Okay - so they weren't EXACTLY identical twins, but taking two out of three from an AL Central foe on their home fieldturf will be acceptable to most Red Sox fans on any given day... assuming we don't need all three to stay alive in some playoff series, despite our historical ability to overcome such obstacles.
I was actually in Portland, ME at a FamilyLife marriage conference this weekend so you might be thinking that my take on this past series would be a bit barebones... au contraire baseball aficionados (for you Anglo-Sportsian bilinguals out there)!! My wife just so happens [LOUD LAUGHING by many rabid Red Sox wives can be inserted here] to be a fan of our dear Bostonians as well and when she heard that our hotel room had a TV with New England Sports Network (NESN) on it, she was almost excited as I was to catch some of the action. After our marriage projects of course...
We caught the last few innings of the first game which turned out to be number one in a trio of pitchers duels. Not a particular surprise considering that the Twins perenially have one of the best team ERAs in the American League and our boys from Boston have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball this year. A quick recap of the weekend's action...
Game 1: Another Wakefield pitching gem without much run support. And although there isn't much to say about a 2-0 shutout against a relatively anemic Twins offense (especially without Michael Cuddyher), Wakefield ratcheted his game up another notch with the realization that is his offense doesn't score much he has to give up even fewer than his approximately 2 per outing. He did - and Big Papi launched an absolute bomb into seats that rarely see a baseball, and not because they historically have few fans in them. Even the unusually sharp Carlos Silva was visibly wowed.
Game 2: On a day when Julian Tavarez was the best pitcher in Minnesota NOT named Santana - um, er, actually he was the best pitcher in the Metrodome INCLUDING the Twins Cy Young winning ace on this night. However, the best pitcher does not always win in this often fickle game of baseball and on a day when Johan Santana did not have nearly his best stuff, the Red Sox failed to get a single clutch hit among their many scoring opportunities (12 LOB) and Santana kept the ball in the ballpark - a key to beating our Beantowners. Now I will NEVER say that Tavarez has any where NEAR the talent of a Johan Santana and you will ALMOST never see Santana outpitched inside the Metrodome, but despite these facts Julian DID do it to his credit but was unfortunate to have even WORSE run support than Timmy. Of curious note, this is the third time this year that Julian Tavarez has pitched opposite a Cy Young winner.
Game 3: Rubber matches are designed for games like this one. Curt Schilling was razor sharp versus a lineup without Cuddyher or 2006 AL batting champ Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter extended his hitting streak with a late RBI single, and the bullpens continued their shutout work through to the completion of this series. Take home message: don't be trailing the Twins or Red Sox after 6 or 7 innings or you're in BIG trouble. Despite the unusually high Twins bullpen ERA this year, they were extraordinarily effective - even against Boston's best hitters in the clutch. The Red Sox continued their unexpectedly stellar bullpen's season start too - one can only hope this is the beginning of MANY stellar late inning performances in the land of Irish, Manny, Pap, and Papi.
And thank God for Alex Cora... have you ever seen a more productive week from the 2B slot in the lineup. Pedroia is finally coming around!
And in case any spankees fans are out there - I could really care less that Roger Clemens has come to the Big Apple (I only take note to prove I don't ignore the rest of the league). It will only increase the expectations and the pressure in a city seriously in need of no more than it already has. So we take notice for a moment, but we agree with young Dustin Pedroia said in his postgame comments when asked informed of the transaction:
"Hmmm. That's cool... It should be interesting facing him, but I like the team I'm with."
Yeah. Cool. Whoopee.
Whatever.
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