c'mon Lestaaaaaah! (the Boston edition)

1. this game worried me most about this series. we're pitting our erratic young number five against the Tampa pitcher who owns us *almost* the way Wake owns the Rays (Wakefield: 18-2 career against the Rays), on Lestah's first game starting in Fenway this season.

2. i really feel like Alicea & Hale need to take on a more active role in Manny's base-running. as well as he reads the ball when he's hitting, his instincts on the basepath are... well... out in left field. =P

3. (in the top of the fifth, with (cornrow-less) Coco streaking across centerfield to make the final out) "Coco's on his horse!" what?! where on earth does Don come *up* with this stuff??

4. every time WMP comes up to the plate, i find myself chanting "come on! no Whiffy! no Whiffy!" (think along the lines of "no whammies! no whammies!")

5. i still think the uniforms with vest-style tops look ridiculously stupid.

6. (composed in the middle of the ninth inning) so we lost to the Rays. this was the game i mostly expected we would lose anyway, with Kaz pitching. but i have to say. Gagne in the ninth. gave up a double, but struck out the side! feels like a victory! i was pulling for him so hard. just to get that one scoreless inning & get back on track. unlike JFL, i like Gagne for some reason, despite his struggles.

7. ...and then, Lowell goes yard on a solo shot into the Monster for his sixteenth long ball of the season to tie up the game! Cap'n hits a ground rule double... and Coco singles him in to win the game for the Sox 2-1!! this may just be the feel-good game of the second half!

8. Orioles showed the Evil Empire how they felt about losing that game last night with a 12-0 shellacking. back to five games.

may The Hundred Million Dollar Pitcher throw a hundred million dollar 10K game this afternoon. opposite Zaka-san is someone named Sonnanstine? he's 1-8 whoever he is. please let us light this guy up like theFourth of July... it would be good to go into the off day on a positive note before playing four game in three days against the Angels...