The Red Sox won on Sunday ... but how much does that mean?
At least they are winning, although they may be so far back in the AL East race they can't even see the back of New York and Tampa Bay. The Red Sox came back from a three-run deficit to beat the A's, 5-3, on Sunday.
Down 3-0 in the 6th, J.D. Drew hit a two-run double to cut Oakland's lead to one. Then Ryan Kalish hit a single that scored Mike Lowell and Drew to give the Red Sox the 4-3 lead. Drew then gave the Sox some insurance in the 8th with an RBI single, putting the Sox up 5-3.
Josh Beckett was wild, but he got the job done. He allowed five hits and five walks in six innings of work, but did strike out seven. He allowed three runs on the day.
Jonathan Papelbon worked for the first time since his blown save last Sunday and notched his 36th save. It was a perfect inning: strikeout, strikeout, strikeout.
And now, let me rant about the greatness of Scott Atchison:
ONCE AGAIN Scott Atchison provided the Red Sox with exactly what they needed out of the bullpen: scoreless inning. Atch tossed two innings of no-run, no-hit, no-walk baseball while allowing a strikeout. His numbers, all of a sudden, are fantastic: his WHIP sits at 1.17 and his ERA is in the 3.62 range. There are more numbers for a pitcher, sure, but these can tell you already that the Red Sox really had a great find in Atchison over the offseason. I hope he sticks and is back for 2011 because he's been one of the most consistent and best the Sox have had all season long.
OK, breathe, Randy.
Sox start a series with Seattle on Tuesday.