David Ortiz is everyone's Papi.
I only saw a little bit of the first game of the doubleheader, and I'm sorry I missed it. But I'm not sorry that David Ortiz hit a game-winning home run to give the Sox the victory.
It's called Papi Power, and we've been missing it for awhile now.
But it's back -- or so it seems. And there is not a better time for it to come back. The offense has been lacking, in my opinion, and we really have needed that spark to get us over that hump. Ortiz's home run could be a string of great things to come.
The guy who deserves just as much credit as Papi, would be Manny Delcarmen. Delcarmen pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th and picked up his first major league victory. Congratulations, Manny.
Maybe this will open Terry Francona's eyes, for a change. Francona has been only pitching Delcarmen while the Sox were losing, and he's done a great job. And today he held off the Rangers and earned the victory -- why don't you give him some tough innings, Francona? He's pitched great since his promotion and deserves some credit and innings other than mop-up.
Josh Beckett? He was OK. He threw a lot of pitches, but earned seven strikeouts and also committed three walks. I'm starting to worry about our Texas-born starter. I'm not entirely sure he can do a 180 and turn everything around. As he's seen, it's tougher here in the American League. I don't think we should expect a sub-4 ERA out of him this season.
Second game at five. David Pauley gets the start. Let's see another great game, Dave!