Thursday, April 18, 2013

So the Sox are still winning . . .

Boston won again last night, 6-3 against the Indians giving them a six game winning streak now.

Alfredo Aceves went 5 shutout innings before melting down in the 6th, giving up three runs and putting two more runners on base. Fortunately, the Sox are rocking an amazing bullpen at the moment which saved the game for them.

Junichi Tazawa came on and ended the threat with three quick outs, stranding the runners, then struck out the side in the 7th inning. Koji Uehara banged out a 1-2-3 eight, keeping his ERA at 0.00 for the season. And Andrew Bailey pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the deal. This is how most teams draw it up every night, but of course it doesn't always work that way. Beautiful to watch when it does though.

Saw a lot of barking by the trolls on the Sox site about Farrell leaving Aceves in for the sixth when his pitch count was so high. Naturally hindsight is 20-20, and had Aceves gotten through the inning unblemished, it wouldn't have mattered. But it's early in the season, the Sox were riding a 5 game winning streak with their ace, Jon Lester on deck for the series finale. If you're going to take a chance and see where your projected long reliever's limits are, this is a good time as any.

Plus, Farrell certainly guessed correctly by putting Napoli in DH last night and putting Mike Carp at first. Kid went 3 for 3 at the plate, and drove in a run. Still early in the season, but Farrell seems to be doing okay as far as I can see. I'm one of the few who doesn't blame Bobby Valentine for last season's debacle. Joe Torre couldn't have managed that disfunctional group to any better finish. But for all the Jays fans who told us we'd regret getting Farrell in as manager, look at the standings dudes -- we're in first and looking way more competitive than anyone gave us credit for.

It seems silly to be talking about stuff like this with what happened in Boston at the race. But life goes on. We learned that about 9/11, you can't let acts of terror shut the country down. And I have to admit to getting a little misty when you see all these other MLB teams playing Sweet Caroline at their games as a salute to the Boston area. Nice show of class in such a competitive world.

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