That's gonna hurt - Sox lose and Twins win, Boys now 4.5 back

Yeesh, I was only kidding about the whole voodoo thing. I guess it makes sense that Freddy Garcia would lose to Justin Verlander, but to throw and injured back on top is just cruel. Add Sweaty Freddy to Gordon Beckham on the "Oh dear God no! Please just be hurt and not injured!" list. The Sox have already gotten more than could be possibly be asked for out of Freddy this year, and, with back to back outings with early exits due to back issues, we may have seen the last of his efforts in 2010. If only Peavy hadn't gotten hurt, the rotation wouldn't be flying by the seat of it's pants right now....

And, of course, the Twins come through with a pounding of the hapless Royals. So, over the course of the first 8 games of the road trip the Sox go 7-1, but don't gain a game! Speaking of voodoo, is that a necklace of shrunken heads around the neck of Twins coach Ron Gardenhire?

I haven't expected to win the division since my ill-fated trip home in August (when I was both ill and the Sox went 2-4 against their main division rivals), but this week has been just cruel. The team has been scratching and crawling; winning games they normally wouldn't and showing fight I honestly didn't expect to see. Yet the Damn Twins get a sweep at home against fellow division leader Texas and continue to return serve (a tennis metaphor?) over the same time frame.


(Yeah Manny, that loss is gonna hurt. From: the CST)

I won't actually concede the division yet, but it's all but over after the past weeks fruitless push.