Extra! Extra! Red Sox Actually Beat Orioles!

Well, it came down to the (game-by-game) wire, but the Red Sox managed a .500 record against the Orioles this season.

I'll, uh, give you a second to process.

Yep, thanks to a big night from Big Papi, the Sox avoided the sweep with a 6-1 win. And, for once, pretty much everything went right.

As mentioned, the big hero was David Ortiz, who drove in four runs including three on his 31st home run of the year. It was a nice way to snap a short cold spell for Ortiz, who was joined in the hitting festivities by most of the team. Ryan Kalish and Victor Martinez both picked up a pair of hits, Adrian Beltre doubled in a run, and Josh Reddick went deep for the first time this season (with the Red Sox). All-in-all, a good game for an offense that had been shut down the night before.

And then there was John Lackey. For once, a really very good John Lackey. Seven innings of one-run ball, no walks, four strikeouts, and a ton of ground balls is the kind of performance that makes you remember what it was the Red Sox wanted him for. Hopefully we see more of the same in the future.

Ditto for the bullpen. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon were both brought into a game that wasn't exactly close for whatever reason, but both performed admirably, combining for five strikeouts in two scoreless innings.

It's not going to make any difference with how their season will end, but it's really nice to see this team play a good, solid game every once in a while.