It’s pretty depressing. But here’s one thought: Daisuke Matsuzaka should win the Gold Glove. Seriously. We all know the Gold Glove for a pitcher is sort of a joke award, but he’s had two really spectacular (for a pitcher) plays tonight, and it’s not even that unusual—Dice-K always fields his position well.

Anyway, if the Red Sox can somehow pull this one out, I’ll be excited for them to head back to the Trop–where at least they played reasonably well in the first two games.

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* White Sox were up 2 1/2 games last Wednesday, before the start of the Twins-Sox series.

* Twins sweep, winning three games straight, to pull ahead half a game.

* Last weekend of the season, both Sox and Twins lose two outta three against the Indians and Royals, respectively, maintaining the status quo.

* As a result, the White Sox played a make-up game against the Tigers yesterday. Because the Pale Hose won, they evened up with the Twins at 88-74, hence tonight.

Live blog after the break.

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7:15 Paul favorite Andy Sonnanstine’s pitching for the Rays. He gets the speedy Ellsbury leading off, but super-gutty gamer Pedroia hustles to first and gets there just in time! The throw from Bartlett was high–they just charged him with an error–but that was a nice bit of running from Pedroia. He’s not known for his speed, and yet he has 17 steals this season and just one caught stealing. I think that says just as much about his brain as his legs.

7:20 Sonnanstine gets Papi to strike out and then Kevin Youkilis flies out. I run into the kitchen to check on my peach cobbler. It’s bubblin’!

7:23 Dang! Ultimate gutty infielder Pedroia takes a bad hop off the chest and Floyd is on base. Because the official scorer likes him better than Bartlett, it’s a basehit. And this is followed up by a triple from Aybar–and the Rays send Floyd home! That’s nice, aggressive baserunning. Rays up, 1-0.

7:27 And I feel the need for a glass of rose. That “e” needs an accent aigue, but I don’t know how to do that in html. And while I was trying to look it up, Beckett broke off a beautiful curveball and struck out Hinske!

7:28 Gabe Gross at the plate. He looks constipated. Gross.

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Before we get under way, a quick preview:

The player I know mostly as J.D. Poo (or just “Poo” for short) is hitting .440. He went three-for-three in last night’s game before commanding an intentional walk. However, no matter how torrid his bat, I will continue to call him “Poo” until at least the end of June.

Alex Rodriguez, who I sometimes call A-Rod, A-Hole, or A-Douche, is also off to a hot start, scoring seven runs and batting in seven runs. That makes him somehow involved in nearly half of New York’s runs so far this year. This will only make it more painful for Yankees fans when the inevitable October chokage comes home to roost.

Papi’s power stroke is still AWOL. On the other hand, the Yankees have averaged just 3.1 runs a game thus far, so they’ve got their own troubles, not least of which is that Jorge Posada, suffering from “a dead arm,” will not be available to catch in this series. To get him in the lineup, the Yanks will have to DH him.

Because Mike Lowell is on the 15-day DL with a sprained thumb and Alex Cora is feeling “twinges,” the Red Sox brought up some infield insurance in the person of Jed Lowrie, their AAA-level shortstop.

Because Derek Jeter’s quad is still balky, and his weekend baseball activities are likely limited to casual games of catch, the Yankees brought up some infield insurance in the person of Alberto Gonzalez, their AAA-level shortstop.

As for tonight’s starting pitchers, for the Red Sox, Clay Buchholz has struggled so far this season. He had a rough Spring Training and a mixed performance in his previous start in Toronto—on the one hand, he only went 5 innings while giving up six hits, two walks, and three earned runs. On the other hand, he did strike out seven. Clay threw 89 pitches before he got the hook, whereupon the Red Sox bullpen promptly gave in to a fierce shellacking. Conversely, New York staff ace Chien Ming Wang has started the season strong. In two starts, he’s combined for 13 innings, 10 hits, four walks, just two earned runs, and 8 K’s. Wang was economical as well, managing to get relatively deep into the game on a low pitch count (yay for groundballs!).

Let the game begin!

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Earlier this week, I was hustling to make dinner so that I could get going on this week’s Metro column. Yanking my bowl of soup out of the microwave, I suffered a visit site to read more]

5:09 – Sorry gang, but it’s looking like my laptop is none too happy. Will try and take care of it and come back.

5:05 - Nothing much is happening in the game. But the New York Megamillion Jackpot is not over $135 million. Thought you’d like to … [visit site to read more]

So, my UmpBumping friends, I’m sitting here in my cube refreshing the box score of this Mets-Red Sox spring training game, and despite my own low expectations, I’m starting to get pretty excited.

Johan Santana has struck out 4 in 3 innings of work and has allowed two hits.

Jon Lester has struck out 4 in 2 and a third, and has walked one and allowed one hit.

The game is scoreless. As stuff happens, I’ll update.

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1. This new Fox postseason music. What do we make of it, sportsfans? Frankly, I was looking forward to the old music. It was, you know, sporty. But with the new music, I keep thinking someone on The West Wing is receiving a Congressional Medal of Honor.

2. As much as I personally want the Red Sox to win, if Josh Fogg can beguile the Red Sox we will be in for some fabulously awful headlines. What do you think? “Fogg Rolls In.” “Sox Lost in Fogg.” “Boston All Fogged Up.” It would be almost worth it. Almost.

3. Before things get underway, I just want to take a moment and recall the poignancy of the pitching matchup in Game 2. There’s Schilling, doing it with finesse and guile and wisdom and painting the corners. And boy does he look old. And there’s Ubaldo Jimenez, who looks like a terrified teenager, who has nasty stuff and his whole future ahead of him but who’s throwing the ball all over the place. It was almost like the passing of a baton. And Schilling, pulled by his manager, starts walking off the field—the Fenway Faithful rise to their feet, for this man who has given them so much—Schilling bites his lip—and—AND!—Fox cuts to commercial. Thanks, Fox.

And now, the game.

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1. Sarah making a desperate plea for the return of Gabe Kapler to the Sox.

2. Sarah making a desperate plea for the return of Gabe Kapler’s cute baseball babies … [visit site to read more]