Because brevity is the soul of wit (and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes), I will be brief: the Red Sox won Game 2.
Highlights:
- Youk homered and went 4/5, ending a triple short of the cycle.
- Ortiz (2 singles) and Lowell (single, double) both had good nights
- Josh Beckett was strong in innings 1 through 4, and in the 6th inning.
- The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings.
Lowlights:
- In the 5th inning, Josh Beckett briefly forgot who he was and, desperate for some identity in this churlish, alienated world, settled on that of David Aardsma. He promptly lost control of the strike zone and his pitches, and let the Orioles get back into the game.
- More WTF Baserunning. Pedroia tried to steal and was gunned down by a mile. Yesterday it was JD Drew. Sox players not named Ellsbury are being WAY TOO AGGRESSIVE on the basepaths. At this rate tomorrow we'll see Big Papi trying to steal. I, for one, am not taking to this newfound aggressiveness.
Finally, after intense research, I think I've pinpointed the source of the Red Sox season-opening struggles:
via mlb.imageg.net
You're looking at the brand new, 2009 road Sox jersey above. At first it seems innocuous. But take a closer look:
via images.footballfanatics.com
Now, I'm not normally one to suggest a conspiracy (that would be the seedy, rumor-mongering cabal of Arte Moreno, Mike Scioscia, Evan Longoria, Steven Spielberg and the National Retail Federation). But if the 2009 Red Sox are not meant to be a massive, catastrophic, money-guzzling failure of AIG-like proportions, why are they wearing Yankee colors on the road?