Last night's win was a good victory for the team as Tim Wakefield struggled, but still walked away with the win. Thanks to some run support from Manny Ramirez and some clutch hitting late in the ballgame, the Red Sox walk away with their sixth win in a row and a 3.5 lead over the Yankees in the AL East.
Ramirez was ... Manny being Manny, as he went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run that cut the deficit to one at that point in the 4th inning. Manny finished with four RBI's, as he knocked another one in during the 8th inning for the Sox to take the 6-4 lead. Manny also had a sign to begin the game reading: "The New Episode... Manny being Manny..." I'll always remember his sign when riding on the duck boats that read: "Jeter is playing golf today, this is better."
Tony "El Nino" Graffanino continues to hit well in a Boston uniform. He raised his Boston average to .314 by going 2-for-4 and knocking in a run when Royals right fielder Emil Brown let the ball slip by him and allowed pinch runner Adam Stern to score from first. It will be interesting to see what happens when Mark Bellhorn comes back. I personally think Graffanino should be the starter, but you should seeing more of my opinion in a few days.
Jose Cruz Jr. made his first start as a Boston Red Sox. It wasn't anything impressive, though, as he went 0-for-2 with a walk. That walk, though, lead to the Red Sox tieing the game and eventually earn the win.
Curt Schilling was solid earning the save, despite allowing a runner to get to third base. About 95% of his pitches were fastballs, and from what I saw was a consistent speed around the 92 MPH range. He threw a splitter to win the game, though, as he struck catcher John Buck out on a 3-2 count. Schilling has been solid as a closer, but a little shaky. His ERA as a reliever is down to 3.55 and has 12 strikeouts in 13.2 innings.