back in the swing

any concerns i had about the Sox being *too* rested coming into last night's series opener in Baltimore were quickly alleviated. as a birthday present to starting pitcher Josh Beckett, Boston meant serious business with bats in hand. ELEVEN RUNS serious!

some game highlights:

--Beckett pitched an outstanding game to go hand-in-hand with the strong offensive show. giving up only 1 run on 2 hits and 0 walks, he struck out 6 & threw only 80 pitches in 7 innings before being pulled to give the bullpen a chance to shake off the cobwebs.

--was especially glad that a late call for time-out by Orioles' batter Tejada didn't result in an injury for Beckett who was already mid-way through his release when the request was granted. a fired up ball of energy on the mound anyway, he was understandably ticked off by this & approached home plate to express his displeasure with the umpire. Varitek got in between to diffuse the situation, which thankfully didn't result in either player being ejected from the game.

--Tek, who has been struggling at the plate so far this season, reached base in all 4 at-bats with 4 runs, a homer & 3 RBIs

--Lowell kept his momentum with a triple, 2 runs, 3 RBIs & 1 solo home run


--And you could have knocked me over with a feather with Pena sent a ball into the outfield seats for a 2-run homer, following it up with a single the very next inning that drove in 2 more runs. i know i ought to start giving him more credit but...it still stuns me when he is productive.

and thus continues the 12-game win streak Boston has over the Orioles...

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in amusing news, the Yankees lost to the Rangers, relinquishing first place in the AL East back to the Red Sox, where once again they stand alone.

i was reading Surviving Grady this morning & absolutely cracked up over this line: Hey, how about Farnsworth spitting the bit? And Sturtze going on the DL? The media will be calling it The Curse of Johnny Damon or something. The Curse of Johnny Damon. LOL!!! i *love* it. heck i love the concept of any curse haunting the Yankees and leaving us alone. ;-)

tonight 5-2 Schilling faces the winless Chen. surely he can keep the Sox on the upswing right? we need to get all the distance between us & The Evil Empire that we can in the standings before the beginning of next week when we face the Yankees for 3 & the D'Rays for 4 in Fenway & then close out the month with 3 in Toronto...