Go Figure.

Last Sunday, Paul Byrd was matched up against Roy Halladay at Fenway Park in a game that looked like a complete mismatch on paper. And Byrd pitched six shutout innings, while Halladay gave up four runs in six innings and took the loss.

So last night, both pitchers were in action again. Byrd vs. White Sox, Halladay vs. New York. Byrd gets his head handed to him: 7 runs on 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings. Halladay? He spins a one-hit shutout in a 6-0 win.

Was Byrd's Sunday performance just a fluke of epic proportions? Seems that way to me. But I'll take every fluke victory the Red Sox can find in September.

Last night was just butt-ugly, and no sense recapping it. (I missed most of it, as I saw the Red Sox' Single A club, the Lowell Spinners, win at KeySpan Park over the Brooklyn Cyclones, 8-2, and just about end the Cyclones hopes of a division title.)

It was a 12-2 loss, a garbage-can game. (Toss it in the trash, come out slugging tomorrow.) But the Sox can't afford to be throwing any more games in the dumper, as they now have a two game lead in the Wild Card, as Texas won in Baltimore.

Tim Wakefield returns at 4 PM today, the Fox national game, and tries to right the ship. I hope Wake's back is up to it.