SI Exclusive Do You Believe? Thanks to slick glovework by newcomer Orlando Cabrera, the Red Sox are right on the Yankees' heels in the AL East race. By Tom Verducci Verducci: Yankees have mound woes Chen: Ichiro, Bonds chase history

These are heady times in Boston. Fans at sold-out-as-usual Fenway Park last weekend were cheering the out-of-town scoreboard as it posted updates on Yankees-Orioles games. They were chanting "Let's Go Orioles'' and, of course, they were belting out Sweet Caroline at full throttle.

Not since Cleveland in the '90s can I remember a town where more people wear team gear to the ballpark than they do in Boston, where hundreds of grown men wear shirts with the names of other grown men on the back.

Right now the Red Sox are the best team in the American League. Whether they remain hot into October like the 2002 Angels or 2003 Marlins remains to be seen, but this is a well-balanced team playing with tremendous confidence. Of course, the Red Sox and their fans are obsessed with the Yankees, but New York should not be their focus. Read on for more as the Sox top this week's mailbag.

With the Yankees facing such an easy schedule down the stretch, how much of a chance do you give the red-hot Red Sox of catching them for the AL East title? Either way, is Boston looking like the clear favorite in the AL playoff field at this point?
 -- P. Sherman, Sydney, Australia

The Yankees' schedule isn't all that much easier than what the Red Sox have left, now that Boston has ripped through the tough portion in which they played the three best teams in the AL West. Boston absolutely can win the division. Figure that it will come down to the six games between the two teams. If one of the teams wins four of those games, give that team the big edge.

But unless Anaheim gets on a roll itself, it may not matter if the Red Sox finish first or second in the East. Sure, it means home field in the first round and possibly in the ALCS, but is it really that big of a deal if both teams get in anyway?

The only downside to the wild-card format is you need that third team to make it really interesting, where somebody faces the risk of going home. Remember what a joke that Dodgers-Padres race was in 1996?

I'm a huge Red Sox fan and an even bigger Nomar supporter, but with the recent hot streak from the Sox, is there any argument that this team was better off without him?
 -- Alex Beach, Ithaca, N.Y.

I like Nomar's game as well, but the Red Sox were a better team with him as long as you're talking about a healthy and content Garciaparra. That wasn't the case this year. He wasn't getting to balls he normally would and there were questions as to how much rest he needed. The record proves the Red Sox are better off without him, but only the hobbled version that we saw this year.

With the Dodgers' NL West lead dwindling and a slew of NL wild-card teams on fire, is there a chance Los Angeles could find itself out of the playoffs completely?
 -- Justin Vader, Houston

No, I don't see that happening. The Dodgers may not be a great team, but they are too good to lose a lead this big.

What's the deal with Mark Prior this year? It seemed like his pitching motion was straight over the top last year and now he seems to be coming with a 3/4 delivery, which also seems to affect the break on his curveball. Have you noticed the same thing, or is there a different reason for his struggles this year?
 -- Dave Oswald, Oak Park, Ill.

I have not noticed a change in his arm slot this year. But clearly he is not the same pitcher. Hitters are getting much better swings against his stuff, fastball included. My theory is that he's just not far enough back from his injuries to be consistent and dominating. He's still regaining arm strength and command, and probably isn't entirely healthy, anyway. Dusty Baker has a theory that when a struggling veteran pitcher finds his form and gets locked in, he's able to stay in that groove longer than a young pitcher. I just don't think Prior has enough years in to know how his body bounces back and how long he needs to get back to where he was.

I'm somewhat surprised the Yankees aren't pursuing the same course of action with Kevin Brown that they did with Aaron "Basketball Superstar" Boone. Are they just trying to handle Brown with kid gloves in the hope that he comes back this season?
 -- Eric Bukzin, Manorville, N.Y.

Brown at least deserves to be fined. The difference is that Brown's injury occurred during a game and the standard contract does not include language about how such injuries leave a player at risk of salary forfeiture, as off-field, off-season activities do. So from a legal sense, the Yankees do not have a strong case.

If a power hitter came along but was a right fielder (e.g. we go into some parallel universe and get Vladimir Guerrero), would Ichiro move to center field? He played it in Japan. Could he be convinced to do the right thing for the Mariners?
 -- Chris Keroack, Duvall, Wash.

Obviously, Suzuki would have no trouble playing the position and playing it well. And yes, I think if you sat him down and explained the reasons for such a move and convinced him the arrangement would make the Mariners a much better team, I think he'd do it. But in reality, he's such a good right fielder and I don't see that Vlad From Outer Space on the radar, so I don't expect the Mariners to  mess with a strength of the team.

It's bad enough the Marlins lose a home game because of Hurricane Frances, but now MLB won't even let them have last ups in the make-up game at Wrigley Field on Friday. Is this fair?
 -- Roger Hart, Atlanta

	MAILBAG Tom Verducci will answer select questions from SI.com users in his Baseball Mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

No way. I don't like this at all. I think the game should be held for the Monday after the season, if needed. MLB has really adopted a hard stance on not playing makeup games on the Monday after the season because they have to leave it open for tie-breaker games and they don't want to mess with the postseason playoff schedule. Well, whatever happened to the integrity of the 162-game season that Bud Selig always talks about? The Marlins deserve 81 home games. So I don't even like the idea of playing one of them in Chicago, but then forcing them to bat first there is double jeopardy.

In your Sept. 1 mailbag you suggest that what the Braves need to do in the playoffs is get the ball to John Smoltz. Is it crazy to suggest that they give him the ball at the beginning of the game? Once the playoff berth is clinched, why not let Smoltz work up to starting again if only just for the playoffs? He's only thrown 70 1/3 innings in the regular season, wouldn't it be like getting a fresh, All-Star pitcher going into the playoffs? They'd still have Chris Reitsma, Juan Cruz and Antonio Alfonseca to close out the games.
 -- Jeremy Rosenberg, Vancouver

It's a great idea in theory, but in practice it won't work. You just could not get his arm conditioned enough at this point to throw any more than four or five innings. If you could snap your fingers and make Smoltz a real eight-inning starter, yes, I think they're better off with him as a true ace. But it's just not possible.

It seems as if Ted Lilly has come out of nowhere to quietly become one of the league's best left-handed pitchers. It's amazing how Barry Zito gets a lot more press while Lilly's numbers are much better. How do you think Lilly will progress down the road -- fluke or ace?
 -- Dale Elliott, Atlanta

I stopped wondering about Lilly after he pitched so well in Fenway Park during the ALDS last year. He's got very good stuff and has matured as a pitcher. The only problem I see with him is that he's bounced around so much. Of course, that's no fault of his own, but it seems like every year he's got a new pitching coach. Mike Mussina went through this in Baltimore (without changing teams, no less) and Ben Sheets did the same in Milwaukee. Sheets has had a very good year, in part because he's had Mike Maddux as his coach for a second straight season. So I think if Lilly gets established in Toronto, he'll be even better. But I don't know about him as an ace. I don't know if his ceiling is that high. I do think he's a solid No. 2 or 3, and in the small world of quality left-handers in the game today, that makes him a valuable commodity.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers baseball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.