Whole Lotta Dong Going On

The Red Sox pulled out the whoopin' sticks last night, and on a night when three of the regulars were sitting. And one of the "irregulars" banged out two of the five hit last night: Jason Varitek.

It was Tek's first start, the day before his 38th birthday, catching Josh Beckett. On his second at-bat, he took Zach Greinke (yes, the Cy Young winner last year) deep on a curve ball, after Greinke had left a hanger to Jeremy Hermida (his first start, too), who hit a bomb to right for his first Red Sox home run.

Kansas City opened the game with a run off Beckett in the first, and the Sox started hitting homers in the fourth. They added two more in the seventh, and Kevin Youkilis hitting the third solo shot of the game in the eighth. The Royals answered back with two in the seventh, with one that really shouldn't have scored. (And a single that nearly took Beckett's head off.) Home plate ump Gary Darling, who has a strike zone the size of a postage stamp, squeezed Beckett on a called third strike that should have ended the inning. Both pitchers were being squeezed last night, and Darling is Example #1 of why baseball games take so long. (Are you listening Joe West?)

Varitek and Dustin Pedroia iced the game in the ninth with two more homers to make it an 8-3 final. Beckett went seven, allowed three runs and struck out four in getting his first win of the year.

Clay Buchholz takes the hill for the first time this season to close the series in Kansas City today.