Hardball Heaven

The train kept a'rolling tonight at Fenway as the Sox again pasted the Nationals, 9-3. Lester looked outstanding in his third major league start, striking out 10 and pretty much having his way with the free-swinging Nats. Ortiz got things started with a grand slam to straightaway center in the second. Sox sweep their second series in a row, and have now won six straight. In the three-game set with Washington, the Sox banged out 46 hits and scored 26 runs. All is good in the Nation right now, especially if Lester can be a solid contributor the rest of the year. Yanks beat the Phillies tonight so the lead remains 2.

Of course, the naysayers in the local media (Tony Mazz) will no doubt use the consecutive ass-whippings of the Braves and Nationals as fodder for their argument that the Sox only play well against low-quality opponents. Look for that column to resurface in a Herald near you.

The Sox will be tested over the next week by the top two teams in the NL East, as the Phillies come to town this weekend and then the front-running Mets follow them into Fenway. Very much looking forward to that series. You heard it here first (okay, maybe not first): we will see a 20th anniversary rematch between the Mets and the Red Sox in the 2006 World Series. Can you even begin to imagine Schilling vs. Pedro in Game 1?