Test Time

Boston took two of three from the Baltimore Orioles this weekend. For other news of the obvious, you'll have to turn somewhere else. Boston has made a habit out of beating the O's so this weekend was no surprise. Yesterday's game finished in surprising fashion however. Starting pitcher Josh Beckett didn't collect his eighth win of the year and Boston did not score a run until the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Sox spent Saturday and Sunday whiffing on Oriole starters then deciding to bat and score runs when XYZ reliever from the bullpen came out to the mound. I don't really enjoy come from behind wins, exciting as they may be. I'd prefer a bit of a battle, rather than being down 5-0 to Baltimore with three outs until the game is in the books. Of course, manager Terry Francona was obviously preparing for the four game home stand against the AL Central leader Detroit Tigers. He gave 3B Mike Lowell and 2B Dustin Pedroia the day off. He also took LF Manny Ramirez out late in the game when a win seemed out of reach. Usual 1B Kevin Youkilis spent the day small gloving it at 3rd with Eric Hinske covering 1st. Not exactly Boston's potential playoff line up out there.

The Sox spent most of the day not hitting off O's righty Jeremy Guthrie and letting the visitors dink and dunk their way to a 5-0 lead. Then CF Coco Crisp got on with no one out and DH David Ortiz doubled to bring in Crisp. Ok, 5-1 and Boston will no doubt lose in the next five minutes. Well, LF sub Wily Mo Pena got on, RF JD Drew did the same and all of a sudden the bases were loaded. Youkilis walked and Ortiz scored. So now it's 5-2. Could they do it? Next batter was C Jason Varitek who likes to ground into double plays. He actually doubles to right center and brings in Pena and Drew, holy shit it's 5-4! SS Julio Lugo slapped a grounder to O's "closer" Chris Ray (he's 3-3 on the year) and was safe because of a throwing error on Ray's part. Lugo got there quick enough to disrupt the play. See my entry from the day before. I'm not saying I'm a genius, I'm just saying. Anyway, two more runs score. Ballgame. 6-5 Red Sox win in the bottom of the 9th. One of the best comebacks in recent history and I missed it. Yup, that's right. I left in the sixth inning to go to Stephanie's parents house for Mothers Day and I watched the play by play gamecast on my cell phone while her brothers watched NASCAR. Oh well.

Tonight Dice-K (4-2) is on the hill to take on Nate Robertson (3-2) and the Detroit Tigers (23-13) for a four game home series. This will be Boston's first real test to see what they are made out of. Sure they are 5-1 against the Yankees and took two of three on the road against the Minnesota Twins, but those teams struggled with injuries and were missing some key players. Detroit is coming off taking two of three from the same Twins team in the Metrodome and are 8-2 in their last 10 outings. The next several nights should be fun to watch and the Sox have done a good job rising up against solid teams and putting forth their best effort. Hopefully they continue the trend starting tonight.