Who says baseball is boring?

 

So my plan last night was to crash at home and just relax.  It was a wild four days and I’m back at Fenway tonight, so I needed a night to just chill.  I did.  But  also ended up staying awake much longer than I planned on, thanks to a ton of exciting games last night.

What can I write about the Sox that everyone hasn’t already written?  Beckett is back and still amazing.   He has now won 8 consecutive decisions (after a no-decision on Mother’s Day and missing two of his starts after that).  Kevin Youkilis has a 21 game hitting streak and in the last nine games he has two or more hits which is the longest streak of consecutive multi-hit games by a Red Sox player since Jim Rice.  (Nine in a row in 1978)!  Jason Varitek got in on the fun with a home run last night too.  This team is just ON right now and I’m enjoying every minute of it.  Speaking of Youk, he has a new blog at MLBlogs. Pretty funny stuff already.  Check it out!

If you watched the Yankees game, you saw Aaron Hill straight steal home on Andy Pettitte.  I had just turned the game on when Hill was up at bat, so I got to see it ‘live’.  Even watching it on television, it was one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in baseball in quite a while.

Then I turn on ESPN just in time to see the Mets and Giants tied up in extra innings.  I keep it on, thinking once they have the bases loaded, David Wright will win it.  Nope.  Then the Giants take the lead and I’m convinced it is over.  Oh me of little faith.  Two Armando Benitez balks and a Carlos Delgado home run later, and the Mets fans get to leave Shea happy.  Quite the fun night in baseball. 

Someone who didn’t have quite the ‘fun’  night in baseball that he should have is old friend Lenny Dinardo.  Based on his fabulous work in the bullpen, and the fact that the A’s need starting pitching, he got his first start as an A last night against Texas.  He looked, pretty face aside, damned good.   He pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up only 3 hits.  Then came the sixth.  A walk, followed by a guy on first when it should have been a double play (thanks to Lenny’s own error) and then a wild pitch, led Lenny to have to walk the bases loaded to pitch to Sammy Sosa.  That’s when things broke open.  Because the A’s couldn’t score against Texas, the one earned run (out of four that scored against Lenny) was the run that lost the game.  Lenny deserved better.  Bet he’s missing Boston right now, the poor kid.  Better luck next time, Len.

Along those same lines,  while Jon Lester had a super outing last night (Four hits in five innings.  No runs, 6 strike outs, 79 pitches.  The time is coming soon to see Jon in Fenway again!), Mike Timlin, unfortunately, didn’t.  He threw 23 pitches and gave up 3 hits, a walk and a run in the seventh.  Oh my Mike.  Hang tough, baby!

It’s no secret I take great joy in the shortcomings of the Yankees.  So seeing this  should have brought me more joy than it did.  I mean, how stupid is Alex Rodriguez?  I’ve heard plenty of stories from those ‘in the know’ about his extracurricular activities and as much as it bugs me (what IS it with baseball players cheating on their wives?) it was, at least, always kept out of the spotlight.  This rocket scientist is one of the most-watched players in MLB, on the team most covered by the media, during a time when everything the team and its players do is super-analyzed, and he can’t keep it in his pants for a couple of days?  Cavorting at a strip club with a blonde who is NOT your wife, Slappy, isn’t just sleazy, but it’s stupid.  Congratulations on that.

Daisuke on the mound tonight.  Sox have taken 2 out of 3 thus far from the team that was supposed to come in here and prove to Sox fans that this team isn’t as good as we think they are.  How’d that work, huh?