Yikes. I dunno. Make up your own [censored] caption.
I write the following being fully aware of how it might be taken by some members of the audience. I don't really give a [censored].
There are stretches of the season that are true reminders of how silly it is for any of us to be this emotionally invested in a group of 25 strangers playing a kid's game for more money over 1-20 years than we'll ever make in a lifetime. This is one of those stretches.
All right. Done. Now we can talk about the game.
- Way to settle in Jon Lester. After looking like it'd be another disaster-in-progress, car wreck-type start, he settled in for 6 2/3 of one-run ball, striking out 5 and allowing 7 baserunners total.
- Jacoby Ellsbury grounded into a double play with Julio Lugo on-base. Take a picture, ladies and gentlemen, because that one won't happen often. Yeah, because of Lugo's .296 OBP. ZING!
- Varitek was able to put in a good performance at the plate, giving us some hope that he won't be a black hole for ALL of the last 10 games.
- Gagne. I'm not sure how to break this down. MDC should probably have been out there for the 8th after only tossing 3 pitches in relief of Lester in the 7th. To me, that's just about using your bullpen efficiently. As for the actual choice of Gagne? In his previous 7 outings, he'd only given up one run while striking out seven. Anyone who wanted Oki hasn't watched him lately. I'm content for him to be shut down until our last series (Minnesota). The only other valid point would be that Paps should've been warming behind him. Agreed.
- Random, I guess, but the next time we're subjected to a lineup with both Brandon Moss and Eric Hinske in it (won't be long), let Moss start the game at 1B. There's no penalty for having them switch positions mid-game if he sucks, and he'll get some experience over there at the speed of a real game.
- Tomorrow: The return of Clay Buchholz and optimism.