Saturday, June 24, 2006

Game 71: NL East Beat Down Tour Continues

Final Score:

Boston Red Sox 10, Philadelphia Phillies 2


Ain’t it grand to riding high? With a seven game winning streak, it does seem that anyone (like, say Jason Johnson?) could go out on the mound right now and the Sox would win it for him in grand style. Of course, that’s not to denigrate the efforts of those guys starting the game: the opposition hasn’t scored more than three runs against Boston since Schilling’s last start – and that game was the scene of the most recent bullpen meltdown. To find a subpar game by a Boston starter, you’d have to go back to the last game against the Twins, nine games and a lifetime ago. Like I said, it’s great when you’re riding high; everything’s running on four cylinders and any other fun vehicle-related metaphors you can think of.

So, anyway, last night we had the Josh Beckett that we know and love, the one who’s been on the mound recently, who mows down hitters (eight strikeouts, three hits) and doesn’t give up homeruns. Or many homeruns, anyway; Chase Utley broke up the shut out in the seventh with a two run shot. Not that it mattered much at that point – the only Boston hitter who didn’t have a halfway decent night last night was Tek; the Sox scored three runs in the first and three runs in the second to knock out the starter and Manny scored half the runs himself on a night that included two home runs. Heck, even Gabe Kapler homered when he came in to play for Manny in the eighth. It was that kind of night and it’s that kind of streak and you have to love how it’s going.

This afternoon the Sox go for number eight with Curt Schilling against Myers at 1:20. With the way the Sox have been playing, I can imagine Myers doesn’t need any distractions to get him off his game…but I’m willing to bet the Boston crowd will let him hear about it anyway. Also, it’s about time Schilling got another win for the way he’s been pitching. GO SOX!!!