Game 3

Boston's best chance: PRAY FOR RAIN.

No, but seriously, the pitching matchup tilts in the Sox favor: Freddy Garcia is 10-3 on the road this season and is a seasoned playoff vet, and while Tim Wakefield has come up huge again and again for the BoSox in his playoff career, he still lives and dies by his knuckleball.

Prediction: Sox win it 6-4, and rest Jon Garland for Game 1 of the ALCS at Comiskey (damn right, I called it Comiskey).

Also: 8 days until ND-USC, a game that became A LOT more interesting than people said at the beginning of the year. We'll have preview articles all next week.

Stay tuned for updates on Round 3 of the Battle of the Sox...

UPDATED 4:45 PM -- Freddy dodges a HUUUGE bullet with two men on, getting David Ortiz to fly deep to Rowand for the third out of the fifth. Into the sixth, still tied 2-2.

UPDATED 5:01 PM -- KONERKO!!! PAUL-EE! PAUL-EE! Paulie connects for a two-run homer and the Sox lead 4-2.