Hardball Heaven

Well, we saw it with our own eyes this weekend. It's true - the mighty Atlanta Braves are circling the drain. Still, a sweep on the road is a sweep on the road, and last night's 10-7 win over the Braves was a gratifying one.

Curt Schilling pitched six full innings, then gave way to Manny Delcarmen in the 7th with the Sox nursing a 3-2 lead. Delcarmen quickly got two outs, then gave up a single to Andruw Jones and Tito pulled him in favor of newly acquired lefty Javier Lopez. Lopez proceeded to walk Brian McCann, and Tito pulled him in favor of Rudy Seanez. And you know what's coming next -- a juicy meatball over the plate to free-swinging Jeff Francoeur and all of a sudden, a 5-3 Braves lead.

The Sox fought back in the 8th, exploding for six runs. Key hits came from Coco Crisp and Mike Lowell, whose pinch-hit double to the gap in right-center gave the Sox the lead for good. Final score: 10-7, good guys.

Boston now holds a one-game lead in the seesaw AL East, by virtue of the Nationals' come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Yankees yesterday. The Sox kick off a three-game series against those very same Nationals starting tonight at Fenway.