Yeah. I dunno. So that sucked. We're so spoiled by the likes of Becks and Paps. Did anyone have any doubt, at all, that after the ball-busting loss that was Wednesday's game in Detroit, that Josh Beckett had a little something for the Tigers to chew on for Thursday? And guess what? He did.

Tonight, we entered the 9th with a one-run lead, and was there a doubt in anyone's mind that only Julio Lugo was capable of preventing Paps from getting his 11th save of the season? And yet, this is what reminds us to enjoy the good times. Paps didn't have it, mentally as well as physically, and the Twins used that combination quite effectively to engineer a walk-off win. I'm not going to get into the specifics. Suffice to say, it was not a good night to be a Sox fan. 

Also, I apologize. I'll take responsibility for a thread not being up tonight, and you can rest assured there will be one ready for tomorrow, though probably once again sans lineups. So, I'll take blame of the game with Paps.

But y'know what? Let's talk positive for a bit. Lowell and Papi are back, ladies and gentlemen. Lowell, in particular, seems intent on proving me wrong that we'll be getting '06 Lowell this season. He wants to repeat last season instead. All right. *shrugs* I'll take it. KY continues to take care of business, ditto Tacoby. 

Tomorrow? Daisuke v. Glen Perkins. Am I being too optimistic when I say that all I'm hoping for is < 8 walks?

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Oki did more than his job tonight. Kudos to him, even if it ended up being in a losing effort.

via www.fangraphs.com

Summary:

Gabbard v. Buchholz

In the battle of former semi-prospect and current uber-prospect, injury won. Gabbard was unable to go beyond the second inning due to injury, and Dustin Nippert took over. Fortunately for the Sox, and not so much for the Rangers. The offense was led by DP (2-5, 2B, 2 RsBI), Julio Lugo (not kidding, 4-4, 2B, SB, 2 R, RBI, BB) and Tacoby (2-4, 2 SB, BB, 2 R). Buch was shaky early, but settled down well, striking out 6 in 6 while allowing 7 baserunners. The Sox bullpen (Aardsma, J-Lo, and MDC) was not terrific.

All I do really well is not walk people Jered Weaver v. Beckett Pauley

You know what? I'm not upset that David Pauley was, shall we say, not good yesterday. Part of it is the great team win that resulted, but a bigger part is that it was a fairly unfair situation. He didn't know what he was doing, then was told at 2 he would not be pitching, then was told at 4 that he would be pitching. Thankfully, the 'pen was mostly able to keep the Rangers from scoring (with the only blip being a solo HR off the bat of Casey Kotchman). Kudos, in particular, to Paps who lit up the radar gun on the way to an 11-pitch, 2 K, 1-2-3 9th inning. Offensively, this game belonged to DP. There was much moaning in the thread about a baserunning gaffe, but he made up for it by going 4-5 on the day, with 3 2B and a SB!. Tacoby also helped "a little" by hitting his 2nd and 3rd HRs of the season, and getting the bunt single that led to him scoring the winning run. The Sox managed 16 hits in total, with 7 (4 2B, 3 HR) going for extra bases. 

Players of the Gamez:

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Clay's 6 shutout innings were just what we (and he) needed on Monday. DP just absolutely rocked the house on Tuesday, narrowly edging out Tacoby.

Commentz of the Gamez:

Don't worry. The Rangers just misplayed Lugo's double play ball for a single up the middle. - ecoli

It's not Lugo. It's an alien using his body. There, I said it. - merrygobyebye

via www.fangraphs.com

Summary:

Jennings v. Lester

Woohoo and whatnot. Jon Lester threw 6 innings. I threw a little party for him last night, on behalf of that. Good work by the 'pen as well, with J-Lo, MDC, Timlin and Paps combining for three scoreless innings after Lester left. Hitting-wise, Dustin, Papi, and especially "Being" threw down the other night. Manny just keeps on hitting for us in big moments, answering the question we all wondered about just what might've happened 2003-2006 if Papi didn't come through every single time.

Millwood v. Wake

First of all, Wake was ridiculously efficient. Averaging about 2.7 pitches per inning, several innings were over before the infielders and outfielders were actually through warming up. The Rangers were jumping on pitches, exhibiting no patience, and actually were fairly successful doing so. They were able to get their 7 hits in bunches, and combined with two of those hits being HRs, scored 5 off of Wake by the 6th inning. If you caught the game thread, you know a lot of us were pretty despondent. In retrospect, I suppose I'm not sure why. I think it's that the runs scored off of HRs, which always seem like more than they really are. Nevertheless.

...so what happened? 2 runs in the 7th, run-scoring singles by Papi and Drew brought us to within 3. We entered the 8th inning, and the magic really began. All with 2 outs: Tacoby 1B, Jed Lowrie 2B (5-3), Papi 1B (5-4), DP PH 2B (5-5), Youks IBB, Drew BB, Casey BB (5-6). Kevin Cash, who made the first out of the inning, also made the third, and Paps came on for the save, though it wasn't the most relaxed save he's ever given us.

Players of the Gamez:

Jennings v. Lester

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Who else, really?

Millwood v. Wake

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Thank you, Yahoo! Images. This way I don't have to choose. Also, good job Jed Lowrie.

Comment-mania:

GIDP - Now Papi is trying to make Lugo look good. There’s a lot of love going on in this team. :) - MerryGoByeBye

There's no element of surprise. I'm just watching our inexorable march towards yet another amazing win.Tedious is hardly the word. - britsoxfan (Proper context: We were still down 5-2, and there were 2 outs in the 8th inning with only one runner on.)

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Summary:

Let's get this out of the way first. Daisuke was not sharp. Walks. Hits. Runs. Only 2 Ks, but like 8,569 pitches to get through five innings. He gave way to David Aardsma, who was ultimately capable of getting six outs to bridge the gap to Oki/Paps Timlin/MDC despite being a student of the Matsuzaka-Lester Institute of First-Pitch Strikes. The Timlin half of tonight's original equation was crap. All there is to it. Didn't have it, and the Yankees just jumped all over him. It was looking grim, my friends. However, Javier Lopez shathebed was able to come in, get a double play ball as well as another groundout to escape the inning with the Sox only having given back one run. J-Lo retired Abreu in the 9th, then gave way to MDC, who had a bit of a Papelbon-vibe going on from the get-go. He got A-Rod to strikeout and Matsui to groundout to end the game.

Offense? Yeah, we got that too. 'Tek was the only Sox hitter not to reach base. Stolen bases from Coco (2), Tacoby, and DP. Both Tacoby and Youks knocked in two runs apiece, while Drew and "Being" each scored twice. ...boo-yah. It was the usual, I guess. Sox stringing together the walks and hits, with patience and good execution at the plate and on the basepaths (am I forgetting DP something?)

Player of the Game:

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Highest WPA? Most clutchiest grittiest gameriest performance? Both, my friends. It's J-Lo tonight.

Comment of the Game:

Speed can really make things happen. I never really grasped that idea, growing up with Wade Boggs' Red Sox. - tommy

Too true, tommy

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There's not much to say about Manny Ramirez except he's a bad, bad man.

Ramirez proved too much for the Yankees yesterday. While the rest of the Red Sox lineup didn't seem to get it all going, Manny was in the zone all 9 innings. Manny's 4th inning home run put the Sox on the board first. The Yanks struck back scoring two, but Manny wasn't done.

With the score 2-1, Manny smacked a double scoring Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. A Kevin Youkilis single scored Manny, putting the Sox up for good.

Josh Beckett looked a lot better than his first start of the season. Beckett went 6.2 innings, struck out five and only gave up three runs while only throwing 88 pitches.

This was one of the best games we could ask for out of Beckett. He wasn't perfect, but he didn't have to throw a lot of pitches to get a lot of outs. I think that's one of the most important things to look for when pitchers come off the disabled list. Only 88 pitches this time means he can throw more next time.

Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima combined to bridge the gap to Jonathan Papeblon who, after a two hour rain delay, struck out three batters in 1.1 innings to earn the save.

I sure do love that guy.

In other news, David Ortiz goes hitless again. Shocking. His batting average is now .070 ... Ellsbury was the leadoff man and went 2-for-3 with a run, a walk and a stolen base. This guy looks ready ... Pedroia and Youkilis also had two hits on the day.

Comment of the Game:

"where's the hawk that attacks small children when we need it?" - pedroiastroika