Hardball Heaven

Well things have calmed down since we last talked... sort of.

The Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the lowly Devil Rays this week, but they easily could have lost 2 of 3. After Wake performed his usual surgery on the D-Rays Monday, the Sox had to face nemesis Scott Kazmir on Tuesday. It looked like they were going to lose 1-0 until Joe Maddon pulled a Sam Perlozzo and yanked Kazmir after he had thrown 95 pitches. The eager Sox proceeded to pounce on the likes of Gary Glover and Al Reyes and they ended up with a pulsating 2-1 walk-off win. There haven't been many pulsating wins this year - this was the second time they had come back and won after trailing in the 8th inning. In a rare day game yesterday, Dice-K halted the momentum with an uncharacteristically bad performance. The D-Rays jumped out to a quick 6-zip lead, and to their credit, the Red Sox rallied back to make it 6-5. Manny struck out to end the ballgame with Julio Lugo stranded on second.

This series was in many ways a microcosm of the whole year. Just uneven performances all around -- against a team they should thump every time. Yesterday, the bats were silent for most of the game against Andy Sonnanstine, who toted a sporty 1-8 record into the game. Yes, the Yankees' excruciating loss to the Orioles made it easier to take, but we should be up by 6 games today instead of 5.

The boys are off today before they reacquaint themselves with those pesky Angels this weekend. Tomorrow's a doubleheader day due to a rainout earlier in the season, and Boston.com is reporting that Clay Buchholz will be called up to start the first game, and then Jacoby Ellsbury will be back at Fenway for the second game. Good moves, methinks. We need a little Joba Chamberlain-like jolt, and Ellsbury has been on fire at Pawtucket.

Speaking of the minor league hinterlands, I can't let this post pass without a thought on Jose Offerman. I'm sure you've heard or seen the video by now of Offerman charging the mound (above) in a minor league game with a bat after he was hit in the leg by a pitch. He tried to take a swing at the pitcher, and ended up breaking one of his fingers, and then his backswing caught the unhelmeted catcher on the head. The images on ESPN last night of Jose cuffed and being escorted to a cruiser were surreal. Why, it seems like just yesterday that he was Dan Duquette's OBP dream. Oh, and a fun sidenote - Carl Everett plays for the same team as Offerman. You can't make this stuff up.