Lester and Sox go for Sweep - OPEN THREAD

I'd like to use today's day game to check in with the Bottom Line readership. I'm going to keep this open thread going all day today and I'm hoping you guys will stop by and leave a comment... Many of us bloggers have stat counters and do-dads that tell us how many people stop by each day, but I really have no idea who's reading this stuff - so help me out and leave a comment at some point today.

I'll be posting updates as the game goes along, but for now here are some factoids for today's match-up...

Jon Lester had pitched 7+ innings in eight consecutive games, before giving up 7 runs in 2 1/3 innings in Toronto in his last start.

The last time Jon faced the Yankees, he pitched a complete game 5-hitter and fanned eight... in the Bronx... He's also 2-0 lifetime against the Yankees with a 4.12 ERA.

Lester's been pretty awesome this year, but he's been better at home (7-1, 2.93) than on the road (5-4, 4.11)...

Mike Mussina is the Yankee's Tim Wakefield. He's not great, but he gives you a solid effort every time and has surprisingly decent numbers this season: 16-7, 3.45 ERA.

Moose grabbed the win in his last match-up with the Sox - holding the Sox to just 4 hits and no runs in what ended up being a 2-1 victory for the Yankees.

However, back in April, he pitched back-to-back games against the Sox and was shellacked for 9 runs on 15 hits (3 homers) over 8 2/3 total innings of work...

Who to Watch: Johnny Damon is 5 for 10 with a homer against Lester ... Arod had two doubles last night and has been too quiet. He's 1 for 8 off Lester, but I have a bad feeling he's due for a big game ... David Ortiz is due for a homer - he has 3 against Mussina, but he's also K'd 20 times in 59 at-bats ... Pedroia the Destroy-ah is 8 for 16 against Moose and had 3 hits last night ... Mark Kotsay could play today - he's 6 for 27 (.222) against Mussina, but Coco is 8 for 26 (.308) and Ellsbury is 3 for 6 (.500).

Now get to the Comments section and say hello... Go Sox!