We were 2.5 games up in the East going into our four-game series with Kansas City. Here at the end of it, we sit 3 ahead. That's really all that matters. Though you could think of it as missing a chance to go, say, 5 up had we won 3 of 4 instead of losing 3 of 4.

Stupid Tigers go into New York and can't win the series. But it was pretty sweet that Mo blew his third save in a row today. Yanks now an even 10 games out.

The Rays are closer to the O's (4.5 back) than they are to us. Which is great since it makes all the "it's gonna be neck and neck between the Rays and Sox the rest of the way" people sound like fools. Which is not a shot at the Rays or to say that we're running away with it or anything. I just think it's hilarious how the human creature will look at what's just happened and say with complete certainty that that is what's going to happen in the future. It's like when it's 5-4 after one inning, people will say, "gonna be one of those games," as if it's somehow already been decided that both teams will continue to score runs at the nine-per-inning rate. And to say it in the A.L. East with two months to play is even more ridiculous. The O's could easily join the crowd at the top. We could drop to third. The Yanks or Jays could get back into it. Well, maybe not the Yanks. It's kinda dumb to look at the standings at any time and assume they'll stay exactly like that for the rest of the year. Again, I think this is a human thing in general, not just a sports fan thing. And I'm down with making predictions, but you don't wanna fool yourself into thinking past performance guarantees future results.

Don Burgundy Update: My friend Kat told me to watch the bottom of the 6th. I hadn't been watching that part of the game so I just caught it now on Sox in 2. Count was 3-2. Umpire realizes scoreboard at stadium is wrong, calls to his first base ump while holding up 3-2 on his fingers. First base ump agrees, also holding up 3-2. (Reading his lips, it seemed like he was saying, "I have 3-2, board's wrong.") He confirms it with the other two umps, then goes to the dugout phone and makes a call, comes back out again holding up 3-2 as the board is fixed. But here was Don's take: "I think it's 2 and 2," he says, while telling the audience that the home plate ump thinks it's 2 and 2 (despite that he's holding up 3-2 for a long time), that the first base ump wasn't sure (despite that he too is holding up the correct 3-2 count), and that the other umps "didn't know." He then notes that the board went from 2-2 to 3-2, while the camera shows us that it's at 2-2. Finally Remy says that the truck told him it should indeed be 3-2. It had been a pretty clear at bat, with NESN's score box having it right all along. I don't know what was worse, that Don suddenly lost faith in his own ability to keep track of the count, or that he assumed the umps were all as clueless as he was.