Bandwagon Dan, Back On Board

All Aboard!

NEW YORK — You’ve got to like the way this is going. We’re seeing a team on the way up against a team on a southbound train.

The Red Sox thrashed the Yankees in the Bronx last night, 6-0. That means the Sox are 4-1 against the Bombers this year. And tonight we’re looking at Jon Lester on the mound for Boston while Freddy Garcia toes the slab for the unraveling Yanks.

Did I mention that the Yankees are in disarray? New York has lost four straight. The Yanks can’t hit with runners in scoring position. And with Jorge Posada refusing to play last night, they are on the brink of mutiny. It’s almost like the good old days when George and Billy and Reggie went toe-to-toe-to-toe. But those guys were champions. The 2011 Yankees are playing like chumps. Happy Day.

Meanwhile, your Red Sox are coming up on the quarter-mark of an underwhelming season and look like they might finally be getting straight. Tonight they have a chance to climb to .500 for the first time. Josh Beckett smothered the Yanks last night with six shutout innings (nine strikeouts) and Adrian Gonzalez hit his eighth homer since May 3, a three-run shot off CC Sabathia that sealed the game in the seventh.

Shank works in yet another dig at Nomar:

In some ways it was reminiscent of that fateful night in 2004 when Nomar Garciaparra said he couldn’t play for the Red Sox. It turned into a dramatic, extra-inning affair, highlighted by Derek Jeter diving into the stands while Nomar sat and pouted on the Sox bench. Nomie raised his hand for duty in overtime, but Terry Francona wasn’t having it. That was the night the Sox knew they had to trade Garciaparra.

Stay classy (and bitter)!