A MANNY Moment...Red Sox 6 Twins 5

It looked bleak for the hometown Boston Red Sox as the game headed into the bottom of the eighth inning. The Minnesota Twins were up by a score of 5-2 when a groundout by JD Drew scored Jacoby Ellsbury. That made it 5-3 with Sir Manny coming to the plate. He hit a home run into the Monster seats on the first pitch, a two run blast, and rounded the bases with a HUGE smile on his face. Moments later, a Brendan Moss base hit scored Kevin Youkilis, who was on base throughout the game with three hits. 6-5 Good Guys, and it was Jonathon Papelbon time. But the top of the ninth was a mini-nailbiter. Nick Punto hit a shallow fly ball with one out, a ball that Coco Crisp tried to catch, shoestring style, but the ball eluded him for a bonafide double. Paps bore down when he had to, striking out Jason Kubel and shattering Alexi Cassilla's bat to induce a game-ending grounder. GAME OVER. SOX WIN! Here's what the affable Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire had to say about the Red Sox regular leftfielder...

“You can’t give in to Manny, no matter who it is,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. “With that left field, if you throw a fastball up, he hits it out of the ballpark. That’s just a bad pitch, and now you have a tie ballgame. That’s how quick it happens here in this ballpark, and Manny’s the guy that can do it.”

Peter here, and yes he is, Ron. The Twins had been hot until their jaunt to Fenway, and today the Red Sox will throw their ace out there. Josh Beckett will oppose Livian Hernandez in the series and season finale for these two teams, and it's day baseball time on this Wednesday Hump Day. With a day off tomorrow, the bullpen will be there as needed. How sweet is that!

Big Papi David Ortiz reported no pain in his healing wrist after Monday and Tuesday swings, and he'll stay on this same schedule throughout the week before being reevaluated. Look to see him in his familiar number three spot shortly before or after the All Star break, and that will be a sight for sore eyes and a boon to the club and its pitching staff. You can click on the title of this post for more articles about last night's win, and I hope you can listen or watch the 1:05 pm EDT game today. Josh will spin a beauty--I just have a feeling. If I return home in time (which I will), I'll have inning by inning updates right here. Until then, BE WELL.