September Mini Surge

Kason Gabbard...the good news? He pitched wonderfully for seven innings last night at Fenway as the Sox zipped, and I do mean zipped, to a 1-0 two hour ten minute victory. The bad news? He had to be pulled after seven innings and 80 pitches because of a muscle pull in his side, much like Curt Schilling is suffering from. We might see him on the mound again this year. But we might not. But what we saw last night was a joy to watch. He had his curveball darting in and out of the strike zone much like a hummingbird, wings moving impossibly fast, darting to and through the branches of a backyard garden. It was swing and miss, swing and miss. And there were 10 ground ball outs to go with those swings and misses. So it was nice that Trot Nixon, who had doubled, was able to come home and score thanks to Coco Crisp's 2 out 4th inning single. 1-0 Sox in the fourth, 1-0 Sox final score. Nice!
Jonathon Papelbon received the news he wanted to hear. We all wanted to hear. No tear in his shoulder. Rest ought to do the trick, but it might be an off season's worth of rest. I mean, how could the Sox NOT rest him for the remainder of the season. So I'd like to be one of the first to say thank you Jonathon, on a season well done. Let's not risk something more serious. Not now. You'll be fine. And we will too. See you next year.
The final game of the Chicago series is tonight, at 7 PM. Sweep? It would be nice. We are still a ways behind the Twins. We need help. But we have to do our part. And what's that? WIN.