Showing that they can do more than just beat the Tampa Bays of the world, the Sox took two out of three from the Mariners at home after losing two out of three last weekend in Seattle. The Mariners were on fire, but no longer.

The Red Sox are now 23-7 against teams with losing records and 6-4 against winning teams. They now begin a three-game series against the evil, evil, 24-20 White Sox here in Chicago. This is another test for them. The Yankees, having won 10 of their last 12, are hot on their trails, only two games back. I don’t know how long Boston can hold them off. Giambi isn’t even getting booed anymore.

The Rockets won the NBA draft lottery, giving them the No. 1 pick for the first time since 1984 when they drafted a talented center from a distant country. Sound familiar?

Whether the Rockets will try to repeat their luck with Hakeem Olajuwon by drafting Chinese 7-foot-5-incher Yao Ming is an open question, of course. Either way, it’s a nice dilemma to have. Right, Karen?

The Cubs ended their losing streak by not only winning today, but by coming from behind to win. And not only that. Fred McGriff, of all people, hit a two-run home run to tie it. And the Cubs even overcame a blown save by Antonio Alfonseca. It was not exactly an impressive victory, but a nice one nonetheless.

It does mean, however, that Cubs fell 14 consecutive losses short of the Phillies’ all-time record for most losses in a row. D’oh! I have a feeling that they’ll get started on another losing streak right away, though.

By the way, Bobby Hill scored the Cubs’ last two runs. Why wasn’t DeShields playing? Come on, Baylor. Moves like that might actually keep you employed.

The Cubs now have the second worst record in the National League. Who has the worst record? The Brewers. Five of the Brewers’ 14 wins (35 percent) so far this year have come against the Cubs.

Paul Pierce was on the money when he explained why the Celtics lost game one of the Eastern
Conference Finals to the Nets.

“We didn’t even play a lick of defense all night,” he said.

It would also help if Pierce could keep himself out of foul trouble. The fourth foul that took him out of the game during a game-deciding stretch in the third quarter was a charging call. Pierce needs to be more careful, especially with a guy like Kidd, who knows how to take a charge.

This is what the Celtics were like last year, when they were a lottery team. Pierce and Walker scored 27 but the Celtics never, looked lost on defense, and got killed on the boards and in the paint. The Celtics are capable of performing better than this. Let’s see if they do.