Monday, May 21, 2007

Round Three Goes To The Red Sox

Kason Gabbard is back in Pawtucket, but his return trip had nothing to do with his performance on Sunday. He pitched five strong innings, allowing 6 hits and only 2 runs while striking out an impressive 7. And he looked good doing it. His facial expression rarely changed, and he was all business all the time. After allowing the first 2 batters to reach in the 6th inning, he entered the dugout amidst the cheers and backslaps from the fans and his players. Donnelly came in and allowed both runners to score, but Javy Lopez induced a double play grounder on his second pitch to end the 6th, and that effectively ended the Braves' chances in this, the rubber game. The Darkman, Hideki Okajima, came in and pitched a 2 hit 8th, and Paps came in for the 9th. To me he looked rusty, rusty from inactivity. While babying his shoulder the team might be taking away the sharp edge that allows him to pinpoint his location. He gave up 3 hits that allowed a run in a non-save situation, but the Sox left the field with a 6-3 win, taking 2 of 3 from a very good club. They've been playing great against good teams and bad teams, and that's a sign of great things to come. And Josh will be back in a little more than a week.. They are 30-13. 30-13! Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek provided most of the firepower....Youk is on fire, batting .446 over the span of his 13 game hitting streak.
So it's on to New York City, the Big Apple, for 3 games. Tonight it will be Timmy Wakefield versus the sinkerballer Wang. We usually hit him pretty well. We hit most of the Yankees' pitchers pretty well. Familiarity breeds contempt? No, I think familiararity gives the edge to our hitters, who know what to expect. They way the Red Sox are playing right now, the Yankees have their work cut out for them. And that's just the way we like it!
Click on the title of this post for Michael Silverman's Boston Herald article about the game. And don't forget to email him to suggest the nickname "The Darkman" for our ace (yes, he is!) lefthanded reliever Hideki Okajima. He asked for reader suggestions (see my last post) so let's give him some! Please mention that you first heard that nic right here. Here is his direct email address, and I would so appreciate your help. Thanks, and enjoy this rainless (!!) Monday. msilverman@bostonherald.com I'm thanking you right now, in advance of your emails, because this means so much to me. For the original Darkman post, just go back to my March 3rd 2007 post..the one called "DARKMAN." He lives in the Red Sox bullpen, and he is deadly to our foes. He is our DARKMAN. And here is another Darkman fact on this Monday May 21st, from the Herald....

"Hideki Okajima pitched yet another scoreless inning, bringing his streak to 20 2/3 innings. That's the longest for a Sox lefty since Bruce Hurst's 21 2/3 innings in 1987."

Peter here. I remember 1987.That's select company...Bruce Hurst is one of the best lefty starters to EVER don a Boston Red Sox uniform. Long live DARKMAN. Red Sox Forever...2007 will be something special!

4 Comments:

At 5/21/2007 7:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gabbie gave us a great boost yesterday! Nice note to end on going to the Stadium tonight!

 
At 5/21/2007 7:55 AM, Blogger Peter N said...

Have fun, and email Michael S. for me, if you can....

 
At 5/21/2007 10:25 AM, Blogger VTek said...

Peter - I just e-mailed him for ya!

 
At 5/21/2007 10:42 AM, Blogger Peter N said...

Carol, thank you! So much....have a wonderful Monday...you made me so happy. And, believe it or not, the sun is out in all its shining glory. Peter

 

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