Ok, so it was only a two game series. At this point in the season, the Sox's will take whatever sweeps they can.
Lester was efficient. He threw just over 100 pitches by the 9th inning, and there was no sign that even that effort had taxed him. His fastball still registered at 96 in the 9th. Allowing just one earned run, Lester took it upon himself to ensure that the bullpen will now be very well rested for its trip to the National League.
Beltre belted his third home run of the season. His throw on Pedroia's error could have been better, but I'm sure Pedroia will remind him of that himself.
Youkilis had a 4 RBI night with a 3 run home run and an RBI double to drive in Martinez, who had a hot night himself.
Lowell was sadly ineffective, but after riding the bench for so long, can you really blame him? It's a real tragedy that the 2007 World Series MVP no longer has a place on this team, but that does not give him the right to make distracting comments from that seat on the bench. I would pay the Sox 12 million to let me sit on the bench if I had it. Don't complain when they're still giving you the 12 million. I understand that players want to play, but why not make the most of your time on the bench? It's obvious that you're in the twilight of your career, even if you are released or traded. Why not use this time to become closer with the coaching staff? I would start looking ahead to your next career, and this would be an excellent opportunity to make the transition from player to player-coach. Continue to be a mentor for younger players, and stop complaining about your place on this team. Be grateful for having any place at all.
Outside of the game, I heard the Ortiz interview on the Planet Mikey addition of the Big Show on WEEI today. Ortiz, if you had given that interview during your slump, three things would have happened. 1. The fans would have understood that you certainly still have a true passion for playing the game. 2. You would have fired yourself up and restored your own confidence. You would have started swinging with authority rather than half-heartedly waiving at balls outside the strike zone when down in the count. And 3. You might have revealed the secret ingredient to your mango-salsa. Peaches. You now have a Peach-mango salsa. If you find yourself in a slump again, may I recommend strawberries? Strawberry-Mango just might be even better than Strawberry-kiwi. Point is, I knew you just needed more mango salsa.
So the Sox are actually a whole 2 games above .500 now. Better still, the Yankees lost their games with the Rays. Unfortunately, the Rays won their games with the Yankees. I suppose the ideal situation would have been if the Rays and Yankees somehow ended both games in a tie. Hah. Ah well, at least the Sox are gaining ground on the Yanks. I don't mind the Rays winning the pennant if the Sox get to keep the Yankees out of the Wild-card. There's still a lot of baseball to be played, but I'll take whatever encouraging news there is at this point.
