Big-time bullpen addition

While the mystery continues whether the Red Sox approached Mariano Rivera or he approached them, I'm focused on the facts:

1. I respect Mo, but he's still the enemy, and I enjoy it when the Red Sox beat him.

2. The Red Sox signed an All-Star closer to help Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard close out games.

I admit it. Last night I wasn't thrilled with getting Bobby Jenks and told Trent so. But that's because I fell into the trap of listening to the media harp on conventional stats. Turns out he didn't pitch too poorly last season despite the higher-than-usual ERA.

So, we have a pretty dominant back of the pen. I just hope it's enough to make up the edge the Phillies have in the starting rotation.

***UPDATE*** Christine was grumbling that she would have to edit a post tonight, but since I've written, MLB Network announced that Carlos Ruiz won its X-Factor of the Year Award, beating Pat Burrell. Now she's happy.

A sincere tip of the hat to a Yank

Among all Yankees, one I don't despise too much is Mariano Rivera. He's not utterly overrated like Derek Jeter, a hired gun like Alex Rodriguez or just obnoxious like Joba Chamberlain. He's a consummate professional who dominates.

Even after the Red Sox knocked him around a few times in 2004, he still scares me. He won me over at the ring ceremony in 2005 when he tipped his hats to the fans who gave him a standing ovation for blowing those games in the ALCS.

Last night, he became the second pitcher in history with 500 saves. I congratulate him. Sincerely.

Interesting read by The Record's Ian O'Connor. It turns out Mo was nearly traded for Felix Fermin in 1996 because there was some concern about Derek Jeter being able to hack it in his rookie year. I never knew that tidbit. I wish it were true because then it would rank among the worst trades of all time, and we'd probably still be hearing about how the Yankees haven't won a World Series since 1981.

Back to our teams: The Phillies, who still haven't announced Carlos Carrasco will debut Thursday, were off. The Red Sox, with seven shutout innings by Jon Lester, beat the Orioles 4-0.

Where's the reset button?

Today was one of those days - personally, professionally and especially baseball-y - I wish I could have a do-over for.

Josh Beckett had a decent outing, but was outpitched by Joba Chamberlain. The Red Sox lost 1-0, allowing the Yankees to climb within two. The Rays are playing late tonight.

I disagreed with the Yankees' decision to move Chamberlain to the rotation. Why mess with the shutdown bullpen he and Mariano Rivera provided? I thought it would be great for the rivalry to have Joba and Jonathan Papelbon duking it out at the end of games. Plus, I thought Kyle Farnsworth would be a disaster at Fenway Park in a close game. Tonight looked to be an example of that. In the 8th, the Sox had two on with one out against him, but in comes Mariano to shut the door. He faced six batters in his five-out save: three backward K's, a weak ground out, a fly out and a shallow single. Blech.

It appeared as if the Phillies would also go down 1-0 tonight to the Braves. As Christine says, when Kyle Kendrick gives up one run in six innings, you should win, but the story is that they lost 8-2 after heading into the 9th trailing 1-0. Brad Lidge came in, and he got beat around worse than at the All-Star game: five earned runs, four hits and a walk without an out. His ERA nearly doubled to 2.36. Clay Condrey allowed two more runs. Ryan Howard hit a clutch two-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to put the Phils on the board. Double blech.

Both NL East competitors won, so the Phils are again tied, but this time for second place with the Marlins, two games behind the Mets.