Sox Offenders

After limping out of the gates to a miserable start, the Red Sox have turned things completely around and are currently in the midst of a 10-game win streak. Last weekends 4-game beatdown of the hapless Orioles was nice, but let’s face it: the O’s have one of the worst bullpens ever constructed. Hang around long enough for the starter to tire, and you’re in the game. Next, a quick doubleheader against the Twins was just a tune-up for greatness against the rival Yankees.

Late winter turned to mid-summer in a matter of days and the fans were treated to perfect baseball weather at Fenway Park for three against the pinstripes. Friday night the temperature hovered near 70 but the Red Sox bats stayed cool. They had plenty of runners on base but couldn’t come up with the proverbial “big hit.” It looked like it was going to be one of those gut-wrenching, nuts-in-a-vise losses that Red Sox Nation was accustomed to in the pre-2004 days. When Mariano Rivera took the hill in the ninth with a two-run lead, it used to mean it was time to down your last shot and turn out the lights. Not any more. Jason Bay crushed a game-tying, two-run homer, sending the game to extras. The Sox bullpen outdueled the Yankee relievers and Youk ended it with a walk-off jobber in the 11^th.

Saturday brought more sunny skies, temps close to 90, and what should have been a pitching duel between Beckett and A.J. Burnett. But the gods of baseball are fickle, and this one turned into an old-fashioned barnburner. The Yankees jumped out to a 6-0 lead, which the Sox erased and went up 8-6. Back and forth it went until the Yankees walked Jason Bay to get to Mike Lowell. Back in the early eighties, teams would often walk Jim Rice and take their chances with Dwight Evans. More often than not, Dewey would make them pay. And that’s exactly what Mikey did, blasting a three-run homer to put the Sox on top to stay. The final: 16-11 with 28 hits between the teams.

Sunday’s finale paired Justin Masterson against Andy Pettitte. For the third straight game, the Yankees took the early lead, going up 1-0. But a one run deficit means nothing to the Sox and they quickly went to work tying it up. Pettitte pitched well but with bases loaded and J.D. Drew at the plate, Jacoby Ellsbury stole home! A straight fucking steal of home plate that left Pettitte and Posada looking absolutely bewildered, while Joe Girardi skulked over to the corner of the dugout to update his resume. Drew ripped an RBI double before taking his tight hammy out of the game. Once again the Sox bullpen was magnificent with Hunter Jones, Michael Bowden and Saito closing things out. That’s right, we didn’t even need Delcarmen or Oki or Papelbon. Sweep complete.

The only downer of the sweep was listening to Joe Morgan, Jon Miller and Steve Phillips bumble their way through the game like a bunch of blind guys trying to find their ass in the dark. I’m not sure they were even watching the same game everyone else was. But for a sweep of the Yankees and a 10-game win streak, I guess we’ll deal with it. Next time you stop at Home Depot for a couple of two-by-fours, say “hi” to Joe Girardi.

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