Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Games 16 and 17 - Red Sox

Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 3
Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 2
Record: 12-5

In marked contrast to the Mets rollercoaster, the Sox train seems to have found a nice, smooth groove over the past week. I shudder to type that, as it will nearly certainly result in a massive, multi-car pileup, but it's true for the moment. Yesterday's easy, routine, bloodless win over the reeling Jays makes it 6 straight for the good guys, and featured 4 shutout innings by the bullpen. Today's Washington Post featured the following headlines within 10 inches of one another: "Bosox Committee Has to be Saved From Itself", and "Red Sox Win 6th Straight Game". I mean, seriously, which one is it? One more time, with feeling: yes, the bullpen hasn't pitched well, but they HAVEN'T BLOWN A SINGLE 9TH INNING LEAD. (Edit for selective memory - the Sox did give up 5 runs in the 9th in the season opener, but it hasn't happened since. Sue me.) As my friend so eloquently notes below, Armando Benitez himself has squandered four 9th inning leads.

An afternoon tilt with the Jays today, followed by the annual Patriot's Day contest tomorrow will make for some fun channel and internet surfing over the next two days. Tomorrow's game is a traditional 11:05 start, which serves several purposes: New Englanders get to drink in a sanctioned environment even earlier than usual, and Kenmore Square becomes the world's biggest Big Crowded Butthole (BCBH) immediately after the Sox game ends, as 35,000 semi-plastered revelers mix with the crowd that's gathered to see the Boston Marathon - right as the leading runners enter Kenmore. If you love humanity pressed against humanity, the stink of hot, drunk breath, and standing in one place with no hope of moving for 3 hours, it's your kind of scene.