Boston Red Sox 2, Seattle Mariners 5
Should I be surprised at the result on this steamy July Saturday, when the humidity hovered around 100% for most of the day and storms ripped open the skies of New York? No, probably not. Seattle is the land of rain after all and King Felix its pitching monarch, dealing today as he certainly can do to make the Boston boys look foolish with the bats in their hands (four hits, six strikeouts). I can’t say I expected a win, even after lighting up Moyer last night, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.
How could it have been worse, you ask? Boston’s 11th pitcher of the year, Kason “Cool Papa Bell” Gabbard, could have done his best impression of a meatball on the mound. He could have given up fifteen runs, come out the game in the third inning and worn out the bullpen (and his welcome) in the process. Instead, he scattered eight hits, gave up two earned runs and came out of the game in the sixth when a bad call at first and a single signaled the end of Gabbard’s first outing. Francona, perhaps wise to the pitching ways of Felix Hernandez, opted to finish out the game with the Wonder Twins (Tavarez and Seanez) and Seattle pulled the game out of reach. All in all, however, the kid showed an Lester-like aptitude for getting out of jams he created and maybe there’s a future for him after all. I’m certainly interested to see how he does on Wakefield’s next start.
Coming up tomorrow afternoon, Jon Lester takes his undefeated crown against Jarrod Washburn, who some of you might remember for giving up a very important home run two years ago. Let’s light him up again like we did at the beginning of the 2004 ALDS. GO SOX!!!
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