Well...I was hoping for a good night at the Stadium tonight as the struggling Rangers were next on Roger Clemens list. But he's down 4-1 and the young kid he is facing seems right on top of his game.

The Yankees got what I think is a big blow today as Nick Johnson will be out four to six weeks with a fractured hand. Johnson isn't the Yankees' best player but he is leading the majors in walks with 33. That's a lot of clogging the bases that certainly propels the offense. I think the Yankees are going through a really tough stretch that will test them for the kind of year they are going to have.

The Red Sox on the other hand are playing really good baseball. Nomar Garciaparra is getting hot and Trot Nixon is having a good year. Pedro is where he needs to be and Wakefield is pitching well. If the Sox can get Derek Lowe going, they will be dangerous.

Hank Blalock is an amazing young hitter. With the bases loaded against Clemens, Blalock took Clemens offering to the opposite field and missed a grand slam by inches. You can easily see why the young player is hitting .380+. Another great young Ranger player is Young whose name describes his age but not his discipline at the plate. He's had two great at bats against Clemens tonight and turned them both into singles.

And yes, ::grumble::: badass Carl Everett is having a great year. He seems impossible to get out these days and as a leadoff hitter is one or two away from leading the league in RBI. If this Ranger team could only get some pitching.

Buck Showalter managed a good Yankee team and was fired in 1996. The Yanks that year went on to win the World Series. Showalter then went on to the Diamondbacks and did a great job there, was fired and the Diamondbacks won the World Series. I don't believe there is a coincidence there. The guy gets his players to play good fundementals and disciplined baseball. Watch him do the same thing for this Ranger team. I still believe the Rangers will finish at the bottom of their division. But they will be fun to watch.

Speaking of the Diamondbacks and the bottom of the division. that's where the Arizona team will end up...at the bottom. They are old, they lost too much pitching and they don't hit. That's a formula for failure.

Man...Clemens has great stuff...eight strikeouts in four innings, but he's walked five and given up five runs. Tonight is just not going to be his night. Maybe 299 will come in Boston instead of 300.