Red Sox Lose One, Win One In Saturday Marathon

I have to be honest. I only was able to watch the first three innings of game two between the NY Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The Good Guys won the second game 7-6 but lost to the pinstripers in game one 6-5. The teams were on the field for what seemed like forever and game two ended AFTER 2am. Here's the Boston skipper, Terry "Tito" Francona...

"You spend that much time at the ballpark, it's nice to have a win.

He's right. Spending twelve hours on the field and losing two games would have been disheartening, to say the least. Tim Wakefield started game one in place of Clay Buchholz. Clay's back was a little stiff and the powers that be wisely didn't take any chances. Wakes gave up five runs in a mediocre start and the bullpen held on until (gulp) Jonathon Papelbon (another gulp) came on and lost the game in the tenth. He has to get his "stuff" (I could have used another word) together for the 2011 season. Game two began around 9:30 and also was an extra inning game. The Red Sox prevailed despite a labored outing by Daisuke Matsuzaka. My goodness, he throws WAY WAY too many pitches. The Boston bullpen in the form of Okajima and Manuel put up goose eggs for the last three and one third innings, allowing the Red Sox to win the second to last game of the season. The teams battle one more time this afternoon with Lackey (13-11) ready for his last start against Moseley (4-3). The contest begins shortly after one pm edt. ESPN is carrying the most important pennant race games on their national telecast so the turn around time for NY and Boston will be a quick one. Remember, they probably didn't get back to their homes or their hotels until the wee hours of the morning. The last day of the 2010 regular season will be a hard day's night...or a hard night's day. There, that's better.

I've enjoyed writing to you and I'll be back with another post tomorrow describing John Lackey's dominant (?) Sunday performance. Click on this post's title to see all the highlights from yesterday and especially Mike Lowell's heartfelt speech to the fans. His family was there and it was a great moment. You'll find it on the Red Sox site. Click on "video." Put your sound on and as always, BE WELL. I'll be here tomorrow, same time, same channel. Holy Batman! As always, BE WELL.