Young Guns

On a night when Jason Varitek brought me back to my childhood by breaking New Hampshire native Carlton Fisk's Red Sox record for games caught, the real story was the youth movement on the mound. Granted, it came against the Royals, but rookie Jonathan Lester pitched eight innings last night and gave up just one hit, an ineffectual bleeder, to run his record to 5-0, and wunderkind closer Jonathan Papelbon mowed them down in the 9th for another save (ho hum) in a rare 1-0 Sox win at Fenway.

Everyone wonders how the Yankees have been doing it with the injuries that they have had. But the Red Sox have gone through most of this season without two of their projected five starters, Matt Clement and David Wells, and now it looks as if ageless knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is going to hit the shelf for a spell with a bad back. I suppose we all knew that a race would develop and that the Yankees would at some point surge. I still like the chances of the Sox, but on top of playing well, the Yanks are starting to get the calls. In the sweltering heat of July, it looks like a pennant race is beginning to kick into full gear. The youth movement is looking more and more vital as the summer wears on and the trade deadline approaches.