the icing

when i fell asleep last night, the Sox were down 1-0 in the fifth inning, the sole run given up the unearned result of a Jed Lowrie misplay. and you know what? i would still choose Lowrie over Lugo every time. not only was that just his third error for the season (sometimes the equivalent of one *game* for E6--and Lowrie's two regular season errors came at third base, not short), but it's easy to forget the kid is barely even a rookie. i have no doubt he was a little jittery from adrenaline & nerves. it was less than ideal to allow the resourceful Angels to strike first, but i just can't be upset with him when his contributions in the field since the All Star Break have helped to make this game even possible.

i woke up this morning, refreshed & ready to watch the second half of the game. the sixth inning brought a 2-run homer from JayBay, after he had been frustrated by Lackey's impressive breaking ball, swinging wildly for strikeouts in his first two at-bats. and in the bottom half, Lester struck out the side, proving once again that the deeper he gets into the game, the more he gets locked in. if you don't get to Jon Lester early, when you get your opportunities before he settles in, the chances dwindle with every pitch he makes. that kid is pumped full of Vitamin Awesome or something, because instead of getting tired, he just gets stronger as the pitch count grows.

do you know what blows my mind? at the beginning of this season, the mere thought of Lester's starts made me cringe. i have more respect for this kid now than i would have ever imagined possible.

a beautiful seven-inning performance. all four of his pitches working for him, captained by the sharp mind of his catcher, as he flashed the signs. 117 pitches, seven Ks & he was still in the mid-90s on the radar gun, with gas in the tank. unbelievable.

the eighth inning had the ball put in Masterson's hand. he struggled just a bit, but got himself out of it, and again i have to marvel at these babies we're putting out there on the field, who despite the hiccups, are finding ways to come through. Ellsbury threw himself onto the ground, diving for a great catch that denied the Angels a leadoff runner through eight innings. (in fact, the Angels would not get even one leadoff man on base in this entire game.) *this* is what we need to accomplish against a team like Anaheim if we want to make the ALCS! and Vlad, pushing for third on a ball hit by Hunter that fell beyond Youk's reach, was tagged out when Youk snagged the ball & was back on his feet in one swift motion, the ball blazing like a bullet right into Lowell's glove for the tag out.

two more runs, manufactured by smart, aggressive base-running, as opposed to the long ball the Sox have relied on in the past, in the top of the ninth. a Lowrie single, a perfect Tek sac bunt & a speedy Ellsbury single allowed Lowrie to erase the Angels run placed on his shoulders. Ellsbury stole second, was aggressive enough to advance on a Pedroia grounder back to the mound, then scored on a Papi hit up the middle, padding the score nicely for a Papelbon entrance (insurance i am not ungrateful for at this point in the season, recalling all too well that i *can't* recall the last clean inning from our closer). and here we are, playing Angel-style baseball against them successfully.

the Sox come out on top on the road, after all the media babble about Lester's road record versus his dominating Fenway presence and the sky-is-falling attitude about Josh Beckett not pitching in Game One.

the talking heads droning on & on about the Sox Manny-deficit and its potential post season effects and it's Jason Bay going deep for the game-winning runs.

i don't feel safe yet though. i need to know that The Commander is going to be healthy, both in Game Three and beyond, as well as blazing hot with his trademark October fury. i need to know that JD Drew will be well long enough to relocate his swing, patrol right field and make it through the next few weeks (though we do have more resources for the outfield, my faith in Coco restored in September, than we do in starting pitching depth).

and mostly i say a prayer every time i see Mike Lowell at the plate or manning third base, lest we forget our limping third baseman's 2007 MVP contributions. this series is far from over, and it's Matsuzaka's Friday night start that worries me against the Angels & their small ball mentality, especially with the number of opposing base runners that he has been known to allow.

but this win was the perfect start to the ALCS series. it went better than i would have predicted, if i had succombed to the media's fretting, yet i had a good feeling going into this game for some reason, and it proved correct. (an aside: is it me? or does Chip Caray sound like he tries to channel Joe Buck when he announces a game? it's almost as if he listens to tape of The Ultimate Sportshole, trying to perfectly mimic his voice. it's kind of creepy actually. thank God he doesn't have the attitude that goes with it. yet.)

the icing, though, is what i woke up to this morning on my clock radio alarm. the local radio station was just wrapping up the news with "baseball that is actually important starts tonight in Tampa." (they didn't even give any of the scores from Wednesday's three games, and while i wouldn't expect it in the regular season, in the post season, these games deserve a mention. all of them.) but then they revealed the only thing that could have made my morning better. there is a season-long joke that i share with my inner-baseball-circle, which was born of every Dioner Navarro at-bat for the Rays that we were subjected to. it goes something like this: Dioner is not a name. well, the Rays printed up their AL East Champions (excuse me while i gag just a bit) t-shirts for distribution... and on the back, where the team roster is printed... ::pauses, gasping in laughter:: is the name... DONOR Navarro!! oh, sweet justice!

may the Rays play with the same lack of attention to the game as the t-shirt printers gave to the shirts they allowed out the door for sale. may Mike Lowell (and all our other key players) make it through the post season with all their parts attached & operating. may the Sox continue to play ball like they did last night. and may the Other Sox rain down fire & brimstome at the Juice Box this afternoon, as has been my mantra since Chicago gutted out a win in their do-or-die tiebreaker Tuesday night.

one win down. ten more to go.
GO RED SOX!!

(photos of Bay and Lester from the Boston Globe and Lowell from Yahoo! Sports)