Red Sox 3 Blue Jays 6
Boy was that good. Can't really remember enjoying a win more. Some hits with RISP, some good defense and a very very timely steal.
I enjoyed watching Casey Janssen pitch. He gave up a lot of hits (11) and doesn't strike out many (2 tonight, last 2 batters he faced) but he gets ground balls and double plays. He was helped by a Vernon Wells catch near the wall off David Ortiz with the bases loaded in the first, that one scared me. Brandon League pitched a great 8th inning, pissing me off even more that he wasn't used Wednesday. I hope he bought himself some faith from Cito tonight. Snakeface pitched a 1, 2, 3 ninth to get the save. Just the way it is supposed to work.
I guess the best part of the game is we hit Wakefield, hard and often, 9 hits, 4 walks and 6 runs off him in 4.2 innings. We got a run in the 3rd with a 2 out rally. Wells singled, then Lind singled on a hit and run, Lugo at short moved to cover second and the ball went right where he had been, then Rolen doubled to drive home Wells.
Then in the 5th we got 5 runs. But, as so often in games it was the little thing that got us going. With 1 out Vernon stole second. Then Lind hit into a ground out. Had Vernon not stolen, that was an easy double play ball and we would have been out of the inning without scoring. Because of the steal, Rolen doubled, Millar walked, Overbay doubled, Barajas singled and Scutaro doubled. Watching Rod score from first on that double, by itself, made the game worth watching. He was dead tired when he scored. That inning won us the game and the steal set up the inning.
Now, odds are we would have scored off Wakefield before long anyway, we were much better against him today. Everyone hit today except Millar and he had two walks. Scoot and Rolen had 2 hits each. They all seem to be swinging the bat well again, except for maybe Lind. Lind's been in a bad slump, his average is down to .283. But I think think he'll pull out of it quick.
Jays of the Day are Rolen (.243 WPA, 2 run scoring doubles), Overbay (.161), Rios (.094, he came within a couple of feet of a home run in the 8th, nice to see him hit the ball hard) and Wells for that steal when we needed it. Honorable mention to Janssen for making the pitches when he needed to, League for the great 8th, Barajas for the most amazing run from 1st to home in just under 20 minutes (small joke, it didn't take him much over 10 minutes). Lind (-.162) gets Suckage honors
The amazing thing: even with a 9 game losing streak we are just 1 game back of Boston for first (at the moment, depends on the Yankee/Indian game). Tomorrow Brian Tallet gets another shot at the Sox while we get to prove we can hit Brad Penny at 1:00 Eastern. Let's club them again guys.
Craig in Calgary suggested the title from a Santos song.