Two of Three in Beantown, Closing in on the Atlantic and a date with Inter

Should have taken the entire series, but a blunder from Chan Ho Park in the opening day game sent Boston to the top of the division. C.C's debut was less than spectacular, but he showed a few solid innings before being kept in too long by Girardi and giving up some costly hits that become crucial runs for the Scox. Burnett and Pettite showed some class in their first two starts, more Pettite than any other pitcher so far (that collision with Elsberry looked rough). Teixeira as I have predicted will probably end up batting .200 or less for the month since he tends to be a late bloomer, indicated last year when A-Rod returned from surgery and began showing the robot he can become at the plate. As for A-Rod himself, not the best start to the season, but a couple of clutch doubles off the Green Monster (home runs in ANY other ballpahk) helped produce some offense in the first two games. A trip to Tampa this weekend should be tough, though I think taking two of three again seems like a reasonable result.

Jersey's team just lost two points from Florida after being up 1-0, not surprising through since the offense began to break down after the first and the powerplay seemed in slow motion for most of the game. Pens are on rout to tie the division tonight so the final few games will be important for the Devs to try and clinch another division and avoid a tricky first match-up in the playoffs starting next week. I still think of Kovy can become half the offensive force he is with Atlanta (58 points with them this year, only 23 with the Devils the second half) during the playoffs, the Devils cant lose a series. Even Washington. You heard me.

As for the Catalan Giants, a stellar thrashing of Arsenal Tuesday proved they are still the team to beat in the final four of Europe's most prestigious tournament. Lionel Messi seemed to be playing as Diego Maradona described "Jesus Football" with a four goal domination of the Gunner's defense and without Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique in the lineup, the depth of Barca shines for all the Nou Camp to admire (Rafa Marquez was exceptional). Next in line is Inter, who they tied and defeated in the Champion's League group stage this past fall. While Inter have not shown their true potential (Milito has done all the work since Eto'o put them through against Chelsea), they still believe a shock upset of FCB is well within the cross-hair, which makes the first leg at the San Siro all too important for Barcelona. The first leg is schedule for April 20th in Milan.

One last footnote: A dismal exit for United in the Champion's League. Didn't think they would let up two after going up three in the first half(A few spectacular goals from Nani huh?). However, when you live and die by the sword (Rooney), you can't expect to make it to the Bernebeau.