Red Sox Need To Salvage Series Split

Don't tell me that is only June 2. Don't tell me that today's game means any less than one on October 2. The Red Sox need a win this afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles (1:05 p.m. on NESN and WEEI -- Matt Clement vs. Hayden Penn) to stay within 3 games of the AL East leading O's. Imagine that, the Sox finally knock off the Yankees in the 2004 A.L.C.S and now they are chasing the Orioles for their first AL East crown since 1995. Baltimore is no push over, their pitching may be suspect but they can hit. Miguel Tejada is the MVP after two months (.329/14/46) and Brian Roberts (.368/11/33) isn't too far behind. The Sox need to start taking care of business versus the Birds. They can't allow the O's to build up any more confidence. If they don't -- and a win today would give the Orioles a season edge of 5-3 over the BoSox (including 3-of-4 in this series) -- the Orioles could make this a very, very long summer for those of us here in Red Sox Nation.