PAPI And DAISUKE To The Rescue...Boston Red Sox 6 White Sox 2

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched a strong eight innings Saturday evening in Chicago as the Red Sox defeated the Pale Hose by a score of 6-2. The double play ball was a good friend indeed, as all three of his walks came to the leadoff batter. He allowed just one run and four hits while walking three. He whiffed four Chicago batters. Mike Timlin pitched the ninth and secured the victory, giving up a meaningless run. Jose Contreras was hurt in the first inning while scampering to first base. He was late, but what made matters worse was this...after racing to the bag, he grabbed what looked like his ankle and rolled to the ground in evident agony. No one likes to see something like that. A ruptured left achilles' tendon was the doctor's verdict, and I know firsthand how painful that can be. He is out for the rest of the season. Too bad...he's a nice guy.

On the bright side, our Big Papi David Ortiz broke out of his hitting funk with three base hits, one a booming double with the bases loaded that broke open the game for his team. When asked if he thought the ball was gone, gone, gone, he and his teammate Pedey Pedroia said this...

"Oh, yeah. Papi knows when the ball is gone," Ortiz said. "I guess Mother Nature doesn't want me to hit it out tonight. Some days you get frustrated," Ortiz said of his troubles at the plate. "At the same time, I think about, you know, I missed two months of the season. I'm still not 100 percent, so I don't want to be too crazy and try to do things that make things get worse."

"The double was hilarious when he thought it was gone," Dustin Pedroia said. "But you've got to be a strong man to leave this place to left field."

In all, the Red Sox banged out 14 (!!) base hits. Jacoby Ellsbury continued his recent resurgence at the plate with three safeties, including another tater. Everyone in the Sox lineup except for JD Drew, who is not doing well in the leadoff spot and should be moved back to his normal position, and newcomer Jason Bay, who had an important RBI, had at least one base hit, and that was great to see. Today is game three of this four game set, with Clay Buchholz up against Gavin Floyd. Clay is due...BOY, is he due! Let's hope. Look directly to your right to the Fox scoreboard and click on the Sox/Sox game for more, or just click on the title of this post. Have a great Sunday, and as always, BE WELL. Red Sox FOREVER!

P.S. The NBC coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games has been spectacular, especially in Hi-Def. Enjoy, on NBCHD and USAHD and MSNBC and CNBC, and, and.....well, you get the picture. The Games are all over the place. Good luck to USA swimmer Michael Phelps, who won his first gold on Saturday. He's going for seven and he'll be swimming today. I might be, too, but not competitively. Not any more. I promise I won't sink. See ya!