Another injured SoxandPhils catcher

Victor Martinez, Carlos Ruiz, Jason Varitek, Brian Schneider and now Kevin Cash. Five catchers DL'd by the Red Sox and Phillies this year.

It's incredible that both our teams have lost their entire catching corps for portions of the season. Although, the latest addition, Cash, who I believe is the 17th Red Sox to hit the DL this season, might need an asterisk.

That's because there have been several wink-like references from beat writers that suggest this move was a sham just to call up newly acquired Jarrod Saltalamacchia:

Meanwhile Varitek is working on his throwing with Gary Tuck, playing catch with Cash.

Boy, for a guy who needs to go on the DL Cash looks pretty good.

Whatever. All I know is that the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 10-1, which pulls them within 3.5 games of the Rays. And if the Rangers can clean up Cliff Lee's mess and hold on to beat the Yankees, we'll be just four games from the top spot.

The Phillies partied like the 2005 Astros, beating the Dodgers 2-0 behind Roy Oswalt's first Phillies win and a clean save by Brad Lidge.

The Yankees stole our guy, but the big guy's up tonight

Overshadowed by the Mark Teixeira sell-out yesterday was the Yankees' acquisition of Kevin Cash, Tim Wakefield's former catcher. I'm disappointed in Cash, but I understand his thinking: Since Jorge Posada may not be able to throw anymore, might as well see if he can be the starting catcher of the $250 billion empire.

Also overlooked yesterday was the Phillies getting Gary Majewski. I thought the Reds stole a real good pitcher when they acquired him in the Austin Kearns trade with the Nationals in 2007, but it turns out he may have been damaged goods.

Christmas is here: OK, a few more hours, but we're ready. I just gassed up the car and bought some poinsettias. Tonight it's Christmas Eve dinner and church services before we wait and watch as the big guy works his magic and surprises the world.

No, not this big guy:

This one:

Comcast is replaying Game 4 of the NLDS at 7 p.m. - hope the pastor keeps her sermon short.

[Photo credits: UPI (Santa), Philadelphia Inquirer (Stairs)]

Treading water

The Red Sox and Rays each split their double headers against the Blue Jays and Yankees, so we remain two games out - not impossible to make up, but it's looking like a sweep in Tampa this week may be necessary.

The Phillies won handily, but only picked up a half game on the Mets, who split their double header against the Braves. OK, that's improvement (2.5 games out) - plus, they picked up a whole game on the Wild Card-leading Brewers, whose lead is now two games heading into tomorrow's double header. The Astros, in limbo because of Hurricane Ike, are a half game behind the Phillies.

Young Cole Hamels may have been paying attention to Jamie Moyer's outing the other night. It wasn't his best start, but he gutted it out for 6.1 innings to get the win as the Phillies beat the Brewers 7-3.

Most of the offense (except Pat Burrell and Carlos Ruiz) pitched in, led by three hits, three runs and two RBI by Jimmy Rollins.

They have to at least split tomorrow's double header, but if they sweep, I'm believing again. {I'm already there; I hope tomorrow's not a letdown.}

Red Sox: In the first game, Paul Byrd pitched like the crappy Paul Byrd I've been expecting, and the Sox lost a gutless performance 8-1 with only five friggin' hits. The box score looks like a spring training game. David Aardsma got beat around, too - when did he come back? Kevin Cash pinch hit for Dustin Pedroia and stayed in the game at third base; that's his first major league appearance at any position besides catcher.

The Sox finally woke up late in the second game. After trailing 5-2, they scored a run in the 6th and 7th and three in the 8th to win 7-5. Bartolo Colon returned, and it looks like Fat Bart didn't do too bad; he gave up five runs, but only two were earned, over six innings. Three-hit nights for Jason Bay and Dustin MVPedroia.

Washout

On a day when just about every other game was rained out, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 7-0 - and it was on ESPN because the scheduled game, Rays vs. some irrelevant New York team, was postponed.

Good game for Tim Wakefield - eight innings, three hits and four strikeouts. Those of us who follow the Soxand/orPhils should really appreciate getting to root for Wakefield and Jamie Moyer.

Kevin Cash's three-run homer in the 8th put it away, backing up big nights for Mike Lowell, Jed Lowrie and David Ortiz. We're now two games behind the Rays, and we'll be pulling hard for the Yankees to sweep them in a doubleheader. The Sox and Jays also have a twin bill, so it's possible for the race to be in a dead heat tomorrow night.

Phillies: They were rained out and will play a doubleheader Sunday. That means we'll see Joe Blanton on Sunday afternoon instead of Brett Myers on three days rest. After Sunday, we will have been to 15 Phillies games this year with one to go (unless they make the playoffs) and still have not seen young Brett live.

SoxandPhils mojo: Today's the day they tossed the coin to determine home field in case teams are tied for a playoff slot:

The big winners of the 12-flip event were the Phillies, who would host any of four possible playoff games, and the Red Sox, who would be in their Fenway Park bunker for both American League East and AL Wild Card deciders.

Personal note: The blogosphere lost a good one with the semi-retirement of one our favorites, Change is Good, which has been a model for us. We'll miss reading ya, Brian.

Wake wins battle of the aged; Cholly mixes things up

In the battle of the 40-somethings, Tim Wakefield outdueled Randy Johnson. It was much closer than the 5-0 final. I actually got to see the ESPN Red Sox broadcast and Wake's knuckleball flutter past the Diamondbacks, giving up only two hits and a walk in seven innings. The Big Unit gave up two runs in six innings before Kevin Cash hit a three-run homer off Juan Cruz.

And, honestly, we weren't thinking about our fantasy team when Craig Hansen loaded the bases in the 9th, setting up a save for Jonathan Papelbon.

Off the field, however, the focus was on the two biggest names on the DL for the Sox: Curt Schilling may not be done, and David Ortiz relived his T-ball days.

In Phillyland, Charlie Manual might want his slumping bats to go back to T-ball to get reacquainted with that strange little white orb that's baffled them lately:

We've got guys not hitting. I mean swinging bad. Swinging at balls in the dirt. Chasing balls over their heads. It looks like they've never seen a baseball. Really. They can go back to square one and think about what they've always done. And that's be aggressive, but at the same time be patient enough to get good balls to hit. That right there is how we're going to come out of it.

His theory tonight: Pick a lineup out of a hat.
1. Jayson Werth, RF
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Jimmy Rollins, SS
4. Pat Burrell, LF
5. Ryan Howard, DH
6. Pedro Feliz, 3B
7. Shane Victorino, CF
8. Chris Coste, C
9. Erick Bruntlett, 1B.

So far, it's working. The Phils are leading the A's 2-0 in the 4th. My alarm clock is set to WIP; I'm sure Angelo Cataldi will greet me in the morning with how they blew it.

And, breaking news: Shawn Chacon beat up Ed Wade.