Sox set up for battle with Yanks

At the start of the Major League Baseball season, this column noted that how the Red Sox started would have a lot to do with how they finished. Not a bad start.

The concern with the beginning of the season came because of injuries to regulars, none more so than to Nomar Garciaparra. He is on the verge of returning and the Sox are in the expected race with the Yankees.

Curt Shilling has proven to be the big-game pitcher the Sox hoped for, starting with a 6-3 mark and the third best ERA in the league. Newcomer Keith Foulke is putting up saves, but needs to be better. Pedro Martinez needs to pick the win pace up on the mound, but he does lead the league in strikeouts.

The Red Sox have more wins at home than any team, but they are below .500 on the road. That needs to be corrected.

The Sox have the best mark in the league within the division and that really matters in the race for the playoffs through the division crown road. Inter-league play and a west coast swing will test the Sox away from the AL East.

The Yankees have done their part by not hitting, yet are still ahead of Boston and are five games above .500 on the road. That has to be a real concern for Boston.

With Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams hitting under .240, a starting rotation that is not set, and first base still up for grabs, the Yankees are a dangerous team that already leads the league in wins.

The rest of the AL East is disappearing. Even Baltimore, off to a good start, finds itself below the .500 mark and 14 games behind the Yankee pace.

Toronto and Tampa are already out of the mix. They are two teams that will have nothing to lose as the season goes along and that always makes them tough to play against.

Any hope that it would be the Sox with a lead in the East and the Yankees chasing them can all but be forgotten. The Yanks will only get better and the Sox are going to have to do the same.

With both Texas and Anaheim playing well in the West and Oakland creating a three-team race there, the wild-card spot is not to be counted on if you are the second team in the East.

Thus, here we go again. The Sox and the Yankees going at it hard. What would summer be without it?

A note to readers: For the past few years the BDN was good enough to open a Web site mailbox for me. Unfortunately, that site no longer works to communicate with you.

The site became so full of garbage spam on a daily basis that it became impossible to know what was a real letter and what was just the worst of spam filled with a virus.

Sorry. Letters to BDN are always welcomed, but for now, we are back to the good old days of paper and stamps.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.