Sweet Caroline

Game 60 - Red Sox

Red Sox 4, Yankees 3

Record: 36-24

On the one hand, the logical, measured hand, the Sox have 102 games to play and are up only 2 games on a talented Yankee squad. And Teejay got a silver lining last night, belatedly realizing that he gets the MLB Network.

On the other hand, suck on 8 in a row, Yankees!

I was perfectly prepared to let this one go after the Yanks scored 3 off Manny Delcarmen in the top of the 7th to ruin Brad Penny's 6-inning shutout effort. Even when Hideki Okajima danced out of trouble in the 8th, I didn't get my hopes up. I mean, how many times in a row can a team beat its evenly-matched arch-rival (the answer, in case you were wondering, is at least 8). Frankly, after Nick Green managed to reach against a tiring C.C. Sabathia to open the bottom of the 8th, I still found reasons to argue that the Sox' luck had run out.

But then Dustin Pedroia worked the tiring C.C. like a one-armed paperhanger, fouling off a brace of offerings and working a walk. And I began to get my hopes up. Yanks manager Joe Girardi tried to get one more batter out of Sabathia and J.D. Drew punished him for his insolence, ripping a single to score Green. Cue the soft underbelly of the Yanks' bullpen and my cast-iron belief that the Sox were going ahead. A soft single by Kevin Youkilis, a harder single by Jason Bay and a sacrifice fly from Mike Lowell later and the good guys led, 4-3.

Jonathan Papelbon quickly hushed the whispers of those who've been questioning his efficiency (cough, ahem) by setting down the Yanks 2-4 hitters with nary a stern objection. And all of Manhattan got real quiet.

I could get used to this. I won't, but I could.