Knuckle Sandwich On Rye With Everything. Hold The Ninth

Heart wrenching. Gut busting. Mad as hell. All of the above. After our very own Tim Wakefield, with the help of the best defense in baseball, stymied the Devil Rays for 8 innings, walking no one and throwing 70 of his 108 pitches for nasty strikes, Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez almost blew it. Oh, throw in an assist from Doug Mirabelli, who let a Tiant-esque delivery motion from Tavarez fool him enough to enable the strike three two out ball to get by him. That would have ended the game. Instead, it unhinged Tavarez, who proceeded to walk the next 2 hitters. It was a Tampa Bay managerial mistake that finally did end it, sending Gaithright around 3rd towards home, where he was nailed by the left fielder Willie Harris' fine throw. The crowd could relax, grab their stuff, and go home. The Sox had won their fourth straight, going 12 games over .500. A Wakefield gem turned into nervous twitters. But a win nevertheless. And the way Wakes pitched, we all have to be happy. The bullpen? Without Timlin and Papelbon-a big question mark. Get better Mike. And boy oh boy, Mark Loretta remains white hot.
On to Toronto. Oh Canada.