Beaneater

And another random note: Golden Sombrero for Bellhorn. Yet he drew two walks and scored (twice?). Question: Why do people pitch around Bellhorn when it's so painfully clear that he's likely to strike out if you throw strikes? Again, I know, I know, it takes two to walk and Bellhorn deserves credit for his patience. But the fact remains that you don't get a BB unless the pitcher throws at least 4 balls out of the strike zone. There are some weird dynamics here. Let's assume Bellhorn has a great eye. That must mean that he's useless hitting for contact, since he essentially doesn't swing at balls but often misses strikes. Is he just stuck on swing-for-the-fences mode? Strange. On the whole, though, I'll take 3 K's with 2 runs scored every game.

Whoah. That was intense. I have to say that I feel mostly relief -- I was tight after that 7th inning. Excellent finish by Manny Ortez there (or was it David Ramiriz?). What I really want to know is if anyone measured Glaus's job earlier in the game. That was the longest HR I have ever, ever seen. Someone in the Boston suburbs probably got a window smashed. And, to state the obvious, Arroyo dominated the Angels in a way that would have been embarrassing to see if I were an Anaheim fan. As it was, it was a thing of utmost beauty. OK, one mistake to Glaus, true -- but he made the Angels look baaaad inning after inning. It's obvious that all the teams that are left are very very good (they're in the postseason for a reason) -- but does any other team really want to face Schilling, Martinez, and Arroyo? I know, I know, no team really wants to face Santana and Radke, either, or Oswalt and Clemens. But this Red Sox team is a buzzsaw right now. The Angels found that out last time they were in Fenway, and they found it out again tonight. One rotation I'm not afraid of is the Yankees. But we'll just see how the chips fall. Outstanding work in Round 1, boys.

No one is here with me to exult in the fact that Cabrera just broke this game open. So I'll do the exulting for all of us. ......... There. :thumbsup:

Thank you, Tito. I knew the threat of my wrathful unkind words would persuade your dulled intellect. Nice work in the 8th, Sox pen.

Nice work, Petey. 3 runs and no extra-base hits through 7. Excellent. You're set up for the W. Now hit the showers. Personal message for Tito: if we see Petey come out of the dugout for the 8th, I will personally hunt you down and... say unkind words to you. OK, I won't really even do that. But seriously, we've seen enough of Petey in the 8th inning to know that it's a bad idea to try to squeeze even one more measly K out of that arm. Get Timlin in. That's an order.

Yep. We're at best 2 back with 4 to go after today. That's pretty much game-set-match. So... Go A's and/or Angels!

I don't know if you're trying not to jinx the team or something, Yeszir, but I can't agree with your assessment. After today, we could very realistically be 1 game out (or am I botching this elementary level math -- stranger things have happened). 1 game out with 4 to go, we're hot and they're hemorrhaging pitchers. Do I think we're going to win the East? Mmmmm... on balance... if I were a betting man... no, I guess not. But at this point it's not just pipe dreams to think that we might. Oh, and to make sure that I'm on topic -- go Sox! Pedro will settle down and pitch well -- not dominating but good enough to win.

Quite a lot of excellent relief there. D-Rays got, what, one baserunner in 6 innings?

Um... yes, it does appear that way. I'll tell you honestly that at one point I vaguely suspected Ortiz of using, uh, biochemical supplements. He did get bigger pretty fast. Now the truth is known. Look at those (relatively) skinny arms. And that gut. The answer is not BALCO, it's Busch. If this man can be one of the top 5 in the AL MVP race... well, it sure gives a guy hope, doesn't it?

Ladies and gentlemen, this man is a professional athlete.

I'm with you. Then again, it looks like the Sox bullpen is trying to blow another W for Schilling.

Anyone else notice that Roberts can hit? That's a very pleasant surprise.

Mmmm... Nice Belly.

I think the Sox are trying to break the record for most consecutive games with at least 1 inning with the bases loaded and 0 or 1 out without scoring. I know, I know, it doesn't happen every game, but it seems to happen frequently enough that I notice it. :shrug: I guess the solution is... ummm... uhhhh.... Pinch hit Pokey when the bases are loaded? He could hardly do worse.

It's at 5? Excellent, Smithers.

Nice work.

Mmmmm... a little overstatement there, yeszir, but this doesn't bode well. Oh well, looks like we need _another_ 9th inning comeback.

CrespoBlows -- Dang, as soon as I posted that, I knew that I had sunk down to that "I'm an interesting person" tone, where I drop a couple of little hints and hope that someone will think I'm cool enough to ask me a couple of questions. Sorry about that. It's ugly behavior :thumbdown: . To answer the question, I live in West Africa most of the time where I work as a missionary/linguist with a people group called the Aja -- about 700,000 people living in the countries of Togo and Benin. Now I'm in the States for a while, going back to school. So that's why I mentioned Africa and Greek (I'm studying Greek now since it's the original language of the New Testament). Anyway, now it's your turn to post something like, "Tonight's win reminds me of when I was orbiting the earth in the space shuttle, performing emergency kidney surgery on a fellow astronaut, and using my spare mental energy to calculate the world's highest prime number." Then we'll be even .

Thanks to all for the info. Now I can sleep peacefully rather than staring at the ceiling for 3 hours thinking, "Why has this vile fate been visited upon me?" BTW, the ultimate of staring-at-the-ceiling-trying-to-go-to-sleep for me (as I suppose it was for many of you) was ALCS Game 7 last year. I was watching the game in Africa and it was about, oh, 5 AM local time when the game finally ended. I wandered dazedly back to bed, my heart thrashing against my ribs, head empty of all but tired expletives. I'm pretty sure there was no sleep in Mudville that night. All that to say, looks like a sound night's sleep tonight (as soon as I finish my Greek homework...).

Thank you, CrespoBlows, you are a scholar and a gentleman. What's up with Damon's K? Was it really strike 3 or did he get jobbed? Nice work by the bottom of the lineup and the pitch-hitting Greek god of walks. Oh, yeah, Bellhorn too.

Sorry, must have posted this while you were all typing WIIIINNNN!!!! Anyone want to give me a little play-by-play?

Could we get a clue here for those not watching the game... please?

Wait a minute... that can't really be, I mean, it's not THAT Wasdin, is it? As in 'John "Wayback" Wasdin'? That's too funny. Anecdotally, I was with my then-fiancee now-beloved-wife at a Sox game at (what was then) Arlington Stadium. This was when Wasdin was still a member of the Sox. I don't remember what the game situation was, but Boston pulled their starter (Wakefield, I think) and put in Wasdin. I made the required "This next pitch is going to go way back" remark to my partner, and then all happened according to the script. The next Rangers batter (Kapler, I think, in an odd sort of coincidence) did indeed take Wasdin way back. Not out, just solidly to the wall. It was hilarious (or would have been if it hadn't added to an already sound thrashing for Boston). Seriously, though, I remember when Wasdin was with us that some intelligent-sounding Sox fans were saying that he had the makeup to be a good starter, but that we were horribly misusing him out of the pen. Any thoughts on that? His ERA as posted by element doesn't exactly inspire awe, but has Texas been using him regularly as a starter? (I wouldn't think so judging from his W-L stats.) So maybe Texas has likewise been misusing him in relief, thus inflating his ERA, but deep down inside there's a formidable starter tucked away...? And now back to the regularly scheduled game-centered thread. Amateur prediction... um, it's Martinez in Fenway pitching for what is undeniably the hottest team in baseball vs. Wasdin. I'm thinking about it... thinking... still weighing the data...

Actually, yeszir, any chance you could stay in France... through October?

Empire, are you admitting that the 2003 Yankees were pretty much lousy, but that Soriano made all the difference? That's what carry means in this context, I think. And as much as I enjoy the mental image of the Yankees being pathetic, they were clearly a good team last year, with or without Soriano. Anyway, it's got to be Pudge. Tigers would not be within smelling range of .500 without him. Obviously he's a pretty good hitter, and he's not a bad catcher either. This is anecdotal evidence, and it dates from a few years back, so maybe things have changed since then. But I sort of followed the Rangers a while back when I lived in TX, and I remember that he basically shut down opposing teams' running games. He's just an all around stud. I think he makes a bigger difference for the Tigers than any other single player for any team. On the other hand, if it were the Most Valuable Players award... can you imagine where we'd be without Ortiz and Ramirez? We as fans would be occasionally checking the Wild Card standings just out of curiosity, working on our golf swings, waiting for the Patriots to start playing again-- instead of agonizing and obsessing over every game the way we do now. Hmmmm...