Finally, SOME CROOKED NUMBERS! Boston 7 Toronto 3

Well, it took a while, but the Boston Red Sox finally put up some crooked numbers on their half of the Fenway Park scoreboard and they went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 7-3 Friday night at the Fens. And it's about time! For those of you who don't know what a "crooked number" is, and I'm sure most of you do, it's any number but a zero or a one on that all important scoreboard. Hence crooked! An example? OK - the Sox scored five (crooked!) runs in their half of the fourth inning, and cruised from there. Clay Buchholz pitched well, but he was only able to go five and one third innings before being lifted and the bullpen took over. He walked four, but only gave up one run on five hits. He was effective in an erratic way, but deserved the victory. Javy Lopez finished the sixth inning but could not end the seventh. Hot-tempered Manny Delcarmen finished that frame and Okie and Paps took care of the eighth and the ninth in perfect fashion. And Boston had a much needed victory. This is what Tito had to say about his team after the rain-delayed extravaganza...

"We needed it," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of his team's offense. "We had some success in an inning and it carried over enough for us to win the game."

So that team from Boston remains in first place with a record of 18-13, and that's after the infamous five game losing streak. Once this team begins to hit consistantly, scoring four to seven runs per game, they will do well...if the 'pen allows. I have all the faith in the world in Okie and Paps, but the rest? The jury is still out, at least for me. But 18-13 ain't bad, and first place is pretty sweet, too. So I can't complain. Neither can you, dare I say. I dare anyways!

The Sox take on the Jays again today, as they will on Sunday, so enjoy your Saturday, whether it will be in front of the TV watching NESN, sitting IN Fenway Park (if so, I'm very jealous) or just enjoying the all-outdoors. Have a wonderfully great Saturday. You can click on the title of this post to be linked to the Boston Globe homepage, where all your questions about last night will be answered by writers much more competant than I. Well, at least most of 'em! As always, I love ya and BE WELL.