“No we got nothing in common/No we can’t talk at all”

The contrasting styles of the two American League wins leaders, groundballer Chien-Ming Wang and fireballer Josh Beckett, face off this afternoon in Fenway, with both pitchers looking for his nineteenth win, and the Yankees likely still flying high off their improbable win last night. That word improbable has been popping up a lot between these two teams recently, all in the Yankees favor. Things also went in the Yankees’ favor the last time each of these two pitchers took the mound against today’s oppenent. Beckett gave up a career-high 13 hits (including a solo homer by Alex Rodriguez) and allowed four runs in an otherwise solid outing, losing to tomorrow’s starter Roger Clemens. The next day, Wang no-hit the Sox for 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit (to Mike Lowell) over seven scoreless to pick up his sweet sixteenth. Wang is 5-0 with a 2.04 ERA over his last five starts.

Many have positioned this game as a battle for the American League Cy Young. C.C. Sabathia and even Johan Santana may have something to say about that, but considering the inappropriate emphasis the voters place on wins, this game could indeed be crucial to their decision making.

It’s been a rainy day in Boston thus far, but the late FOX start time should allow the weather to blow over, while the clouds could prevent the shadows from interfering as they often do in late afternoon contests. Here’s hoping the Yanks can make tonight a wonderful thing.