Game 36

Final Score:

Boston Red Sox 6, Seattle Mariners 3

What a WEIRD game. A pitchers duel where one team's pitcher leaves because his pitch count is so high and the other leaves because he's just given up back to back homeruns. A game where it looked like the Mariners, though they weren't as dominant offensively as they were on Friday night, would still win because the Sox couldn't string hits together and score...and then they did in a big way. On top of it all, of course, the fact that this game started at 10:05, so all of the action was fraught with the surreal feeling that people were playing baseball at the ungodly hour of past midnight, turning all into an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Or at least that's how I feel about it now, twelve hours later.

In any case, Miller once again had a pretty good outting and we can see where he's heading, once he gets strong enough to get beyond six innings: five and 2/3rds innings, five hits, three runs, two walks, five strikeouts on 105 pitches. He kept the Mariners without a base runner for three innings, started making some mistakes in the fourth and was clearly pretty tired by the fifth. Once he gets in his groove, though, he should start getting the wins.

Miller was relieved by a parade of Myers, who got the win; Mantei; Timlin and Foulke, who got his first 1 - 2 - 3 inning in about a month. Manny Ramirez hit his 399th homerun in the sixth to tie the game up at one apiece and made an excellent leaping/over the shoulder catch in the eighth to help out Timlin.* After Miller gave up back to back homeruns to Sexson and Ibanez, the score went to 3 - 1 Mariners and it took a hot seventh inning to get the Sox back on top for good.

By the seventh inning, I was doing dishes. Ron Villone had come on for the Mariners and the Sox lit him up: Bill Mueller gets a single, then scores from first when Bellhorn doubles. Bellhorn goes to third on a Renteria single, then Ortiz (who switched with Manny, to some good effect, for third slot last night) was hit by a pitch. On comes J.J. Putz, who strikes out Manny (oh Manny, you make me so flip-floppy now) but pitches a high fastball to "noted fastball hitter" Trot Nixon, who cranks it out of the park for the Sox fifth grand slam of the season. I get so excited I fling soap all over the place in a victory salute. The bullpen is smooth sailing from there on out and the Sox pull off a grinder in Seattle, staying at .500 on the road and continuing their hot streak.

"Early" game today with a 4:05 start, Wakefield versus Gil Meche. GO SOX!!!

* - This catch was made after I wondered why Jay Payton was put in for Trot Nixon, the Sox best regular outfielder, in the eighth instead of Manny. Boy, that crow was DELICIOUS.