It’s a lock that Carlos Pena will hit a home run this series
That’s exactly what Crundy said to me when the 3 game series with the Rays began. Low and behold, he was right. Only it took until the 14th inning of last night’s game for it to happen.
The last 2 games have met with less than ideal, but certainly not crushing, defeats. There was that wonderful 5 minute period on Tuesday night…after Jason Bay connected with a 2 home run go-ahead home run in the eigth…and before Jonathan Papelbon showed up with little in the tank but straight fastballs in the 9th. In those 5 minutes, first place was in sight and everything felt right about Red Sox nation.
So while it might be easy to feel defeated after the last two nights, keep in mind that we were a Jonathan Papelbon 3-out save away from winning on Tuesday night. Exactly where we choose to be in a game. And a clutch two-out basehit and RBI in any of the last 5 innings of last nights game would have led to a victory.
A Papelbon save and a clutch basehit. That’s it. A sweep and a 1 1/2 game lead was oh so very close.
We’re right there, Sox fans. The Sox are playing solid baseball in the right time of year. And if that’s not enough to feel good about, just watch Josh Beckett’s curve ball over his last two starts. Beckett is exactly where we want him to be going into October.
One last thought…
Exactly what was Jonathan Papelbon doing pitching in a 7-2 game last Sunday? I know he hadn’t gotten a lot of work, but with the biggest series of the year (so far) starting the next day, isn’t it best to save your closer for when he is needed most? I think Tito blew it and the decision to pitch Paps on Sunday may have cost the Sox a win, if not two, against the Rays.
One Comment
It was certianly the first “Playoff Atmosphere” series of the fall…which is always a nice feeling…at least now that we have two WS in the tank. A few years back we would be left worrying that the one year the Yanks sucked the Sox would blow it to the Devil Dogs but now we can look at the “Rays” with mild admiration and just enjoy the ride.
We want to win, the Rays won the series, which is big for them, but the Sox have all the confidence in the world that when the playoffs begin, regardless of their seeding, they will find a way to win…
Sidebar about the Rays: I was listening to WEEI last night and they had a “Join the ‘Hate the Rays’” club call in. One guy called into tell this story about game one of the series.
His seat was near the Rays dugout. During bp a 5 yr old kid caught Evan Longoria looking over the dugout into the stands and took the op to ask for a ball. Longoria looked at the plastic cup he was drinking out of and said, ‘Do i look like i have a ball kid? i have a cup, you want that?’. he then went into the dugout and from below threw a stack of cups over and on top of the dugout - sort of taunting the kid….
So, there’s something to hate, which is nice.