A few firsts this weekend. Wakefield, for the first time this season, got some support. DiNardo also got his first MLB win.
Saturday's 9-3 win was an all around effort. Every starter got on base. Manny's starting to hit, he got his average up to .301 after Saturday's 1 for 2 performance. About the only soft spot offensively has been Ortiz who is mired in a 20+ at-bat slump.
The pitching was also a team effort. Wakefield had another solid start, going 6 and allowing 3. Tavarez had an outing that got a little bit too interesting when he hit Luis Matos. The two jawed at each other, benches cleared, nothing serious happened. Apparently, the two are friends and were fooling around or something. Whatever. The fact of the matter is, Tavarez nearly gave up a 2 run homer after the incident. Timlin had to come in to get an out. Technically it was a save situation so Timlin got a hold. The Sox put up 2 in the 8th then Seanez pitched a 1-2-3 9th to end it.
The Man of the Game is Alex Gonzalez who went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, a run, and a walk. You know the Sox had a good effort when it is really difficult to pick a Man of the Game. This one was very, very hard to select.
The Sox followed up their 9-3 win with a 10-3 win on Sunday. They did a good job of getting to Kris Benson, which surprised me because he has 4 wins and we haven't faced him that much in the past. Usually, those types of guys we haven't seen really screw up the bats. That was not the case yesterday.
The Orioles and Kevin Millar blew a bases loaded, no out opportunity, scoring only 1 run in the top of the 1st. The Sox had a similar opportunity and Varitek capitalized with a Grand Slam into the bullpen. That was the end of the game.
DiNardo didn't pitch amazingly, but he was good enough to get around some mistakes. He only allowed 2 hits in 5 innings, but he walked 5 men. Tavarez looked shaky as usual, but we had a huge cushion by the time he entered the game. Foulke threw a scoreless 1.1 and Delcarmen pitched the 9th without incident for another cruise to victory.
The Man of the Game is Jason Varitek. He only had 1 hit all day, but it was the game winning hit and came in the 1st. Psychologically that hit was devastating. Baltimore had such a squander in the 1st, to come back and put up 4 with a Granny was like twisting the dagger after stabbing them.
The Sox have an off day after going 5-1 on their homestand. Then we go down to The Bronx.
Beckett vs. Johnson on Tuesday, Schilling vs. Mussina on Wednesday, and Wakefield vs. Chacon on Thursday. All those pitching matchups are pretty equivalent. An average difference of 0.29 in ERA between starters.
This picture is awesome, by the way:
Seriously, where can I get a t-shirt that says that?
That is a great picture! If you find out where to get it as a t-shirt, please let me know.
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