Ninth Inning Resurrection

I've always said that great teams find ways to win. And boy, did the Red Sox find a new way last night. Two hit batters on two pitches with two outs, a walk and a double off the wall by Mark Loretta gave the Red Sox a thrilling 6-5 win at Fenway Park last night.

For the second time in three nights, the Sox pull it out in the ninth inning. It was a rather depressing night most of the way, as Jon Lester gave up three runs in the first, and it stayed that way until the fifth, when it became 3-2. Manny Ramirez and Wily Mo Pena hit homers to put the Red Sox in the lead, 4-3. Pena's shot was a liner that nearly decapitated a fan in the Monster seats, and it was one of hardest hit home runs I've ever seen.

Mike Timlin gave up a homer to Travis Hafner in the eighth to put Cleveland ahead, 5-4. Timlin's been a worry, as he hasn't been the same pitcher since he returned from the DL in June. New Indians closer Fausto Carmona got the first two in the ninth on strikeouts, and Pena and Coco Crisp looked bad doing it. But Carmona totally imploded, hitting Doug Mirabelli and Alex Gonzalez, walking Kevin Youkilis, and then serving up Mark Loretta's RBI double to win it.

Another tremendous win. I was about to put this game into the "L" column, but the Sox again found a way to win. My friend Adam said to me last night that this was the type of game the Yankees always seemed to win back in the late 1990s, and I agreed with him that those were the type of wins that drove us crazy as Red Sox fans. Always nice to see the Sox pull off wins like this.

Today's NY Daily News has a typical Yankee propaganda piece from John Harper, who basically comes out and says the Yankees have already "sunk" the Sox, and have taken control of the AL East race. I despise these asshole Yankee apologists in the New York papers.

Pitching will tell the story in September. Don't these muttonheads realize that?

Read it for yourself: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/440374p-371002c.html