Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Game 102: Pinch Me, I'm Dreaming

Final Score: Boston Red Sox 4, Seattle Mariners 2

Nope, not still asleep. Red Sox beat Seattle again, scored the same number of runs, had the same length of effort from the starter (thank you, Dice-K), the same flawless success from the bullpen (same to you, Paps and Okajima), even had the same two-run homer to double the score, but that wonderful deja vu isn't your head telling you were up too late last night and you're now hallucinating from too little sleep: your 1:00 AM bedtime paid off in winning spades.

You've no doubt figured this little twist out for yourself, but it's worth repeating here: while we might be making way too big of a deal out of Boston beating up on a team that looks at a .500 record as an unreachable cieling in 2008, I'm pretty sure it's been years since we won two games in Seattle, let alone two games in a row. A sweep would be something of magnificent proportions, even if it took Boston playing what could be the worst Mariner team this decade to get it. But more importantly, achieving that sweep - or even just winning two games after the series of disappointments in LA - means coming home to face the Yankees bathed in confidence. Heck, these games might be the linchpin pulled to send the Sox on a rampage through the nine games they have at home, tearing through New York, LA, and Oakland like grass through a mower.