Final Score
Red Sox 8
Mariners 9
Wrong End of the Celebration: A pretty entertaining baseball game ended with the Red Sox on the wrong end of back and forth celebrations.
The teams took turns with the lead. Seattle looked like an easy winner after slapping Jon Lester around, the rookie’s first poor outing of the season. Boston recovered and took the lead, only to see the bullpen cough it back up thanks to some shoddy outfield play. Jason Varitek and Richie Sexson traded 9th inning home runs, but since the Mariners had last ups as the home team, they got to party in the end.
It’s tough to be disappointed about losing 2-of-3 when Schilling and Beckett don’t take the mound, so there really isn’t much to complain about here. The radio yahoos are already in the process of ripping Manny for his defense, but educated fans know one of the team’s biggest problems right now resides one position over from Ramirez in the outfield. (More on that in a future posting)
Fortunately, the Yankees had a worse weekend in Toronto, so the lead sits a 2 ½ over New York and 4 ½ over the Blue Jays. Looks like a hot summer pennant race, wouldn't you say?
I for one am sick and tired of the radio losers ripping on Manny. We have all been down this road before. We know what we're going to see year after year. We will see a .300 average, 35 HR and 120 RBI. We will also see brain farts in the outfield as well as on the basepaths. I am not worried about Manny as much as I am about the bullpen. Tavarez sucks. Seanez blows. Delcarmen and Hansen are going to have their ups and downs until they get more experience. Timlin will allow inherited runners to score. Also where has Varitek been this year? Sure he tied the game but he isn't even hitting .250 for the year. Nixon can't hit home runs anymore (steroids?) when he had 28 in 2003. This shit isn't rocket science. I still feel they have a better pitching staff than the yanks and blue jays. I also feel that no team in baseball will beat them in a 7 game series. It'll come down to who's hot and who's not.