Bye Bye Birdies...Boston 7 Baltimore 5

Wouldn't it be nice to finish this 2009 season playing just one team? If they were the Baltimore Orioles, I'd say it would be fantastic! The Boston Red Sox again defeated the Birds from Maryland Wednesday night by a score of 7-5. They'll enjoy a day off today. It was supposed to be a day off yesterday for Victor Martinez but manager Terry Francona summoned him to pinch hit in the seventh inning of a 4-4 battle of nerves. He responded with a bases-clearing double. Paul Byrd started for the home club from Boston and lacked his characteristic control. He was clearly unhappy but he held the helpless Orioles to two runs on six hits. He walked three, which is unusual for him. He got the job done...just. The bullpen pitched the last four frames and was just OK, giving up three runs in all. But Victor Martinez' ringing well-hit double remedied everything. Here's what the game hero said afterwards...

“It feels pretty good, especially when you’re in the race and you play in front of these great fans. They really make you play and go out there and do your best,” said Martinez. “Every time I go to the plate, it’s just to put up good at-bats and be a tough out,” said Martinez. “When you’re in the race, it’s always interesting and every game means something, every play means something. So you know you’re really playing for something, so it’s great, it’s great.”

Wow, what a great attitude. What a great at bat! VMart has been a tremendous addition to the club and I do hope he'll sign a long-term contract before he files for free agency. I don't think he will, though. Hey, you never know. Here's the Red Sox manager, Terry "Tito" Francona, on Victor.

“He’s just a good hitter,” said Francona. “I think he enjoys that situation, for sure. I think he’d rather have been starting, but it’s nice on nights that he hasn’t started that he’s sitting there ready to hit.”

Yes, I'd say that he was ready to go while sitting on the bench. Coupled with the Texas Rangers win last night, the AL wild card lead is still stuck on two games, not enough for me...or ANY Red Sox fan. This year the Rangers have the arms to go with the lumber. They really do.

I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning with the pitching matchups for the weekend series with Tampa Bay at Fenway. You can click on the title of this post to go to SI dot com. From there, if you wish, scroll to the top and click on "Red Sox" to go to the team site. Thanks for sticking around and as always, BE WELL. GO SOX.