As we enter the ten day stretch drive, there are a number of interesting games tonight. First off is the Yankees-Red Sox series. A sweep by the Yankees gives them the AL East crown and home field throughout the playoffs. It also does damage to Boston's chances at making the playoffs. The way I see it the Yankees can approach this series two ways. Winning one game will pretty much assure the Yankees of home field and the AL East crown anyway. They'd at most have to win four of their last six, and that's only if Boston wins all their remaining games. But NY may not wish the possibility of facing the Red Sox in the ALCS. In which case, the Yankees should want to do the best they can to knock Boston out of the playoffs.

My guess is the Yankees don't care who they face down the road. A sweep will be nice, but they'll try to win one. Tonight rematches Mussina and Martinez. These pitcher have been going in opposite directions lately, Mussina has an 0.78 ERA over his last three starts, Pedro a 5.29. The Sox probably need to give Martinez a rest, but with the division in sight and the wild card still in play, that's a luxury Boston can't afford.

Johan Sanata goes for his 20th win tonight against the Cleveland Indians. Santana has not allowed a run in September, and has pitched 30 consecutive scoreless innings. Suprisingly, he's only faced Cleveland once this year and had a very short outing. If Santana and Schilling have the same number of wins, I would assume that even John Kruk would concede the Cy Young award goes to Santana.

The Cubs get to face the Mets, which is a positive for Chicago, except they're facing Kris Benson, who has pitched very well in two of his last three starts. He's struck out 18 and walked 1 in that time frame. The Cubs just need to win to take the wild card at this point. With SF and LA battling each other Cubs wins will put distance between them and whoever comes out the loser in that series.

The Rangers try to continue their late season surge against the Seattle Mariners. Seattle has been enjoying their role as spoiler, going 5-5 since they started playing the west, and helping the Rangers into a tie with Anaheim. And, of course, there is the Ichiro watch.

The Angels host the Athletics tonight and both will be keeping an eye on the Rangers. Rich Harden takes on Kelvim Escobar. Escobar has to be one of the unluckiest pitchers of the season. He has a 3.75 ERA and a 10-11 record. Even over his last three appearances, he's 1-2 with a 1.17 ERA! Meanwhile, Harden is having a rough September. It's not clear why. His K, BB and HR numbers are all consistent with his season, but he's giving up a lot more hits. Is it bad defense?

Finally, a battle of lefties in San Francisco as Odalis Perez faces Kirk Rueter in the starting skirmish in the battle for the NL West title. The Dodgers got a little breathing room last night as they beat San Diego and the Giants blew a late lead to the Astros. It works out well for the Giants that Green is taking tomorrow off, when the right-hander is going. The Giants are in a position where it will be difficult to lose the division and win the wild card (see Cubs comments above). There will be no backing into things in the NL this year. Whoever gets to the playoffs will have earned it down the stretch.

Enjoy!

Correction: Fixed a typo. I meant Giants but wrote Dodgers.