Monday, Monday...An Off Day For The Red Sox After A Clutch Win Against Seattle... Boston 2 Mariners 1...And A Yankees' Loss

Looking back on Sunday afternoon at emerald-green Fenway Park, I smile. Justin Masterson, who yesterday became the FIRST PITCHER in the history of the 96 year old park to go unbeaten in his first four appearances, was great. Way to go, Justin! After losing "the feel" for his pitches in the second inning when he walked the first two men, he was saved by an over the shoulder catch in right by co-player of the game JD Drew. He settled down completely after that second frame and pitched six full innings, giving up only one run on three lonely hits. He also walked three and struck out four Seattle batters. All in all, a great history-making performance by the talented Masterson...we'll see more of him and his somewhat quirky delivery often. Here's what manager Tito Francona had to say after the game...

“I hope the story continues - we’re still fairly early into the season and I imagine every time he picks up the ball the organization’s got their chest out a little, as they should,” said manager Terry Francona after Masterson allowed just one run in six innings in a 2-1 series-sealing victory against the Mariners. “This isn’t a fluke. I mean, he might go out next time and get beat, but he knows how to pitch,” Francona said. “And he’s been prepared very well how to pitch, how to act, how to compete - it’s exciting. There’s nothing wrong with young kids helping us win, especially when they know how to act."

Peter here...glowing praise from Tito cannot do anything but help a rookie's confidence, a self-satisfaction that, for Justin, should be deeply imbedded by now. And good for him. Now, as for the offense, I have one name for you. Take a guess, I'll give you three. The second and third won't count, so I'm sure your guess was our rightfielder who is having a major comeback at the plate. He's been doing it since the first week of this 2008 season, and his name is...number 24, Dewey Evans.........wait a minute...wrong decade. I'll start again...ahem (clears throat, flexes fingers, cracking knuckles while doing so). OK, I'm back in this, the year of 2008, and of course, his name is JD Drew, and he is WHITE HOT. His leadoff home run in the sixth inning broke a one run tie and that was all that Boston needed. After Justin retired the Mariners in the sixth, the recently lights-out bullpen continued to shine. First it was Craig Hansen, who has become so dependable while lowering his sky high ERA steadily with each inning of work. Hideki Okajima followed him with a clean eighth and Jonathon Papelbon threw a five (!!) pitch ninth to earn his 18th save. Okie and Paps needed only 14 pitches to record the final three outs. It doesn't get ANY better than that, my friends!

I hope every one of you has a great Monday, an off day for the good guys from Boston. Oh, and talk about good guys! Congratulations go out to the Boston Celtics, who are now up 2 games to none against the LA Lakers. The next three contests are on the left coast, and the Celtics MUST win one of those three, preferably two. To come back to Boston with a 3-1 lead in the series would make me a very happy green fan. If they only take one in California, the series would be tied at 2, with the final two games in Boston. I refuse to even THINK about being down 2-3. So go GREEN, BEAT LA! You can get a full wrap of the games, Red Sox OR Celtics, by using the slider on the Fox Sports widget on the right side of your screen. Simply click yesterday, scroll down to the Sox game and click on it. Or, if you want to read all the details of the basketball game, just click on menu at the top left of the widget box and click on NBA while in the "yesterday" setting. The final score will materialize right in front of your eyes, and when you click on that score, all the details will be yours, thanks to Fox Sports dot com. That sports widget is a handy little gadget, and I'm so happy that I spied it over at Brittany's BoSox, a place you can visit by going to my link list, also on the righthand side of your computer screen. Thanks again, Brit! And speaking of clicking, simply click on this post's title to be linked to the Boston Globe's Red Sox homepage. Everything about Sunday afternoon at Fenway will be there for the reading. Have a tremendous Monday, and as always, BE WELL. I love ya all. Yes, I do!
SSHHH..Royals 3 Yankees 2 final...Mariano loses the game...another smile?