Final Score:
Boston Red Sox 8, Anaheim Angels 3
What a game...most definately worth staying up until 2:00 AM to see the end of, although I certainly regretted it trying to wake up this morning. Pedro, while not in his most classic form (he doesn't, as Bill Simmons put it, have that fifth gear to fall back on to get batters out the way Schilling does anymore), pitched an excellent, excellent game. He had one bad inning, allowing Vlad Guerrero to hit a two run single, but pitched well to the tight strike zone, striking out six and hold the Angels to three runs. He even ended the night by having two lengthy battles before striking out Chone Figgins and ending the seventh. Mike Timlin was nearly flawless, Mike Myers was flawless and Keith Foulke put down four straight to close out the game.
Meanwhile, on the offensive side, Manny was everywhere for the second night in a row, drawing a walk in the second to force Mueller home to score the first run (after almost getting a grand slam off the foul pole, no less) and hitting an RBI single off of K-Rod to get the go ahead run in the seventh. Varitek tied up a 3 - 1 deficit (the first time the Angels had led in the series) with a two run homerun and Cabs blew it open in the ninth with a three run double.
There was even a controversial play in the eighth, when Troy Glaus was called out on strikes to end the inning, as Darren Erstad was attempting to steal second base. The Sox caught a large break, as for whatever reason, the umpire's normally ESPN-K-Zone-tight strike zone opened waaay up to get Glaus out. I wonder if perhaps the umpire was distracted by the runner - it certainly killed the Angels' hope of a rally.
Meanwhile, the Yankees evened up the series against Minnesota with a come-from-behind win, thanks to a Hideki Matsui sacrifice fly in the twelfth. The series continues in the Twin Cities Friday night at 8:00. Today, the Braves took one from Houston in a come-from-behind win of their own, winning 4 - 2 in a walkoff homerun. Los Angeles fell to 0 and 2 against St. Louis as the series moves to LA on Saturday. Bronson Arroyo goes up against Kelvim Escobar Friday afternoon at 4:00 at Fenway to try and take the sweep - I gotta say, although Arroyo hasn't had a lot of luck against the Angels this year, Escobar hasn't been much better. I still favor the Sox to take this one and I'll be listening (or possibly watching, depending on circumstances) from the East Boston Camp in Westford, MA, much like I did LAST year for the Oakland series. Seemed to work pretty well last year, too, so I've got my hopes. GO SOX!!!
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