Mixed emotions

Last year, when the Red Sox were down 3-1 to the Indians, I wasn't confident of victory, but I knew they could do it.

This year, however, they don't look like they belong on the field with the Rays. Imagine that - the little doodles are on the verge of going to the World Series.

The feeling is not as bad as when I conceded the 2004 American League Championship Series when they were down 3-0 to the Yankees. I'm not conceding to the Rays yet, but there is a similar numb feeling.

The Rays appear younger, healthier, hungrier and better. But the Red Sox still have the heart of a champion, so the Rays would be best served to finish off the job on Thursday because we have Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester ready to go. Yeah, I know, not exactly Derek Lowe, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez of '04 or Beckett, Curt and Dice-K last year.

If you don't know the gory details by now, the Red Sox lost 13-4 tonight and trail the Rays 3-1. Tim Wakefield and Manny Delcarmen each gave up five runs - Wake lasted two and two-thirds of an inning, Delcarmen just one-third.

What the F???: What's worse, that Sweet Caroline would still be played with the Red Sox trailing by 11 runs in an absolutely critical playoff game or that the fans would still be singing along? I think the latter. What the hell ever happened to the spirited Red Sox fans I fell in love with in the 1980s? The die-hard Fenway Faithful have been a disgrace - booing the team, leaving early and now singing Neil Diamond as the Red Sox dig themselves deeper and deeper.

The faltering Red Sox took away some of the high I've been on after the Phillies dramatic Game 4 win on Monday, taking a 3-1 lead over the Dodgers.

When it felt like the Dodgers were going to win it and tie the series, Christine couldn't watch. She missed seeing Chase Utley's great double play, Shane Victorino's clutch home run to tie it in the 8th, followed shortly by Matt Stairs' two-run pinch-hit home run that will go down in Philly lore because of its significance and his post-game comment.

She started watching again to see Brad Lidge's first more than three-out save of the year. Of course, in Philly fashion, Carlos Ruiz had to let a third strike get by him in the 8th to prolong the drama of that inning.

This town is abuzz. It's like everyone suddenly woke up and realized there's a baseball team and that the .500 Eagles are not the only game in town. It should be interesting to see what happens should the Phillies advance to the World Series.

I've already cautioned Christine that should the Phillies and Rays meet in the next round, it will be more of a series than she's seen so far. Meantime, I'm still rooting for Cole Hamels to wrap it up tomorrow to give the Phillies the edge over a surely exhausted Red Sox team who just had a dramatic three-game comeback against the Rays.

[Photo credits: Boston Globe (Wakefield), Associated Press (Victorino)]