Friday, April 30, 2004

Games 20 & 21 - Red Sox
All the Good Times We Had, We'll Have Again

Red Sox 4, Devil Rays 0
Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 3
Record: 15-6


Sure wish I had a more blog-friendly schedule today, because I'm just bursting to talk about yesterday's double-header sweep of the Rays. (And yes, I realize that this is yet another example of me not knowing what the hell I'm talking about when it comes to these Sox, what with the ill-founded fear of doubleheaders I posted yesterday.) In the interest of time, and of me getting to Happy Hour in an expeditious fashion, herewith are some of the many highlights:

1. B.H. Kim goes 5 innings and allows 1 hit in game 1. Tremendous sign and huge for the Sox if he can be effective throughout the season. If he can pitch to his potential, the Sox' no. 5 starter will be better than most teams' no. 3 and better than many teams' no. 2.

2. 6 more shutout innings for the bullpen, though the hitless streak ended against Tim Wakefield in game 1. That brings the streak to 32 consecutive scoreless frames by Sox relief pitching. Wow.

3. Speaking of Wakefield, he continues to cement his position as the most selfless, standup player on a roster full of them. After his start on Tuesday was rained out, he volunteered to skip a turn in order to keep Curt Schilling on his regular rest. Means that Wake basically missed a start, but helped the Sox by keeping Schilling fresh, giving the Sox an option out of the bullpen after Kim, and keeping the bullpen fresh. Stud.

4. Sox posted 7 runs in the bottom of the 1st in game 2 after Derek Lowe blew the overall scoreless innings streak. Game 2 was academic from that point, as Lowe was just effective enough to get through 7 innings with the lead intact.

Running low on time and long on thirst, so I'll call it a day. Suffice it to say that I'm enjoying the ride to date.

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