A Long And Ugly Night, But A Win For The Red Sox

Sunday night at Fenway Park, on a nationally televised game, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox played a lackluster borefest only made better by the final outcome. The Sox prevailed by a score of 8-5. Daisuke Matsuzaka had his first off-night of the season, but he ran his record to a spotless 3-0. It was not easy. He lasted just five innings, giving up four runs on five hits and a WHOPPING six walks. He tossed a wild pitch, too. But his team was able to score runs, two bunches of them, in fact. Three men crossed the plate in the bottom of the first and four more in the bottom of the third. The victim of this onslaught was young Phil Hughes, who was only able to go two plus innings. To say it was not his night would be an utter understatement. The Red Sox record moves to seven and six and they start a two game series against the Cleveland Indians IN Cleveland. The pitching matchups look like this...

Jon Lester (1-2 4.50 ERA) vs. Jake Westbrook (1-1 2.76ERA)

Timmy Wakefield (1-0 3.27 ERA) vs. Paul Byrd (0-2 11.05 ERA)

One other note about last night. Mike Timlin was miserable again in his attempted inning of work. He did not record an out, and since his return from the finger injury, he has given up five base hits to the six batters he has faced. His ERA is a spectacularly bad 81.00. On the bright side, he can only get better. On the not so bright side, if he does not regain his form, the Red Sox will need another reliever, one who can come in and give the club an inning of relief. That's all...ONE inning. Aardsma and Lopez were effective last night, and Little Manny Delcarmen closed out the series by retiring the final two Bomber batters uneventfully.

OK, I have to mention this. You KNEW I would. Number 34, the shirt, that is, was unearthed from the cement foundation of the new Yankee Stadium, the House that Steinbrenner (and the taxpayers) built. Said to be one of the many sources of a Yankee jinx, it was left there by a construction worker said to be a Sox fan. I say GOOD FOR HIM! I also say that the only existing jinx rests in the hands of and is the fault of the New York front office, who at times just cannot do ANYTHING right. I love it! This is from the Boston Herald...

NEW YORK - "So much for the curse. The New York Yankees have ended a construction worker’s attempt to jinx their new stadium with a buried Boston Red Sox jersey.
Team officials watched Sunday as construction workers removed the jersey, with slugger David Ortiz’s name on it, from 2 feet of concrete in a service corridor of the stadium that’s under construction.
The team says a construction worker — who is a Red Sox fan — recently buried the jersey there while on the job. Two other supervisors found the tattered shirt Saturday.
The Yankees plan to donate the jersey to charity, and may pursue a lawsuit..."

Peter here, and that charity happens to be THE JIMMY FUND. Great job New York, and believe me, I do not say that often. The upcoming auction will result in helpful dollars for kids with cancer. The Jimmy Fund does great work, and unfortunately, I know firsthand. My sister passed away, a victim of leukemia. I never was lucky enough to meet her, but boy, she would have been amazing. Hi Rhonna Joy. I'm sure you WERE a joy. If only....

Thanks for stopping by on yet another Monday. It seems to me that these days are groundhog days, or as Stephen King wrote in one of his many novels, "SSDD (same sh*t, different day). But such is life. If you'd like, click on the title of this post for a full Boston Globe wrapup of last night's Sox win. And as always and forever, BE WELL.