Moose And Mo And A 9th Inning Foiled Boston Comeback...Yankees 2 Red Sox 1

The Boston Red Sox ALMOST completed a ninth inning comeback against Mariano Rivera. They sure had their chances. They had scored one run to make the score 2-1 and had the bases loaded with no (zero, none, nada) outs. The bases were full. Here's what transpired. The score was 2-0 Yankees and JD Drew led off this final inning with a single, his second hit of the game. Manny followed and was hit by a pitch, the sixth but not the last time a batter was plunked in this late afternoon contest. Mike Lowell singled to right, driving in the first Sox run. 2-1 Bad Guys. Still no outs. Kevin Youkilis was then hit by a pitch. That would be number seven and the last hit batsman of this soon-to-be-over game. Still 2-1 and Mo beared down. In short order, Coco Crisp struck out, Jason Varitek, who usually wears Rivera out, popped out and Julio Lugo, Boston's last hope, struck out. A golden opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of their hated rivals was wasted, and the game was over. Here's what the skipper, Tito Francona, had to say...

"We gave ourselves a great chance with really good at-bats," manager Terry Francona said, "and then Mariano went to work and pretty much carved us up for the next three hitters.
"He left himself no wiggle room, and then he didn't need it.
"We've seen him have clean innings. We've seen him do that, get in a little bit of trouble and be able to get out of it. We're probably one of the few teams that have been able to come back and beat him, but we weren't able to do that today."

No Tito, you weren't, although most of us watching on NESN or sitting in the Fenway stands thought that tying run, AT LEAST, would have scored. Mike Mussina pitched six great innings for New York, although I continued to wonder throughout the game why the Boston batters could not hit his powder-puff pitches. But I was watching on television, not standing at the plate. Moose's mound opponest was Boston rookie Justin Masterson, who pitched well for six innings, giving up those two runs on six hits while striking out five. He gave way to Javie Lopez and newly returned Mike Timlin, who were unscored on. But two runs were two runs too many for the Red Sox to win on this particular day. With the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays' win, the Sox drop to four games off the pace, which is five games better than the Yankees. Those (Devil) Rays are still a hot club with great starting pitching throughout their rotation. Let's see if it can last. I don't see any reason why not--they are strong offensively, defensively and on the mound, quite a great combination.

Well, it's Sunday, the last day of a rainy three day holiday weekend here in Connecticut. Yesterday, because of the rain, I was able to start the new Red Sox mystery novel penned by Mary Ann Tirone Smith and Jere Smith. Jere is a friend of mine, although we've never met, and he writes the blog RED SOX FAN IN PINSTRIPE TERRITORY, which you can find on my link list. Make it an everyday read, just as I do. I'm only 1/3 of the way through the book, but I know it will be a winner, not just for members of Red Sox Nation but to all lovers of a good mystery. The fact that it takes place in Fenway Park and the towns surrounding it, including, of course, Boston, just adds to the mix, the aroma of things familiar. There's even a baby who was named Ted Williams. But you won't learn any plot secrets here...not from me! The book, called DIRTY WATER: A RED SOX MYSTERY, won't be released until September, but I'll review it right here with a link to the Amazon dot com preorder site. In fact, if you'd like to preorder it RIGHT NOW, just click on the title of this post. Or you can wait for my review, which will be up in the next few days. What I was sent is known as a "galley." The final version will be endlessly proofread for spelling and punctuation and all the other stuff that authors and publishers do. Hey, there's even a blogger in the book whose name is Peter. I wonder if that was me....click on the title to learn more, and look for the link to Jere's blog on my link list. You'll be glad you did. Thank you for stopping by, and if you're traveling today, be careful out there! And as always, be safe. Don't forget to click on the title for that Amazon link to get a look at and a feel for DIRTY WATER: A RED SOX MYSTERY.