Fire and Ice

G-Man says that the Sox needed to show some fire in their series with the Angels. Good suggestion; and Wednesday night’s come from behind, 9-8 win seemed to display just that – fire. Down three runs early, the Sox rallied to take the lead, or tie the game, three times in the late innings. Their two run rally in the bottom of the ninth came after the first two batters had been retired in order. Several times they found themselves down to their last strike. So G-Man’s advice was well taken, and brought the Nation an exciting, if sloppy win.

But more important than the fire has been the ice the Sox have used to cool off opposing hitters during this home stand. Over the prior four games, the team had given up a total of three runs. Beckett, Buckholz, Lester and Dice-K (that’s right, even Dice-K) shut down first the Rays and then the Angels. The latter two tossed fourteen shutout innings between them. I’m not saying that this one homestand proves that the pitching staff is back to where it needs to be, and I know that everyone has performed better this year in the friendly confines of Fenway Park, but at least this is an indication that the starters retain the potential to keep the opposition’s run production at an minimum, allowing Boston to win if it can push even a couple runs across the plate.

Last night’s loss was unfortunate, but at least the pitching remained solid. Beckett would have gotten out of the seventh inning, and would have held the Angels to only two runs over eight innings, had Tek not let that third strike get away from him. Instead of the third out, the Angels scored to tie up the game. Same thing with Wagner’s run, which resulted from a walk, a stolen base, and a bloop single. The Angels deserve credit for playing small ball, and taking advantage of Boston miscues, pretty much the reverse of Wednesday night, but holding that lineup in check was a good sign.

One concern as we find ourselves in the second half of September, is that the team still isn’t completely healthy. V-Mart was off for a couple games, although it’s unclear whether that’s because he got banged up blocking home plate a couple games ago, or because he had to go home to Cleveland to deal with some unspecified family matter. Youk too has been out of the line-up, this time with back spasms. That could be a minor matter, and we could see him back in the line-up any day, or it could be a nagging thing that bothers him all through the stretch run. Let’s hope not.

Meanwhile the Rangers have helped out by cooling off, way off, dropping four in a row, and giving the Sox a six game cushion for the wild card, even with last night’s loss. There’s seventeen more games in the season, including a ten-day road trip with games on all ten consecutive days. Let’s hope that Boston keeps playing with fire, as G-Man recommends, and that the pitchers keep the opposing bats cool, real cool, somewhere close to absolute zero.