Final Scores: Boston Red Sox 5, Minnesota Twins 2 Boston Red Sox 8, Minnesota Twins 9 Boston Red Sox 3, Minnesota Twins 7
The Boston Red Sox have NEVER played well in Minnesota but now it looks like Eric and I aren’t the only ones leaving the weekend with a hangover. Maybe it’s something about that trash bag that sucks all hope out of the Beantown crew. The results are usually ugly, but there were some bright spots in this 1 for 4 stretch in the land of 10,000 lakes.
Although Dice-K got the win (his 6th) the victory on Saturday was a redemption of sorts for Papelbon. After 2 consecutive blown saves, Paps got a gimme save and did so with gusto. A nice bounce back for the most valuable arm in the bullpen. Also back to back shots from Lowrie and Coco. Wow that’s even hard to type.
Sunday was a big tease. After going down big early (Wake looked awful), the Sox kept it close even with Manny on the bench nursing his hammy. So why did he pinch hit in a clutch situation in the late inning (only to line out)? No clue. Sox fell short in the 9th. Not pretty, but a good showing for the return of Cora. Lugo sat as Cora got some big hits and so great plays with the glove. No win to show for it though.
Monday night was the return of Casey and the return of the inconsistent Buchholz. Manny got his 498th round tripper, but that was the extent of the offence. Buchholz gave up some big runs early and the Sox never came close to recovering. Lets get out from under the dome before anyone gets smothered.
The biggest stories of the weekend are the moves and shakes in the bullpen. Bryan Corey was traded to San Diego for a player to be named later. I only hope the PTBNL isn’t Bryan Corey.
Also, I am sad to report that the Sox have parted ways with a man I have gotten some great laughs from over the last 2 seasons. Like a psychotic on lithium, the Red Sox have gotten a lot less crazy… Julian Tavarez has been designated for assignment in preparation for a trade to Colorado. No more balls being rolled to first base, no more Freddy Kruger jokes, no more human sacrifice scares. I’m tearing up just thinking about it. Sigh… at least I can take solace in the fact that he was a terrible pitcher. Yep, I feel better already.
Final Score: Boston Red Sox 11, Cleveland Indians 2
Working hard to get my fill/Everybody wants a thrill/Payin' anything to roll the dice/Just one more time
This is step two...Sox win the pennant for the 2nd time in 4 years and they did it again with a miraculous comeback. I am too excited to be happy, too happy to be drunk and too drunk to be awake… but somehow I am all of those things. It’s like a euphoric waking coma that I now share with the rest of Red Sox Nation. What a place to be.
Oh man, I need to unwind a second. That was a rough week of baseball, any way you cut it. When I step back and see that the Sox outscored the Indians 30-5 over 3 games I can’t believe it… weren’t these all so close? Game 7 was a game of inches right?
With all of the old mojo the Sox trotted out before the game, I kept checking to make sure I didn’t accidentally go back in time to 2004. Kevin Millar threw out the first pitch and read off the Sox starting lineup. Last time I checked he was on the Baltimore Orioles, one of our division rivals… but who cares! It was just great to see Millar drunk, happy and in Fenway again. Sure he called Ellsbury “Jacob” and Dice-K “Danielle” but it was worth it just to reconnect with a former player that came up big… with a walk… in game 4… of a series that happened 3 years ago. Hmmmm… maybe I am reading too much into this… it was just great to see Millar!
Anyway, Dice-K came out looking like he might be worth SOME of that $51 million, while Westbrook was hankering for one of Paul Byrds HGH shots. Sox put up runs in the first three innings, every little break was falling for Boston, the Indians looked rattled and the road to the Rockies looked a lot shorter. That’s usually when the wheels come off.
Dice-K got hit and hit quick in the 4th and 5th innings. He looked completely gassed, but Francona let him finish the 5th while the rest of Sox Nation tried not to have flashbacks to Grady Little. Lofton pounded a ball off the Monster and Manny gunned him down at second (looked safe). Then it was hit after hit before Dice-K managed to strike out Asdrubal to end the inning. The Tribe only plated two runs, but this happened to coincide with Westbrook suddenly remembering how to pitch. The Sox must have hit into a billion inning ending double plays and I think I was downing a beer after each one. The tension was unbearable.
Some will win, some will lose/Some were born to sing the blues/Oh, the movie never ends/It goes on and on and on and on
The Sox sent out Oki for a two inning hold, and he participated in the one of the scariest sequences of the season. With one out in the 7th, Lofton (why is he ALWAYS involved?) slaps a shallow popup down the leftfield line… and Lugo drops it. The string of obscenities that flowed from my mouth as Lofton reached second would make a sailor blush. And then the momentum shifted again…
For some reason I still don’t understand, Lofton was held at third on a Gutierrez single down the line. He could have walked in and tied the game… but he got the stop sign. So now with runners in first and third, Oki gets Casey “Bad Beard” Blake to ground into a inning ending, rally killing, thought only Sox could do that, double play. Suddenly I could breathe again.
Then it was like someone let the air out of a balloon. The pressure just disappeared. With Jacoby reaching on an error, Pedroia SLAMMED a ball over the Monster for 2 insurance runs. Then in the 8th the Sox took the formally un-hittable Betancourt to school for the tune of 4 runs (Dusty with a bases clearing double) and Youk slammed a 2 run shot off Lewis and the Coke bottles. What the hell happened? No more drama! No more finger chewing! No more doubt! Papelbon came in to clean up the 9th (with a great catch by Coco to end it) and it never looked so routine. The rough and tumble Indians left the ALCS with a whimper. Not their proudest moment.
Un-freaking-real. This series comeback might not be as sweet at it was in 2004 (it’s not the Yankees and it’s not 0-3) but it still tastes mighty good. The bizarre thing about this series is that I never thought it was over and done for the Sox… sure I felt down when they fell into the 1-3 hole… but I never felt like it was over for them. Is that what 2004 did for us as a fan base? Instead of pessimism when the chips are down, is our faith now bolstered by the fact that we KNOW the Sox can comeback from anything? I never stopped believing, never stopped hoping, cause I knew… somehow I just knew… that this was going to go our way. This is the apex of the strange new world of the Red Sox fan. No longer underdogs, now we’re perennial contenders and our belief has never been stronger. Go crazy people… party like it’s 2004 'cause the Sox are going to the World Series.
Ok I didn’t WANT to do this… but it felt like I HAD to. Call it a comedy lay up. You have to sink these shots when you get the chance.
And I can’t freaking believe this is all gonna be put on Joe Torre. Like A-Rod being a walking coma, Clemens being old and Wang being awful were his fault (although if you want to be mad at him for pitching Joba 2 innings in an 8-4 game… go ahead). I think he did the best he could with the pieces he was given. I wish him the best of luck in Pittsburgh or Baltimore or wherever he ends up.
And bring on the Indians!! I bet Manny and Papi watch footage of Joe Borowski pitching like it was porn. Maybe like a snuff film.
Final Score: Boston Red Sox 1, Toronto Blue Jays 6
Yeah yeah yeah… I’m drinking again.
The Sox fled to Toronto like an abused wife hides from her husband. Sometimes you need to leave the country.
We couldn’t hide from our troubles. Wakefield ran headlong into a new adversary. Now beaten and bruised… Wake will no doubt be getting little sleep tonight what with that constant and brutal Frank Thomas rape dream. You know the one where he comes back for more 3 times! What’s that about?
Ellsbury and Lowell continue their hot streak but they seem alone in this endeavor. The unkempt locks of Dustin “Don’t call me Rose” McGowan shown for 9 innings. That’s right, 9 innings of shutdown for our struggling Beantown team.
To top this crap sundae with some undigested corn, the Yankees (playing the ALWAYS AWFUL Orioles) won and shrunk our lead to a flaccid 3.5 games. Our magic number is holding steady at 9 and suddenly doesn’t look so “magic” anymore. I want another drink but I don’t think they’ll serve me.
Tonight was an interesting experience that walked the ever so flimsy line between delightful and disastrous. Eric, myself and a few other members of Sox Nation: NY Branch rendezvoused at Professor Thoms to see this epic battle of AL leading monsters. I like this place. It’s a great “bar” bar and better than any other Sox bars I’ve visited in this city. It’s also full of Sox jerks who read the same trash on the internet that I do. We had more than one laugh at Manny being Manny being high, J.D. Drew breaking his back, Tina Cervacio and her rumored porn tape (named either Back to the Bullpen or Double Header) and Mirabelli banging chicks and eating veal parm.
So, with wall to wall Sox fans, a pleasant atmosphere and a steady buzz (ok a strong drunk… wanna fight about it?) the environment was perfect to witness another Sox victory over the big cats from Detroit.
Well, I had the veggies, the potatoes, the knife, fork… I just didn’t get to that steak.
Poor Wakefield. He didn’t have his best stuff (5 earned over 7 innings), but he got his normal “we don’t get you runs Timmy” show. Consistency is important.
Verlander was the rolled up newspaper to the Sox naughty puppy. Got a run in the first? WHAP! Bad dog! No more runs for you! Youk with his BIG fly to dead center? WHAP! What did I say? No more runs… now back to your dugout. It’s not the first time they ran into a wall of a pitcher. Gil Meche, King Felix, the unlucky bastard the Orioles threw at us Sunday (he got sent down to AAA), and then this putz. Unstoppable colossi of pitching prowess (or incredible freaking luck) that halt the ever growing collection of Sox victories. Yeah, they suck.
"Four people are sitting around a table, talking about baseball, five minutes of it, very dull. Suddenly a bomb goes off. Blows people to smithereens. What does the audience have? Ten seconds of shock." -Alfred Hitchcock
Final Scores: Boston Red Sox 5, Minnesota Twins 2
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