I guess it could have been worse.

I know that's a crummy thing to say after seeing a Boston Red Sox baseball game, but it's true. It wasn't until this morning that I heard about the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim trade for super-slugger Mark Teixeira. Yikes! If he had been in Boston yesterday it could have been, well, worse.

The Angels already have the best record in Major League Baseball, and last night completed their seventh straight win against the Red Sox. There's little doubt in my mind we're going to see these guys again in the post-season. And something tells me that it won't be a sweep like in 2004 or in 2007.

In fact, Angels pitcher John Lackey came ridiculously close to a no-hitter last night. It wasn't until the ninth inning that Dustin Pedroia finally belted a single.

Fun fact: Pedroia's at-bat song is Dr. Dre's "F-- Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')". Huh. Not really what you'd expect from a 5'7" white kid from the Central Coast of California.

Another fun fact? By my calculations the 25-year old second baseman was nine when that album came out.

Anyway, after Pedroia messed with Lackey's day (and everybody celebrated) Kevin Youkilis hit a towering homer off the AAA billboard above the Green Monster.

But it was too little, too late. 6-2 Angels.

Oddly enough it was Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz who had a no-hitter last September. Not last night, though. Last night he gave up six hits, three walks, and struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. We did, however, get to see good innings by Craig Hansen, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon.

We also had Mike Lowell drama last night, too - he made an error in the third. I'll repeat, Mike Lowell made an error. The collective "wha?" from the crowd would have been comical, had it not been against Lowell. He's a good guy.

Naturally we had some Manny Ramírez drama, too. In the seventh Manny slowly jogged out a potential single, which of course was poorly thrown to first. Had Manny hustled, he would have been safe. Luckily a good chunk of the 38,110 fans in attendance let him know how they felt about that. When he threw his helmet in front of the dugout I figured he heard our boos.

My one clever thought last night? With 81 home games at about 38,000 fans a pop, you get in the ballpark of an attendance of 3 million per season. Divide Manny's $20 million salary by 3 million - if the Red Sox decline to sign Manny in 2009 they could reduce every single paid ticket to Fenway Park by at least $6.50.

That'd cause some goodwill in old Red Sox Nation. "As we have declined to sign Manny Ramírez this year the Red Sox can now afford to lower your ticket price this year. Enjoy the season."

Not likely.

Anyway, it was a blast to see the game, to see Youk's home run, to be in Fenway Park. It would have been nice if they'd won, but it really wasn't that important. It was still a good night.

(Wonder if Mark Teixeira is going to show up tonight? Yikes!)