Lugo And Crisp Power Red Sox Win

The Boston Red Sox won for only the fourth time since July fifth Friday night, as a three run fifth inning triple by Coco Crisp and a grand slam in the eighth inning by the resurging Julio Lugo acounted for the 10-3 final score. Josh Beckett, not sharp but good enough for six innings, was credited with his thirteenth win of the season. Mike Timlin, unscored on in his last fourteen plus innings, Okajima and Piniero pitched scoreless ball for the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. What a bullpen this Boston club has! All in all, a very satisfying win. But it didn't start that way!
JD Drew, batting with two men on base in the first inning, hit a ball that clearly bounced off the wall ABOVE the red line. It was a home run.....no doubt about it. But the umpires huddled, and when they do that, they usually get it right. But noooooo....Drew was awarded a double, one run scored and Manny was out at the plate. Tito went nuts, as he should have, all to no avail. So until that Crisp-powered uprising in the fifth, it looked like the Red Sox would continue to be plagued by a lack of the big hit. But not last night!

Kason Gabbard tries to make it two in a row this afternoon on Fox. He will face the lefty John Danks. Lefty versus lefty at Fenway Park. May the better Sox win......the red ones. And this is from the Globe, all about the importance for a lefty of a late afternoon Fenway start......

"He (Gabby) might get an assist from the sun, thanks to a 3:55 p.m. start. Especially with lefthanders -- the White Sox also are throwing a lefty, John Danks -- Fenway's late-afternoon lighting can make it tricky for batters to pick up the ball."

Curt Schilling is slated to pitch three innings for Pawtucket tonight. He can't come back soon enough. And with the Yankees' loss last night, the AL East lead is back to 8 games. And that's good.

Click on the title for an article from the Boston Globe about Kason Gabbard's start this afternoon. And let's all hope that Jon Lester will be on the mound Monday, starting in place of Julian Tavarez. The Sox would have a much better chance at winning the ballgame. And that's what it's all about, isn't it? Comments, please? Have a wonderful, healthy and happy weekend. Red Sox Forever. And ever.