Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Game 14 - Red Sox

Red Sox 6, Devil Rays 4
Record: 9-5

I flipped to ESPN2 as I waited for my wife to put shoes on our daughter in preparation for a trip to purchase a new barbecue grill (mmm, barbecue). The Bottom Line ticker (Boon or bane? Discuss amongst yourselves.) flashed the score, with the Devil Rays up 3-0 in the bottom of the second. Rey Ordonez had hit his second homerun of the season to stake the Rays to the lead. Those of you keeping track will note that Ordonez has now hit 20% of his career homeruns against the Red Sox, in only 6 games.

Two hours later, I returned from the ill-fated grill-hunting trip and turned back to ESPN2 with trepidation. Sox win, Sox win, Sox win. The good guys plated 4 in the bottom of the 8th, the bullpen pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and the winning streak stretches to 3. Good times. Very Seinfeldian in that one bad thing was balanced by one good thing all evening.

This evening sees Pedro Martinez looking for his first win of the season. He typically owns the Devil Rays, but this season has been anything but typical for Sox pitchers. The Sox are 9-5, but Pedro's winless, Lowe's only had one good outing, and Manny Ramirez has a worse OPS than Todd Walker. Meanwhile, the Yankees are off to the best start in their franchise's storied history, but they're only 2 games ahead of a Sox team that hasn't really played all that well. To continue my friend's musical analogy, this is one of those Things That Make You Go, Hmmmmm.