who says three is a crowd?

three is a beautiful, wonderful number.

take, for instance, Manny's three trips to the plate. he went 1-for-2 plus a walk. not too bad for his first game back in a month.

yes, i like the number three quite a bit today.
but we'll come back to that.

some random thoughts & observations about last night's game:

1. vintage Schill. most excellent. exactly what we need heading into October. sure, he gave up a home run, but as is his habit, it was a solo shot. nothing insurmountable. and, it turns out, the only run he would surrender. so even though i threatened to take his glove & slap him upside the head with it, it really was a performance that makes me feel good moving forward.

2. did you hear the angels singing? we loaded the bases with no outs last night & then managed to actually score *two* runs off that opportunity. bid deal, right? except that the whole season we've been loading bases & scoring *nothing*. so you see, two runs makes me very happy.

3. is it wrong that i found it completely entertaining that Ellsbury patted Papi's backside last night after his sac fly brought Papi home?

4. words cannot express how happy i was to see Youk on the field last night. i love Hinske's enthusiasm but he's not Youk.

5. Dougie & Tito were sharing a good laugh at something during the bottom of the fifth. i want in on the joke!

6. back to Ellsbury. he may have Coco's speed, and i may enjoy watching him play all aspects of the game tremendously, but as much as i like him, he makes me appreciate Coco in center. Coco plays the wall out there like he's been doing it his whole life.

7. two Lugos in one game is more than my brain should ever be required to process. especially this late in the season. heck, one Lugo is too many in most games.

8. another acceptable outing by Gagne. i personally thought that he had that third strike for the last out twice but got gypped on two close calls. i am pleased that Tito pulled him when he did, before he started getting too frustrated. not only did it likely save the game for us, but it prevented undoing the positive effect i hope his last two appearances had on him mentally. it's not fair, but lately it scares me more to see Jon coming in than Gagne anyway.

9. and the reason it isn't fair? because Sir Cheerio Mouth came in, bottom of the eighth, two out, two on, and ended it on one pitch. dude. nicely done. he was in & out so quickly, we didn't even get a good chance to see him exhibit His Face, so here it is for you now. all hail the Cheerio Mouth.


10. Pedroia Pocket continues to huge plays at second base. this time the over-his-shoulder catch to end the game.

11. i had the Sox on my computer, while i watched the Rays & Yankees go at it on the (muted) tv. things looked bad. bleak. a grand slam given up to Slappy & the Evil Empire took a 5-0 lead that they held almost the whole game. rumor has is that the Yankees announcers were crowing about how their win clinched them a trip to the post season. and then the Rays hit their own grand slam to take the lead. which the Yankees tied up in the eighth. and in the tenth inning, on a Dioner Navarro walk-off solo shot to deep right field, the Yankees were silenced. so much for counting your chickens before they hatch, huh?

and *that* brings us back to my favorite number: three. three games up in the AL East. three being the magic number for the Sox right now.

the Yankees are sending Wang to the hill tonight to start against some poor Rays pitcher i've never even heard of who has gone 1-5. what that boils down to is a must-win game for the Sox to maintain status quo. Lester is going to have to come out gangbusters against Joe Blanton, who has looked pretty strong in his last seven starts. The Kid has looked pretty good himself in September. he just needs to keep it up...

i'll be parked in my usual spot at 7pm 5pm.
c'mon Lestaaaaaah!