

Jonathan Papelbon came on to strike out Lance Berkman with the potential tying run on deck and recorded his 24th save of the season.

HOUSTON -- On the flip side of the suspension coin from Coco Crisp is Sean Casey, who completed his three-game suspension Wednesday at the end of the Red Sox homestand and is eligible to play tonight. He's not, however, in the starting lineup.

-- David Ortiz is on the trip and hit again off a tee this afternoon.

The plan is for him to gradually increase his workload, making sure that he suffers no pain and risks a setback as he returns from the wrist injury he suffered at the end of May.

-- Ominous stat of the night: The Sox are 2-10 under a roof this season, permanent or retractable.

HOUSTON -- Terry Francona spoke for several minutes on the field with Houston general manager Ed Wade during batting practice.

Wade was attacked by Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon earlier this week in a clubhouse confrontation. The Astros released Chacon Thursday for insubordination.

Wade was the Phillies GM when Francona was fired as the team's manager, but the two have always enjoyed a good relationship.

"It happened," said Francona of the dust-up. "It could happy to anybody."

HOUSTON -- The Red Sox thought that Coco Crisp's suspension -- five games, reduced from seven after an appeal hearing earlier this week -- would begin tonight. But in an an apparent effort to keep Crisp out of the entire Tampa Bay series which begins Monday at Tropicana Field, Crisp's suspension won't begin until tomorrow and run through next Wednesday.

Eligible for one more game, Crisp is back in the lineup tonight before his mandated five-game suspension begins Saturday.

"That just makes the most sense," said manager Terry Francona, who added that Crisp wasn't originally going to play tonight.

"It's better than seven," said Crisp of the reduction. "They could have easily said seven."

HOUSTON

Bourn CF
Newhan 2B
Tejada 3B
Berkman 1B
Lee LF
Blum 3B
Pence RF
Quintero C
Hernandez SP

HOUSTON -- The Red Sox announced moments ago that Coco Crisp's suspension for rushing the mound in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays has been reduced from seven to five games.

Crisp will begin serving the suspension Saturday, and thus will miss all three games of the Sox' series in Tampa Bay next week. He will miss the final two games of the series against the Astros and all three against the Rays. He will be eligible to play again on Thursday, July 3 in New York against the Yankees.

Crisp's appeal was heard earlier this week.

'A TEAM WITH NO CENTER': In years to come, when we reflect on this slice of the Red Sox tale, many names will be inextricably linked to the history-altering success of the 2004-and-beyond teams. David Ortiz. Manny Ramirez. Curt Schilling. There are some we'll remember at one end (Kevin Millar, Keith Foulke) and some at the other (Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon).

Yet one name that probably won't come up is Mike Timlin.

Timlin has been here since 2003. He has begun to work his way onto the franchise's all-time lists in select categories. (Did you know, for instance, that only Bob Stanley, Tim Wakefield, Derek Lowe and Roger Clemens have pitched in more games for the Red Sox?) But his role -- setup reliever -- is a secondary one, and his contributions get overlooked, or lost, in the grandiose moments we'll never forget. Like Dave Roberts' stolen base, or Big Papi's extra-inning heroics, or Foulke's strikeout of Tony Clark, or J.D. Drew's grand slam, or Papelbon's pickoff of Matt Holliday, or . . . well, you get the picture.

Timlin, however, didn't just have a front-row seat to history; he helped shape it. In a fascinating conversation with Joe McDonald last night at McCoy Stadium, where's he rehabbing with the PawSox, he talked about how -- and why -- things finally changed:

"When I played against Boston" -- Timlin, don't forget, had been around for 12 years before he ever got to Fenway, and had competed against the Sox as a member of the Blue Jays, Mariners and Orioles -- "it was a team with no center. Guys would just go out and play and then scatter in the wind. When I first got here in 2003 it was more of a collective agreement among guys that we need to change things. All the guys who were there in 2003 started working together and it started showing. Things started to go in the right direction . . . "

Did they ever. And Timlin says he knows why.

"It’s always about the team. You have to get the concept of the team is greater than the individual. Even though the individual does most of the work, the team is still greater. That’s not a theory; it’s a fact."

I'm not one to overemphasize the importance of character and spirit and togetherness towards a team's success; talent is almost always more important, and there's no question the 2003-to-the-present Red Sox had/have plenty of that. But I'm not one to underemphasize it, either, because there were lots of Red Sox teams in my lifetime that had talent. These are the ones that cashed in on it.

Timlin's 42 years old now, and his days with the Sox are coming to an end. This is his second Pawtucket rehab stay this year -- the first was in April (above) -- and, truth be told, there's no guarantee he'll be part of an another October run this time around. His pitching this year has been so erratic (that's a kind way of putting it, eh?) that the Sox may not have a roster spot for him come playoff time.

But after it's over for him, I'll still remember Mike Timlim. And maybe I'll remember him most for the attributes he talked about to McDonald last night, attributes that led to one of the touching moments of the 2007 postseason:

Yes, they talked the talk. And then they walked the walk.

"We didn’t just verbalize it," Timlin said. "We did it."

Yes, they did.

THE TRUE LEGACY: And if Timlin had anything to do with this, then his memory will really live on at Fenway Park:

LOOKING AHEAD: The Red Sox sit where they sit this morning -- 49-32, first place in the A.L. East -- not due to the contributions of 42-year-olds, but in great part because of the success of pitchers at the other end of the age spectrum. Steven Krasner takes a closer look.

JUST DANDY: That could be what the J.D. actually stands for in Drew's name. Krasner tells us why.

CASHING IN: The Sox hope the home run he hit Wednesday night in an indication they'll soon be getting more power from Kevin Cash, who shows plenty of it in batting practice. (Boston Herald)

EASING INTO THINGS: This doesn't figure to be a smooth road trip for the Sox -- they play the Rays and the Yankees next week -- but Krasner says it's starting in just the right place: Houston. The Astros have begun the process of attempting to release Shawn Chacon (Houston Chronicle); resistance is expected from the Major League Baseball Players Association. (Bugs and Cranks reports Chacon's banishment means there are no longer any active MLB players who were born in Alaska.) The Houston Press blog Ballz thinks the problems in the team's clubhouse go far beyond Chacon, and wonders how much culpability management deserves for all this. The Astros did manage to put the whole smelly episode behind them for a night as they beat the Rangers, 7-2, in advance of the Sox' arrival. (Houston Chronicle)

COMING OF AGE: Josh Byrnes, one of Theo Epstein's assistants from 2003-05, is running a very successful operation these days in Arizona. Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington, two of Epstein's current aides, could be on the short lists of teams looking for GMs this offseason. Epstein talks to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald and says he hopes Hoyer and Cherington -- and others in the Sox' front office -- soon get the chance that he and Byrnes received.

THE GRADES ARE IN: And any one of us would be proud to receive a report good as the one Chad Finn gave the Red Sox.

YO! I have a friend who's perhaps the world's biggest David Pauley fan, and he must be pleased that Pauley raised his record to 10-2 last night with a victory over Richmond; details are provided by McDonald. But whenever I think of David Pauley, all I can picture is the hysterical Boston Dirt Dogs photoshop you see on the right. END OF THE LINE: Tonight we bid a fond farewell to Hazel Mae, whose days at NESN are at an end. (Boston Herald) Rumors persist, however, that she'll land somewhere in Boston before too much longer. NOT OUR COLOR: The Boston Globe is sensing a growing backlash against pink hats, a term which has come to represent bandwagon fans.

THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: Life is good in Tampa Bay. The Rays closed to within a half-game of the Red Sox as Matt Garza allowed no hits through the first six innings before settling for a one-hitter in a 6-1 dispatch of the Marlins. (Tampa Tribune) It was, reports the St. Petersburg Times' Marc Topkin, the sixth series sweep of the year for the Rays, a franchise record. To top it all off, Carlos Pena will return to the lineup tonight when the team plays in Pittsburgh. (Tampa Tribune)

BACKSTOPPING THE WHOLE THING: Gary Shelton of the St. Pete Times calls catcher Dioner Navarro "the most improved player on the most improved team in baseball."

DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS: Interleague play (mercifully) concludes this weekend, and in New York that means the final four games of Mets-Yankees. The New York Daily News reports the teams are coming into the series from opposite directions.

RAIN AND FURY: The Yanks were rained out last night after starting the game against the Pirates (and jumping out to a 3-1 lead), and Mike Mussina voiced the anger of many Yankees when he blasted . . . well, someone (even he wasn't sure who) for not scheduling yesterday's game in the afternoon in light of the fact the Yanks have a day-night, separate-stadium doubleheader today. (New York Daily News) The weather was beautiful all day and the game would have been played without incident, but the Pirates wanted the game to be at night for greater television ratings.

THE SWORD SWINGS BOTH WAYS: Players/coaches/managers aren't the only ones to be disciplined by Major League Baseball for on-field disputes. Umpire Brian Runge was handed a one-game suspension for his actions during a dispute with Mets manager Jerry Manuel the other night. (New York Post)

CHANGE IN PLANS: First he wanted to manage the Mets. Now, angry because they didn't hire him, Gary Carter wants to manage someone else "and beat the heck out of [the Mets]." (New York Times)

STILL FLYING: Those waiting for the annual Orioles collapse -- like me -- are still waiting. Yesterday the O's beat the Cubs, handing Chicago a rare series loss at Wrigley Field. (Washington Post)

THE SWEETEST REVENGE: Joe Posnanski says baseball has kicked the Royals in the teeth for the last 20 years, so it's time for them to kick back by signing Barry Bonds.

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS: Carlos Zambrano says he hopes to be recovered from his shoulder woes in time to pitch in the All-Star Game. (Chicago Tribune)

STAR SWITCH: If Zambrano is able to make it back in time, he'll be joined in New York by his manager, Lou Piniella, who yesterday was named to replace Willie Randolph on the N.L. coaching staff by this year's National League manager, Clint Hurdle. (Denver Post) MLB, meanwhile, is trying to figure out a way that Randolph can still participate in the activities. (New York Post)

'THE MEAT HAS AGED. IT'S BETTER MEAT': That was Charlie Finley's chortle when he raised the price on some of his players during his Kuhn-aborted attempt to sell off his stars in 1976. The present-day A's, though, might be saying the same thing about Rich Harden after his dominant performance last night against the Phillies. (San Francisco Chronicle)

HERE AND THERE: The A's and Rockies could be cooking up a multiplayer deal involving Matt Holliday (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . The Pirates have placed Ian Snell on the disabled list (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . The Nationals swapped pitchers on the DL, putting on Shawn Hill and taking off Odalis Perez (Washington Post) . . . Ryan Church has begun to work his way back to the Mets (New York Post) . . . The Yankees may have to put Hideki Matsui on the disabled list. (New York Post)

AND FINALLY . . . Many thanks to Tim Daloisio and Paul Testa, who invited me to be a guest last night on one of their Fireside Chats on the blog Fire Brand of the American League. I had a great time, guys, and hope we can do it again soon.

-- ART MARTONE

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

The club's biggest concern:: "I think in the regular sseason it's going to be mostly about getting the seventh and eight inning in the bullpen taken care of. ... Certainly if they get more innings like they did out of Manny Delcarmen in the eighth last night, where he just overpowered people, some of those issues will go away."

On next week's stern test: "Starting Monday, seven road games against I think the two teams that they really are focused on, at least in the short term, for the division: the Rays and the Yankees. ... The Rays continue to hang with the Red Sox halfway through and show that they're a legitimate contender, and the Yankees -- although they have not had the best week -- have been able to creep a little closer and get above .500, and I think show people that they're still in the conversation for the second half. So playing those two teams back-to-back to kind of wind down the first half will go a long way I think in setting things up for post-All Star break."

HALFWAY THERE: They hit the 81-game mark last night, the exact midpoint of the season, and while it may not seem like the Red Sox have done what former Packers running back Travis Williams once (delightfully) described as "anything fantabulous," they're on pace for 98 wins. That's how they'd finish if they repeat their 49-32 first-half record, a mark they reached with a 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks that, Joe McDonald writes, was the result of some stout pitching by Tim Wakefield and a nice performance from his personal catcher, Kevin Cash. Cash's contributions included a put-it-away three-run homer in the eighth -- for which he received congratulations in the above picture -- that put the game into the "safe" category.

As impressive as 49-32 may be, it's actually a game behind the 50-31 record they had at the midway point in each of the last two seasons; in neither year were they able to maintain that performance over the second half. But there's a big difference this time around. They played their 81st game this year on June 25. Last year they didn't play No. 81 until July 2. In 2006, it came on July 4. And that's pretty much when it always falls -- July 4 in 2005, July 6 in 2004, July 1 in 2003, etc. The fact that it came more than a week early this year means there's a lot of air built into the second-half schedule . . . time the Sox can use to a) rest their everyday players, b) get extra days off for their starters, c) better manage their bullpen, etc. Did you realize that the longest consecutive-day stretch the Sox have from now until the end of the year is 13? (They'll do that twice, from tomorrow to July 9 and then again from Aug. 8-20.) They'll be off on 10 of the remaining 14 Thursdays this year (counting today), and 3 of the remaining 13 Mondays.

These Sox aren't particularly old and creaky, but some of the regulars do show some age; the more time off they can get, the better. And Peter Gammons had a particularly telling quote on this topic during his last ESPN Radio appearance -- more on that in a moment -- when he said: "I’m still firmly convinced that the reason the Red Sox won the World Series was the 50 less innings pitched that Josh Beckett threw as opposed to C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. I think those guys just hit the wall in that series and Josh Beckett was pitching in the World Series like it was April 20."

The more rest you have now, the more energy you have later. That's why it may be easier for the Sox to continue to play at their current pace in the last three months.

IT STARTS NOW: Speaking of rest, the suddenly slumping J.D. Drew got some last night; McDonald gets Terry Francona's reasoning. Drew was replaced by Brandon Moss, and perhaps there's no more telling sign of Randy Johnson's mortality than the fact that the Red Sox were willing to start a rookie left-handed hitter against the Big Unit. Can you imagine that happening in 1997 or so?

AS FOR THE GAME . . . Steven Krasner breaks it down, with explanations of Wakefield showing why he's more than just a knuckleballer, how Manny Delcarmen benefitted from following Wake's soft tosses with some heat of his own, more failed strategy from Arizona manager Bob Melvin and a Red Sox rally that wasn't in the fifth inning.

BACK IN ACTION: Kevin Youkilis returned to the lineup last night, missing only a day after getting hit in the eye with the Mike Lowell throw on Monday. (projo.com)

STILL WAITING: The Sox have yet to receive word on the appeal of Coco Crisp's suspension. But the Boston Herald's Jeff Horrigan reports the Red Sox should be covered if Crisp's ban begins this weekend because it looks as if Manny Ramirez is good to go in left field.

THE FIRST STEP ON THE LONG JOURNEY: David Ortiz took 25 easy swings off a tee Tuesday night. Krasner reports it went as well as expected and that Big Papi is two or three weeks away from returning.

IT'S POSSIBLE: Curt Schilling thinks he'll be able to pitch again if he wants to following successful shoulder surgery. (projo.com) He's still unsure if wants to, though.

NOTHING'S OVER UNTIL I SAY IT'S OVER: If you thought the end of Schilling's season, and perhaps his career, would at least put his feud with Dan Shaughnessy on hold, guess again. Schilling updated his "Not a thing in the world to be upset about" entry on 38pitches.com to call Shaughnessy a liar over a specific piece of Shaughnessy's farewell column the other day -- in which Dan said Schilling announced his impending surgery on WEEI Radio without telling Red Sox management he was doing so -- and then went on to a number of remarkably personal insults, which, if nothing else, will play spectacularly to Schilling's target online audience.

Your serve, Mr. Shaughnessy.

THE CUTTING EDGE: Peter Gammons' latest appearance on ESPN Radio, as reported by Joe Haggerty on his Hacks With Haggs blog, deals with the Red Sox' strengths in protecting their pitchers and in helping players adjust to the big leagues once they arrive in Boston.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Clay Buchholz doesn't want his stay in Pawtucket to be a long one, apparently. Paul Kenyon reports he was dominant last night as he pitched the PawSox to their sixth straight win, 10-1 over Richmond. Speaking of the PawSox, McDonald has news that Mike Timlin will throw an inning for them tonight.

DUELING POLLS: The Red Sox are No. 1 in SI.com's power rankings, but sit third, behind the Cubs and Angels, on foxsports.com.

DEDICATED TO THE ONES I LOVE: One of Chad Finn's most entertaining features on his Touching All The Bases blog is the Random Baseball Cards. Writing for Baseball Analysts, he composes An Ode To Baseball Cards and he concludes with something I've always thought: "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading, and Bubble Gum Book is a literary classic and should be taught in all high schools throughout the United States and certain parts of Canada."

FISH FRY: James Shields won his first game in more than six weeks last night, but that news got lost in a barrage of hits and runs as the Rays romped to a 15-3 win over the Marlins. The bad news in Tampa Bay: Troy Percival's balky hamstring is still barking and it "could limit his availability indefinitely." (Both stories St. Petersburg Times)

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Our friend Terry Nau, the sports editor of the Pawtucket Times, is a Yankee fan. So what does it say when he writes the Rays are a bigger threat to the Red Sox this year than the Yankees?

FORESIGHT: It's a hot topic today, but Joe Maddon was warning us about maple bats back when his team was still known as the Devil Rays. I had to go to Google to get the cached version of a Tampa Tribune story from July 24, 2007, in which he raised the issue "because I really believe somebody's going to get hurt if there's nothing done about it."

JOBA RULES: "The debate is over," declares Peter Abraham (LoHud Yankees Blog), and it certainly appears that way after Joba Chamberlain pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings in picking up his first win as a starter as the Yankees blanked the Pirates, 8-0. (New York Daily News) The Yanks, point out Abraham, have won four of the five games started by Chamberlain (even though last night was the first time he got credit for the victory) and the evidence is incontrovertible that the best utilization of his skills is in the rotation. Now, he adds, all they need to do is find another starter.

THE LINE FORMS HERE First up in the audition: Sidney Ponson, who will pitch Friday night against the Mets. (New York Daily News) The New York Post says reports of Ponson's being loud and drunk in a St. Petersburg bar the night before he pitched for the Rangers against the Rays last month are greatly exaggerated.

WAS THAT HANK WHO JUST WALKED BY IN THE 'GOT RINGS?' SHIRT? After hearing Hank Steinbrenner say he might feel different about rehiring Willie Randolph had Randolph gone off to manage the Red Sox, ShysterBall's Craig Calcaterra asks, "Does anyone else find it disturbing that the owner of the biggest franchise in American sports sees the world in such a simple, provincial way?" If Hank's father felt that way, we'd have been spared the sights of Wade Boggs, Don Zimmer, Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon in pinstripes. Not to mention Alan Embree and Mike Myers. Or Joe Kerrigan.

SO SORRY: Umpire Brian Runge apologized to Jerry Manuel for his actions during their argument, which led to Manuel's ejection, Tuesday night. (New York Post)

'MAYBE IT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED': That's about as close to remorse as Shawn Chacon would get after he was suspended for grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground during an argument that ensued over the Astros' removing Chacon from their starting rotation. (Houston Chronicle) The Chronicle's Jose de Jesus Ortiz, writing on his blog, thinks "[in] time, I really believe Chacon will regret his actions, but all sides agree there's no way Chacon will ever play in Houston again. On ShysterBall, Calcaterra had a more succinct reaction: "Forgive me for being a lawyer, but when I read [Chacon's comments] . . . I think 'wow, Wade's lawyer could win this one on summary judgment right now!' "

HECK, NO, I WON'T GO: There's no independent-league stint in Barry Bonds' future, according to his agent, Jeff Borris. (espn.com)

HAH? It doesn't appear as if Jim Thome will reach the 664 plate appearances he needs to guarantee his 2009 contract, but he says "stuff like that doesn't cross my mind." (Chicago Sun-Times)

'THAT'S A FIRST': So says Jim Leyland to the news Brandon Inge is headed to the disabled list because he reinjured his oblique muscle while fixing his 3 1/2-year-old son's pillow. (Detroit Free Press)

'THE AGES' IS A RELATIVE TERM: The Rockies made a comeback for the ages last year in reaching first the postseason and then the World Series. Thanks to their puny N.L. West foes, Tracy Ringolsby thinks another one could be in the offing. (foxsports.com)

ONE OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD: SI.com's John Donovan thinks the Mets may be helped by last week's change of managers, but the other two firings -- by the Mariners and Blue Jays -- won't make any difference at all.

THEY LIKE MIKE: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports has a nice feature explaining the success of Mike Scioscia with the Angels.

IN DEFENSE OF JOE MORGAN: Joe Posnanski knows it will make him an Internet pariah, but he explains -- and defends -- Morgan's aversion to statistics.

HERE AND THERE: The Nationals have offered Christian Guzman a two-year contract extension (mlb.com) . . . Andy Phillips is the latest big-leaguer to spend time in both New York boroughs as the Mets claimed the ex-Yankee off waivers (foxsports.com) . . . The Pirates have acquired Denny Bautista from the Tigers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Francisco Liriano took another step backwards last night, allowing nine hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings in a start for Rochester against Louisville (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) . . . Scott Proctor's elbow is apparently why he was "(bleeping) pathetic" (self-description) the other day, and he's headed to the disabled list. (Los Angeles Times) Incidentally, the blog Fifth Outfielder looks into the numbers and is astounded at the love Joe Torre has shown Proctor in both New York and Los Angeles, considering what Proctor has actually delivered when he's pitched . . . Looks like all the optimistic talk was just that, as now the Mariners say Felix Hernandez will miss at least one start because of the sprained ankle he suffered Monday (mlb.com) . . . Hank Blalock's hand is still swollen and he doesn't know when he'll be able to return to the Rangers. (Dallas Morning News)

OLD FRIENDS: Carlos Pena is joining Rhode Island's Rocco Baldelli in Sarasota on rehab (St. Petersburg Times) . . . Jay Payton hit a pair of home runs off Ted Lilly (and is now 10-for-20 in his career against veteran left-hander) in the Orioles' loss to the Cubs (Baltimore Sun) . . . The Dodgers have moved Gary Bennett to the 60-day disabled list (Los Angeles Times) . . . Josh Bard is still at least two weeks away from returning to the Padres. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

AND FINALLY . . . All those "Hi Don and Remdawg!" signs don't cut no mustard in Cleveland, where Orsillo and Remy -- unable to ride Manny Ramirez' coattails, apparently -- had a tough time getting into Jacobs Field one day:

-- ART MARTONE