Wakes And The 'Pen Power Red Sox Third Straight

*******VOTE OKAJIMA--CLICK ON THE ABOVE TITLE UNTIL 6PM THURSDAY*******

It all started with a perfectly placed safety squeeze, and ended with Jonathon Papelbon's 20th save. In between, there were plenty of two out hits by the Red Sox and 6 great speedy innings from Tim Wakefield. He ran into a little trouble in the 7th, loading the bases after recording an out before Javy Lopez allowed the runners to score. But in came our new "go-to guy," Little Manny Delcarmen, who has been pitching with supreme confidence and maximum velocity. He and Okajima (more on the Darkman to follow) make quite the two-headed bridge to Paps. In fact, I'm not going to call him "Little Manny" any more, not when he's freezing batters with 96 plus MPH fastballs and an occasional tremendous curve.
With four regulars getting a rest, this game still wasn't close. Spelling Manny in left was the speedy and talented Jacoby Ellsbury. I'd rather see him than Wily Mo Pena play any outfield position when a regular gets or needs a rest, especially after WMP's four strikeout weak plate appearances of Tuesday. He was embarassing, and his lack of defense is inexcusable. Ellsbury also collected his first major league RBI, and his speed makes him a natural on any outfield turf. ANYWHERE! Welcome to the big club, Jacoby. You've done so much already.
So the Red Sox win their third in a row, and coupled with the Yankees' loss, well, we're in great shape. As I said in previous posts, these games immediately preceding the All Star festivities are vital, and so far, the Red Sox have won the first three, with four to go. Josh Baseball goes tonight, and he'll be facing the Devil Rays' lefty Howell, another TB starter with an ERA around five. So let's sweep, and then get ready for the Tigers, IN the motor city. At least we won't have to face that tough lefty bully a***ole Kenny Rogers. He's pitched well in his comeback.

And now, it's the last chance I have to ask you to vote for our left-handed reliever extraordinaire, HIDEKI OKAJIMA. Let's make the Darkman an All Star. He so deserves it, and as of late yesterday (Wednesday), he still held a slim lead. We have until 6pm today, so please, vote a couple dozen times. He has been so good for our Boston Red Sox, for Red Sox Nation and Red Sox International. JUST CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS POST, and you will be directed to the actual fan ballot. And I thank you in advance for voting for our Oki, our Darkman, the enemy of OUR enemies. And with an ERA of 0.88, he certainly is. So click away! And as always, thanks.