Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Great Balls of Fire

Game 111 - Red Sox

Red Sox 6, Tigers 5
Record: 63-48

Insert the usual caveats regarding reading too much into what amounts to six-tenths of one percent of a baseball season here. And then proceed to say/hope/extrapolate that last night's game was a positive sign for the Sox for the following reasons:

1. They won a baseball game. This is a non-trivial matter.

2. They scored 6 runs, roughing up a very good starting pitcher in the process. Sure, they should have scored more, but that would have rendered point #3 impossible.

3. They came back to win after squandering a 4-run lead. Sure, the Detroit comeback was fueled by lackadaisical defense, middling (to be kind) relief pitching, and inefficient Sox offense, but the Sox nonetheless had a chance to choke and failed to do so for the first time in what seems like forever.

4. Jonathan Papelbon was phenomenal in his first multi-inning appearance in months. Climb on my back and ride me for a few weeks, you slumping bitches kind of wonderful.

5. Last night's game amounted to a must-win, both to end the team's longest losing streak in 3 years and because Junichi Tazawa makes the first major league start of his career tonight. After the Sox threw him headlong into the fire, choosing the 14th inning of a scoreless Sox/Yankees game as his major league debut, a home start against the Tigers should be a breath of fresh air. But it's still his first major league start.

6. Did I mention that the Sox won a game?

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